Democracy

Democracy is Shirk

The following is a work-in-progress and will continue to be updated, in sha Allah. I wanted to get this out before Election Day (November 3rd) 2026.

Legislation is not but for Allah. He has commanded that you worship not except Him. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know. {12:40}

In the West, especially for those of us who were born and raised here, we are beaten over the head and programmed with the secular idea of “separation of church and state”, or in our case you could say “separation of masjid and state”, almost immediately in school and all around us in society. We are so deeply programmed with this that many of us are completely unable to see outside of it. As a result, when we try to warn others in our communities about committing Shirk in Allah’s Hakimiyyah and instead call them back to Tawheed, we are often laughed at, mocked, and then subsequently ignored. The idea of calling only to the Shari’ah of Allah is now looked at as something strange and deserving of ridicule and mockery, and yet these same mockers will turn around and claim to be servants of Allah and part of the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ.

To understand the Islamic position on any concept, topic, or idea, we first have to examine and understand the exact nature of what said concept actually is.

What is Democracy?

The whole point of modern secular democracy is that ultimate legislative authority rests with man rather than God. We all know the story of how the Pilgrims fled religious persecution and sailed to the New World. And eventually, throughout American history, the idea began to develop that religion and government should be kept separate. This wasn’t necessarily because people had abandoned their religious beliefs or stopped wanting their laws to reflect God’s will (or rather, what they thought was God’s will). In fact, many of the people involved in establishing this system were deeply religious Christians. Rather, the governing principle increasingly became that legislative authority belonged to human institutions, even when those institutions and the people operating within them were guided by religious convictions.

I want to repeat this point because it’s crucial for understanding the rest of this article.

Democracy means that ultimate legislative authority, the right to decide right from wrong, halaal or haraam, resides with man rather than with Allah.

Democracy can also be succinctly summarized as the system of law of the people, by the people, for the people.

But is this what Islam teaches? Of course not. Islam, and more specifically Allah’s Shari’ah, is the system of law of Allah, by Allah, for Allah.

In Islam, do we have anything called “separation of mosque and state”? Did Allah or His Messenger ﷺ ever say this? No, of course not. The Religion is the Law. The Law is the Religion. There can never be any separation.

What Did Allah Say About His Legislation?

2:256
Sahih International

So whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.

Muhsin Khan

Whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower.

Here it is made clear that we must first disbelieve in Taghut, then believe in Allah. This is also evidenced in the Shahadah. We must first negate all worship for anyone or anything else, then affirm belief in Allah and worship for Him alone.