The Tenth Evidence

Allāh's statement: ﴿أَفَحُكْمَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ يَبْغُونَ وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ مِنَ اللهِ حُكْما لِقَوْمٍ يُوقِنُونَ﴾ "Do they then seek the judgement of (the days of) Ignorance? And who is better in judgement than Allâh for a people who have firm Faith" [Al-Mā'idah: 50]. If someone says: Allāh has described ruling by other than the Sharī‘ah as a judgment of ignorance, which implies disbelief. The response: Associating something with ignorance, or describing it as an act of the people of ignorance, does not necessarily imply disbelief. The proof for this is that the Prophet ﷺ said to Abū Dharr (may Allāh be pleased with him) when he insulted a man: ((إنك امرؤ فيك جاهلية)) "You are a man with some traits of ignorance in you" [Bukhāri 30, Muslim 4289]. The Prophet also referred to certain actions as practices of ignorance, despite the consensus of Ahlus-Sunnah that they do not amount to disbelief, such as disparaging one’s lineage and wailing over the dead (Muslim 2157). I say: Whoever claims that associating something with ignorance implies disbelief must also assert that insulting a fellow Muslim, disparaging lineages, and wailing over the dead — actions which Ahlus-Sunnah have agreed do not constitute disbelief — would also be acts of disbelief. Abū ’Ubayd Al-Qāsim ibn Sallām (may Allāh have mercy on him) said: «ألا تسمع قوله: ﴿أَفَحُكْمَ الْجَهِلِيَّةِ يَبْغُونَ﴾ [المائدة ٥٠]؟ تأويله عند أهل التفسير: أن من حكم بغير ما أنزل الله وهو على ملة الإسلام؛ كان بذلك الحكم كأهل الجاهلية، إنما هو أنَّ أهل الجاهلية كذلك كانوا يحكمون. وهكذا قوله: ((ثلاث من أمر الجاهلية: الطعن في الأنساب، والنياحة، والأنواء))...ليس وجوه هذه الآثار كلها -من الذنوب-؛ أن رَاكِبَها يكون جاهلاً! ولا كافراً! ولا منافقاً! ولكن معناها: أنها تتبين من أفعال الكفار، مُحرَّمةٌ ، مَنْهيَّ عنها في الكتاب والسنة» "Do you not hear Allāh's statement: 'Do they seek the judgment of [the days of] ignorance?' [Al-Ma'idah: 50]? Its interpretation, according to the scholars of Tafsīr, is that whoever rules by other than what Allāh has revealed while adhering to Islam, is similar to the people of ignorance in that ruling. The meaning is that the people of ignorance used to rule in such a way. Likewise, the statement of the Prophet ﷺ: 'Three things are from the practices of ignorance: disparaging lineage, wailing over the dead, and believing in omens...' The meaning of these sins is not that the one who commits them becomes ignorant, a disbeliever, or a hypocrite. Rather, the meaning is that these acts resemble the actions of the disbelievers, and they are prohibited and condemned in the Qur'ān and Sunnah" [Al-Ēmān, p. 90]. Al-Bukhāri, may Allāh have mercy on him, said: «باب: المعاصي من أمر الجاهلية، ولا يكفر صاحبها بارتكابها؛ إلا الشرك، لقول النبي: ((إنك امرؤ فيك جاهلية، وقول الله تعالى: ﴿إِنَّ اللهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ﴾ [النساء ٤٨ ، ١١٦] («صحيحه» قبل الحديث رقم ٣٠). "Chapter: Sins that are from the practices of ignorance, but the one who commits them is not deemed a disbeliever, except for Shirk. The Prophet ﷺ said: 'You are a man with traits of ignorance,' and Allāh Almighty says: 'Indeed, Allāh does not forgive shirk with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills' [An-Nisā' 48 & 116]" [Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhāri, before ḥadīth no. 30].