Making Constitutions above Sharia - Dr Zakir Naik
Making Constitutions above Sharia - Dr Zakir Naik
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00:00Good day, Dr Zakir Naik.
00:08My name is Abdul Hafeez from Nigeria.
00:11I am a student.
00:12Today, Muslims and non-Muslims all follow what is known as Constitution.
00:19And we all know that Constitution is a book written by human beings, Muslims, non-Muslims
00:25alike, indicating that the Constitution is not from Allah, the Almighty, and all countries
00:32rule and judge people with the Constitution, and they say it is the supreme law of the
00:38land instead of Sharia.
00:41And that any law against the Constitution is null and void, including Sharia.
00:46And Allah says in the Quran, in Surah Al-Maidah, Chapter 5, Verse 45,
00:53And whosoever does not judge by that which Allah has revealed, such are Zalimun, such are wrongdoers.
01:02So I would like to hear Dr Zakir Naik's point of view regarding Muslims following Constitution,
01:07and also I want to know if it's against Chapter 5, Verse 45.
01:12May Allah make our Deen prevail over all other religions, Jazakallah Khairan.
01:17The question posed is that today Muslims and non-Muslims alike, they follow the Constitution,
01:22and we know that the Constitution is written by human beings, whether they are Muslims
01:25or non-Muslims, and they consider Constitution to be something on the top.
01:30And all the countries, they follow the Constitution, even if it goes against the Sharia.
01:36And the Quran clearly states in Surah Al-Maidah, Chapter 5, Verse 44, that you have to judge
01:39by what Allah has commanded.
01:41And anyone who doesn't follow the commandment of Allah and does not judge according to the
01:45ruling of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, they are the wrongdoers.
01:47So what is my comment on the Constitution?
01:50According to me, the glorious Quran is the future world Constitution.
01:54It is a proclamation to humanity.
01:57It is the most positive book in the world.
02:00It is a fountain of mercy and wisdom.
02:04It's a warning to the heedless.
02:06It's a guide to the erring.
02:07It's an assurance to those in doubt.
02:09It's a hope to those in despair and a solace to the suffering.
02:14Now, I do agree with the questioner that every country has a Constitution.
02:19And if you analyze the Constitution of almost all the non-Muslim countries, they may not
02:28allow you to follow Sharia completely.
02:31There are a few exceptions to the rule, like India, I'll come to it later on.
02:35As far as the Muslim countries are concerned, many Muslim countries claim, not all, some,
02:40they claim that they follow Quran and Quran is the Constitution.
02:44But practically, I don't know of any country in the world which follow Quran completely.
02:49Some may follow a small percentage.
02:50Some may follow a larger percentage.
02:52And there are many Muslim countries who claim to be secular, they claim to be democratic,
02:56etc.
02:57Now, let us first deal with the non-Muslim countries.
03:02Allah says in the glorious Quran, in Surah Nisa chapter 4, verse number 97, that when
03:08the angel of death comes to take the soul, and he asks, how were you in the land?
03:14And when the replies that we were subjugated and we were persecuted.
03:19So the angel replies, isn't the world of Allah big enough for you to migrate?
03:24So here Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, in Surah Nisa chapter 4, verse 97, if you don't know
03:29the Quran, this was revealed in Makkah.
03:32When the majority of the people are in Makkah, they were mushriks, giving them guidance for
03:37the Muslim to Hijrah.
03:39And the verse continues, that all those, isn't the world big enough for you, vast enough
03:46for you to migrate?
03:47And all those who do not so, the Quran continues, they will be going to hell.
03:53And the verse continues, verse number 98 of Surah Nisa, except those who are weak, women,
04:00men and children, and who do not have the means to migrate.
04:04So Allah says, if you're living amongst the kuffar, amongst the non-Muslims, Allah tells
04:09you to migrate, except if you're weak among the men, women and children, you cannot migrate,
04:14Allah will forgive you.
04:16So the ruling is, you have to migrate, you cannot stay in a country where majority are
04:21non-Muslims.
04:22And the verse then continues, and verse number 100 says, that as for those who leave their
04:31home for sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and if they die in a land away from their
04:36home, for sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah will give them a felicity, a great reward,
04:40they'll get Jannah.
04:42And there are various such verses.
04:43So according to the ruling of the Sharia, a Muslim is supposed to stay in a majority
04:48Muslim country.
04:49There may be exceptions, and such exceptions, one is India, because India earlier was ruled
04:56by Muslims for about a thousand years, later on the Britishers came and they made partition
05:02of the United India, they made Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, about one third Muslim went to Pakistan,
05:07one third to Bangladesh, one third remained in India approximately.
05:10If you're united, you know, one third of the Muslim population lives in the Indian subcontinent.
05:17So the Britishers came and divided, and unfortunately weakened the Muslim.
05:23But one thing good, mashaAllah, that India is one of the few non-Muslim countries in
05:26the world which has a Muslim personal law.
05:29That means every Muslim living in India has, as far as the personal law is concerned, whether
05:35it be inheritance, whether it be marriage, etc., they are allowed to follow the Sharia,
05:40allowed to follow Quran and Sahih Hadith.
05:42The criminal law is common.
05:45The most important is the personal law.
05:48So India is one of the few countries in the world which allows a Muslim, even though it's
05:52a majority non-Muslim country, it was first ruled by Muslims, we have a Muslim personal
05:57law.
05:58So I wouldn't put India in this category of non-Muslim countries that a Muslim should
06:03migrate from.
06:04Because, you know, the Indian Muslims, they are about 210 million according to the government.
06:09Actually the numbers may be much more, 250 or 300 million, where will they go?
06:13So the ruling here, I feel it doesn't apply, and I've given this answer in my earlier.
06:18And India was one of the best, or the best, non-Muslim country to live before Modi came,
06:23before 2014.
06:25And Modi came and ruled, and he won in the first election, then second election in 2019
06:31he won.
06:32So for 10 years he had absolute majority, you know.
06:35So because of that, he tried to change many things, but Alhamdulillah, in the recent election
06:39that took place a couple of months earlier, the results were declared in June 2024, Modi
06:46didn't win with majority, he came back with the coalition, so we pray to Allah subhanahu
06:49wa ta'ala that the situation of Muslims in India becomes better.
06:54But even at that time, of course, we find that if you lived in those states which weren't
07:00controlled by BJP and RSS, like Kerala, like Hyderabad, like West Bengal, of course, Muslims
07:06were following very well, they were living very peacefully.
07:09And it's mentioned in the constitution of India, that every citizen of India can preach,
07:15propagate and practice his religion.
07:17Later on when Modi came, he tried to interfere with the constitution, he was trying, but
07:20Alhamdulillah, now that he's no longer in the absolute majority, we pray that the whole
07:25of India goes back to normal.
07:27But coming back to the other non-Muslim countries, whether it be the Western countries, whether
07:32it be USA, European countries, etc., where Muslims are in majority, so the ruling of
07:37the Quran, I told you, so I'm not in favour of Muslims living in non-Muslim countries,
07:43and basically coming to the question, the constitution, there are things in the constitution,
07:49like in India, there is not a single point in the constitution, or a single rule in the
07:55constitution that forces any Muslim to do something which is haraam, or prevents him
08:00from doing something which is fardha.
08:02But in most of the other non-Muslim countries, of course, there are things that you may be
08:06doing, haraam, or you may be forced to do haraam, and one common thing now in most of
08:11the Western countries is that they are forcing LGBT, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual,
08:21and plus, and queer, they're forcing.
08:25Now our children are being forced to learn about sex education, to know that, okay, there's
08:30no problem if you have two mothers, there's no problem if you have two fathers, they are
08:34being forced.
08:35Now this is haraam.
08:36So if you live in a non-Muslim country, I do agree that many things of the constitution,
08:41people are living in the Western country, they are paying tax, and from the tax money,
08:46many innocent Muslims are being killed.
08:47With that tax money, America, for example, if you pay tax money to America, with that
08:52tax money, America is spending billions of dollars, giving aid to Israel to kill tens
08:59of thousands of Palestinians.
09:01And this is happening since decades.
09:03Even many European countries, whether it be UK, whether it be France, they are giving
09:08aid to Israel to kill innocent Muslims.
09:13Imagine with your tax money, if you are a citizen, part of your money is going in killing
09:18a Muslim brother and sister, and there are many things which either it's impossible,
09:24or whether it's very difficult for Muslims to practice.
09:27I know, I mean, I've got many friends, you know, many of my Da'i friends, etc.
09:33When we speak to them one-to-one, most of them agree that, Dr Zakir, you are right.
09:40It's not right for Muslims.
09:42But may be asked in public, they may not be that vocal.
09:46Yes, there are some who yet consider a Western country to be a very good home for them, but
09:51the percentage is small.
09:53Majority agree.
09:54And that is the reason many of the Da'is that I know of, they want to migrate.
09:59Many want to come to Malaysia, and they say Malaysia is one of the best countries for
10:03a Muslim to live, or the best of the worst, or best available Muslim country to live.
10:07And you can see my answer on that, I've given that a couple of times before.
10:10I don't want to repeat it.
10:11So as far as following the constitution is concerned, in the Muslim countries, as I said,
10:17that some Muslim countries claim that Quran is the constitution, of course they will not
10:21force you to do something which is haraam.
10:23But the government may do haraam.
10:25I think there is no country that I know of in the world where there are no Riba banks.
10:31Yes, I just heard that in Afghanistan they want to close Riba banks.
10:36I don't know of any country in the world, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, which doesn't
10:41have Riba banks.
10:42Now, Riba is the twelfth major sin in Islam.
10:46Interest is the twelfth major sin.
10:48When a prophet said, there are various levels of Riba, and the lowest level is like doing
10:53Zina with your mother.
10:55Imagine such a major sin, Imam Dhabi labels it as twelfth major sin.
10:59After the five pillars of that, after shirk and murder and black magic, and the four pillars
11:06of Salah, Zakat, Ramadan, Hajj, then obedience to your parents, and take care of the orphans,
11:15then number twelve sin is dealing with Riba, taking or giving Riba, according to Imam Dhabi.
11:22So unfortunately, unfortunately, even the Muslim countries, I don't know of any country which
11:26is following Sharia totally.
11:28Some are following to a better extent, some medium, some very limited.
11:33But at least in the Muslim country, people will not force you to do something which is
11:37haraam.
11:38So living in a Muslim country is much better than a non-Muslim country.
11:42They may tell you options of doing haraam, they will not force you to do haraam, they
11:46will not prevent you from doing something which is farid.
11:49So I don't know in any Muslim country where they will prevent you, certain things okay,
11:55like Dawah is difficult, you know many of the Muslim countries they prevent you from
11:59doing Dawah, but as a whole, living in a Muslim country is better.
12:04Now coming to the question, that if the constitution is not based on the Quran and the Hadith,
12:11then what should we follow?
12:13The answer is very clear, whether living in a non-Muslim country or a Muslim country,
12:17if the constitution of the country tells you to do something which is against the Quran
12:21and Sahih Hadith, no Muslim should follow it.
12:25Because for us, Allah and his Rasul is far superior to the constitution of any country.
12:31And if they force you to do something haraam, you should not do it, or if they prevent you
12:35to do something which is farid, then you should do it.
12:39So if the constitution of the country contradicts with the Sharia, the Quran and Sahih Hadith,
12:46you should follow the Quran and the Sahih Hadith and not the constitution.
12:50But if there are certain things which are optional in Islam and makes you compulsory
12:56by the constitution, then no problem in doing it, or something the constitution prevents
13:04you from doing, which is allowed in Islam, mubah, optional, no problem, as long as you
13:12do not break the rule of the Sharia.
13:14So for us Muslims, our constitution is the Sharia, the glorious Quran and the Sahih Hadith.
13:21So we should follow the constitution, and I agree with the verse of the Quran, of Surah
13:27Maida, Chapter 5, verse number 45, which says that those who do not judge by the ruling
13:33of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, they will be amongst the zalimun, they will be amongst
13:38the wrongdoers.
13:39And we pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that may he not make us amongst the zalimun, and
13:43may he make us stand for the truth, for the haqq, and may he make us follow the Quran
13:47and Sahih Hadith, so that all the Muslims, they enter, inshallah, Jannah.
13:51Hope that answers the question.