Question
Is a secularist a disbeliever?
Fatwa
All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger.
A secularist is someone who adopts secularism, which means irreligiousness or worldliness. It is a trend that aims at establishing life without religion, and calls for excluding religion from this world and its affairs.
Anyone who believes that Islamic Sharee‘ah (Islamic legislation) is inadequate to manage worldly affairs or that it was only appropriate for a specific time frame and that times have changed, or that Islam cannot cope with [modern] civilization but calls for backwardness, must be instructed if he is ignorant. If he acknowledges the truth and believes in the worthiness, superiority and appropriateness of Islamic Sharee‘ah it will be for his own good. Otherwise, he would be a disbeliever and an apostate even if he prays, fasts and claims to be a Muslim. Allah The Almighty Says (what means):
• {O you who have believed, enter into Islam completely [and perfectly] and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.} [Quran 2:208]
• {He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Nooh (Noah) and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what We enjoined upon 'Ibraaheem (Abraham) and Moosa (Moses) and 'Eesaa (Jesus) - to establish the religion and not be divided therein.} [Quran 42:13]
• {And whoever desires other than Islam as religion -- never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.} [Quran 3:85]
Religion is a way of life in terms of worship, behavior, dealings and belief. Anyone who knows that he is a slave and that Allah The Almighty is his Lord, must know that the Lord commands and forbids and the slave must obey, because the Creator is All-Merciful and All-Knowing of what is best for him. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Does He who created not know, while He is the Subtle, the Acquainted?} [Quran 67:14]
And Allah knows best.