Seeking Judgment from the Taghut (Surah 4:60)

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

وعلى آلك واصحابك يا سيدي يا نور الله

فداك ابي وامي يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Allah, Holy and Exalted is He, says:

اَلَمۡ تَرَ اِلَی الَّذِیۡنَ یَزۡعُمُوۡنَ اَنَّہُمۡ اٰمَنُوۡا بِمَاۤ اُنۡزِلَ اِلَیۡکَ وَمَاۤ اُنۡزِلَ مِنۡ قَبۡلِکَ یُرِیۡدُوۡنَ اَنۡ یَّتَحَاکَمُوۡۤا اِلَی الطَّاغُوۡتِ وَقَدۡ اُمِرُوۡۤا اَنۡ یَّکۡفُرُوۡا بِہٖ ؕ وَیُرِیۡدُ الشَّیۡطٰنُ اَنۡ یُّضِلَّہُمۡ ضَلٰلًۢا بَعِیۡدًا

Have you not seen those who claim that they believe in what has been sent down to you [My Apostle] and was was sent down before you, yet they want to seek judgment from the Taghut, although they were commanded to disbelieve in him. And Satan wants to lead them far astray

(Surah 4, Ayah 60)

The term taghut which appears several times in the Holy Quran is often claimed by some Muslims as meaning any ruler or judge who fails to rule by what Allah has sent down, meaning the divine Shari’ah. As Allah, Holy and Exalted is He, instructs us to disbelieve in the Taghut these people argue that not only are the Tawaghit unbelievers but that it is upon the Muslims to overthrow such apostate rulers. So one observes that the term Taghut is frequently upon the tongues of the Takfiris and Neo-Kharijites of our time, and they intend thereby virtually every ruler of the Muslims.

Linguistically, the word Taghut means one who exceeds the bounds, but in the terminology of Islam is refers primarily to Satan. And it will also include all such human devils who give judgments in opposition to the Shari’ah, especially the magicians and the soothsayers. Hence, Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, explains the circumstances of the revelation of this Ayah (4:60):

كَانَ أَبُو ‌بُرْدَةَ ‌الأَسْلَمِيُّ كَاهِناً يَقْضِي بَيْنَ الْيَهُودِ فَتَنَافَرُوا إِلَيْهِ أُنَاسٌ مِنْ أَسْلَمَ مِنَ الْيَهُودِ فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ يَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّهُمْ آمَنُوا بِمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ

Abu Burdah al-Aslami was a soothsayer who judged for the Jews. Some people of the Jews who had become Muslims went to him, so Allah revealed: “Have you not seen those who claim to believe in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down before you...” (Tafsir Ibn Abi Hatim; v.3, p.991, #5547)

Jabir bin Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

كَانَتِ الطَّوَاغِيتُ الَّتِي يَتَحَاكَمُونَ إِلَيْهَا فِي جُهَيْنَةَ وَاحِدٌ ‌وَفِي ‌أَسْلَمَ ‌وَاحِدٌ وَفِي كُلِّ حَيٍّ وَاحِدٌ كُهَّانٌ يَنْزِلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الشَّيْطَانُ

The Tawaghit they went to for judgement; one in Juhainah, one in Aslam and one in every tribe, soothsayers upon whom Satan would send down revelation (Sahih al-Bukhari)

So the proper understanding of Taghut is that it is someone who is associated with occult practices, like magic and soothsaying, one who is in communion with devils and demons who whisper and inspire things to him or her. The people go to such soothsayers, astrologers and fortune tellers seeking judgments and instructions for themselves. This kind of judgment has more of a religious connotation to it than the judgment of secular judges and rulers. Hence, Ibn Jarir al-Tabari says:

والصواب من القول عندي في الطاغوت أنه كل ذي طغيان على الله فعبد من دونه إما بقهر منه لمن عبده وإما بطاعة ممن عبده له وإنسانا ‌كان ‌ذلك ‌المعبود أو شيطانا أو وثنا أو صنما أو كائنا ما كان من شيء

The correct opinion concerning Taghut, in my view, is that it refers to everyone who arrogates to himself a position that is befitting only for Allah, and so is worshipped instead of Him, either by forcing others to worship him or by accepting their willing worship. The one that is thus worshipped may be a human, or a devil, or an idol, or a statue, or some other being (Tafsir Ibn Jarir; v.4, p.558)

The difference between a taghut and a secular judge is that people go to the taghut with a religious, spiritual or occultic belief regarding his status and authority, the way they should believe in and approach a Prophet or Apostle of God instead. So a taghut is usually a magician, a fortune teller, an astrologer, a soothsayer, a cult priest or a false prophet. Unlike a secular judge or ruler, they assert that their authority is derived from a supernatural force, whether they are falsely claiming it is from God, or from a false god, an idol, a devil or demon. Those who claim to be god, or command people to worship them or are content with people believing they are a god and content with people worshipping them are necessarily included in the category of Tawaghit.

It is wrong for today’s Takfiris and Neo-Kharijites to excommunicate Muslims from Islam on the basis of their going to a secular court or judge for judgment. We know that the patriarch Joseph, peace be upon him, acted upon the law of the King of Egypt by first having his brothers agree that if it was found that one of them had stolen the gold measuring bowl that one would be handed over in custody to him (Surah 12, Ayah 75 & 76). Thus the Fuqaha have stipulated certain conditions under which a person is permitted or excused in referring to a secular court for judgment. And it would not be right to label a Muslim ruler an apostate who due to desires and weakness does not wholly rule by the divine Shari’ah. Yes, a ruler, regardless of his professing Islam, who exceeds the bounds and declares that ultimate authority is intrinsic to his person, or who makes a cult of personality around himself where he is worshipped and obeyed as though he is God is certainly a taghut. Pharaoh of Egypt, Nimrod, Nebuchadnezzar Antiochus “Epiphanes” are some of the most evil examples of tawaghit in history. Likewise, many of the kings and emperors of ancient civilizations, like the Caesars, who commanded the people to worship them and who considered their authority divine were from the tawaghit. In our time, the dictators of North Korea (Kim Jong Un, his father and grandfather) are some of the worst tyrants and certainly they are tawaghit. The same may be said of the dictator of Turkmenistan, a nominally Muslim country, Niyazov “Turkmenbasy”. A totalitarian despot, he wrote and instituted the Ruhnama, intended to be a new scripture along with the Holy Quran. That is manifest apostasy and so he and any subsequent ruler of Turkmenistan that reveres the Ruhnama is a taghut. And even if these rulers, like Mustafa Kemal “Ataturk” professed Islam, they are apostates and tawaghit for persecuting the fundamental practice of Islam, such as by prohibiting the Hijab and the worship of Allah under pain of imprisonment or worse.