As salaamu alaykum respected scholars! My question concerns that in many States in America, the secular judges are issuing Islamic rulings based upon the Qur'an and ahadiths. In some of these cases involved inheritances gained during the marriage in an Islamic country but migrated to America and sought divorce threw state family courts. Do we follow these rulings of these secular judges who are not Maulana, Mufti and other positions of knowledge? How valid is it that a secular and non Muslim judge, not trained Islamic jurisprudence give fatwas? Since I seen one of these cases that a secular judge ruled upon an ahadith that was grade da'if and chain of recorders unreliable, and yet, the secular judge used this ahadith in a ruling in a family law. Please advise, this is a serious issue in America and there is legislation in some states stopping state courts from using shari'ah law to adjudicate some cases. Jazaaka Allahu Khayran.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The rulings which a non-Islamic judge issues do not apply to Muslims and they are not like the rulings of an Islamic judge even if they coincide with the Sharee’ah; because among the conditions for a man to hold the position of a judge or for his rulings to be effective, is to be a Muslim, and this is a condition agreed upon by the Muslim jurists .

Hence, the ruling of the non-Islamic judge on divorcing a wife from her husband, for example, is not effective just by issuing it. The statement of the Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America reads: “Resorting to non-Islamic counts in order to terminate the marriage in a legal manner does not lead by itself to the termination of the marriage Islamically.”

It should be noted that the Muslims in non-Muslim countries should appoint Islamic authorities that should judge between them in case of disputes, like Islamic Centers, for example. Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said: “If they agree to resort to this Da’wah Center in case of disputes, then this is permissible and this is what they have to do, because they must take their cases to the Muslims (to judge between them).”

Allaah Knows best.