Few verses are quoted more often, and understood less carefully, than the words of Allah in Surah al-Ma’idah: “And whoever does not judge according to what Allah has revealed, such are disbelievers.” The Khawarij of old, and those who walk their path today, take this one sentence and use it to declare Muslims, including rulers and whole societies, to be disbelievers. This article sets out what the verse says, the claim that is built on it, and how the scholars of tafsir and Tawhid actually explain it, so the reader can see exactly where the misuse lies.
The Verse and the Claim Built on It
Allah revealed the Torah to Musa, and He commanded its people to judge by it. He says:
“Verily We revealed the Torah, in which was guidance and light. By it the Prophets who submitted [to Allah] judged the Jews, as did the rabbis and scholars, for to them was entrusted the protection of the scripture of Allah, and they were witnesses thereto. So do not fear people, but fear Me, and do not sell My revelations for a small price. And whoever does not judge according to what Allah has revealed, such are disbelievers.” (Surah al-Ma’idah 5:44)
Two verses later, the same failure is described with a different word: “And whoever does not judge according to what Allah has revealed, such are wrongdoers” (5:45); and again: “such are evildoers” (5:47). The claim of the Khawarij is simple. They read the words “such are disbelievers” at face value, apply them to every Muslim who rules, judges, or acts by something other than Allah’s law in any matter, and declare him outside Islam. From there they declare his blood and wealth lawful, which is the known path of the Khawarij in every age.
The Setting of the Verse
Ibn Kathir records that a number of the early scholars, among them al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib, Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, Ibn ‘Abbas, and al-Hasan al-Basri, said that this verse was revealed about the People of the Book. The Jews had Allah’s ruling written in their own Torah, yet they defied it with full intention: they applied the law of retaliation unevenly between their tribes, and they replaced the stoning of the adulterer with a punishment they invented themselves. Ibn Kathir explains that Allah called them disbelievers in this verse “because they rejected Allah’s command with full intention and with transgression and rebellion.”
Al-Hasan al-Basri added that the verse also applies to this Ummah. So the verse is not set aside, and its warning is real. The question is how it applies, and that is answered by the explanations of the very generation that received it.
How the Scholars Explain the Words
Ibn ‘Abbas, the Companion known for his explanation of the Qur’an, explained this verse in a way that the Khawarij leave out. Ibn Kathir records from him:
“Whoever rejects what Allah has revealed, will have committed Kufr, and whoever accepts what Allah has revealed, but did not rule by it, is a Zalim (unjust) and a Fasiq (rebellious) and a sinner.”
Tawus, the student of Ibn ‘Abbas, said of the disbelief in this verse: “This is not the Kufr that annuls one’s religion.” And ‘Ata’ ibn Abi Rabah said:
“There is Kufr and Kufr less than Kufr, Zulm and Zulm less than Zulm, Fisq and Fisq less than Fisq.”
As-Sa’di confirms the same explanation in his tafsir. Quoting Ibn ‘Abbas on these verses, he writes that the failure to judge by what Allah revealed is “a lesser form of disbelief, a lesser form of wrongdoing and a lesser form of evildoing,” and then he states the dividing line plainly: “The wrongdoing is greater if the perpetrator regards it as permissible, and it is a major sin if he does it without thinking that it is permissible.” In his own words on verse 44, as-Sa’di says that judging by other than what Allah revealed “may put one beyond the pale of Islam, if he believes that doing so is permissible, or it may be a major sin and an act of disbelief, for which the one who does it deserves a severe punishment.”
The Distinction the Scholars Make
Ibn Uthaymeen gathers this explanation in his Commentary on Kitab at-Tawhid. Allah described those who do not rule by what He revealed with three attributes across the three verses: disbelievers (5:44), wrongdoers (5:45), and evildoers (5:47), and the Shaykh explains that the ruling follows the person’s state. A person falls into disbelief in this matter on three occasions: when he believes it is permissible to rule by other than Allah’s law; when he believes the ruling of other than Allah is equal to Allah’s ruling; and when he believes it is better than Allah’s ruling. He is a wrongdoer when he believes Allah’s ruling is the best and is obligatory, but hatred of the people he rules drives him to rule against them by something else. And he is a sinner when he rules by other than what Allah revealed out of a desire in his heart, such as a bribe, or favouring a relative or a friend, while knowing that Allah’s ruling is the best and is mandatory to follow.
Ar-Raajihee states the same distinction in his explanation of the Nullifiers of Islam. Believing that a judgement other than the Prophet’s ﷺ judgement is better, or equal to it, or that ruling by man-made laws is permissible, is major disbelief. But the judge who rules by other than what Allah revealed in a particular case, while believing that judging by the Shari’ah is obligatory, that what he did is wrong, and that he deserves punishment for it, overcome only by his desire: “Such a person has committed minor disbelief and he does not leave from the fold of Islaam.”
Where the Misuse Lies
The misuse is now clear, and it is the same misuse the scholars identified in the Khawarij from the beginning. Al-Fawzan explains in A Glimpse at the Deviated Sects that the Khawarij declare whoever disagrees with them a disbeliever, that they hold the one who commits a major sin to be a disbeliever who will remain in the Fire forever, and that they make revolting against the ruler part of the religion. Ahlus Sunnah, by contrast, hold that the major sinner is a Muslim of deficient faith, and that Allah forgives every sin short of shirk for whom He wills (4:48).
The Khawarij reach their ruling by taking one text and abandoning the rest: the words “such are disbelievers” are read, while the explanation of Ibn ‘Abbas, the statements of Tawus and ‘Ata’, and the verses of forgiveness are left aside. Ibn al-Qayyim described them exactly: “And they have texts which they are deficient in understanding.” A text carried without its explanation, and without the conditions the scholars attach to declaring a specific person a disbeliever, is not knowledge. It is the zeal that the Prophet ﷺ warned against in a people whose worship was intense and whose understanding was absent.
Key Lessons
- The verse is true and severe, and it also applies to this Ummah, as al-Hasan al-Basri said. It is not explained away.
- The verse came down concerning people who rejected Allah’s ruling in their book and replaced it deliberately; rejection and deliberate replacement are at the heart of its meaning.
- Ibn ‘Abbas, whose explanation the Ummah received, distinguished the one who rejects what Allah revealed from the one who accepts it but fails to rule by it: the second is unjust, rebellious, and sinful, and his failure can be a disbelief lesser than disbelief.
- Disbelief in this matter, as the scholars state it, is tied to the heart: believing it permissible to rule by other than Allah’s law, or believing another ruling is equal to His or better than His.
- Ruling by other than what Allah revealed out of desire, greed, or favouritism, while believing Allah’s ruling is obligatory and best, is a major sin and a lesser disbelief; it does not take the person out of Islam.
- Declaring a specific Muslim a disbeliever is not the work of a lay reader with one verse. It belongs to knowledge, evidence, and the removal of the excuses the scholars recognise, and getting it wrong is the founding error of the Khawarij.
References
- Tafsir as-Sa’di, Shaykh Abdur-Rahman ibn Nasir as-Sa’di, IIPH English Edition 1, 2018, Volume 2 (Juz 4-6), on Surah al-Ma’idah 5:44-45, printed pp. 404-411.
- Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged), English translation, the 10-volume set, on Surah al-Ma’idah 5:44-45.
- Commentary on Kitab at-Tawhid, Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Dar-us-Salam 2014, translated by Abu Naasir Ibrahim Abdur-Rauf, Volume 2, the explanation of the three attributes in Surah al-Ma’idah 5:44, 45, and 47.
- Explanation of the Nullifiers of Islam, Shaykh Abdul-Azeez ar-Raajihee, Al-Ibaanah, translated by Abu Maryam Isma’eel Alarcon, the Fourth Nullifier, printed pp. 10-12.
- A Glimpse at the Deviated Sects, Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, Salafi Publications, translated by Abu Naasir Abid bin Basheer, chapter “The Khawaarij”, printed pp. 11-13.
Further Reading
Verified on 2026-10-22 against: Tafsir as-Sa’di (IIPH), Vol. 2; Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged); Commentary on Kitab at-Tawhid, Vol. 2 (Ibn Uthaymeen); Explanation of the Nullifiers of Islam (ar-Raajihee); A Glimpse at the Deviated Sects (al-Fawzan).