What is wrong with saying “the will of the people is part of the will of Allaah”

Praise be to Allaah. 

Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Doosari (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about this phrase, and he answered as follows:

This is a serious fabrication which some theorists and those who implement their ideas have dared to utter; nothing of this nature was ever spoken in the kaafir environments of past centuries. The worst that was said in the past was when they used the will of Allaah as an excuse, as Allaah tells us (interpretation of the meaning):

“Those who took partners (in worship) with Allaah will say: ‘If Allaah had willed, we would not have taken partners (in worship) with Him, nor would our fathers, and we would not have forbidden anything (against His Will).’”

[al-An’aam 6:148]. Allaah showed them to be liars, but these philosophers attribute to the so-called people the will to do whatever they want, in order to justify the plans which they want to carry out. We must confront this evil lie in order to prove that it and the motives of those who say this are false, because on the basis of their corrupt idea the people will be allowed to do whatever they want and conduct their affairs in such a way that there will be no restrictions laid down by the sharee’ah and the Book, only those that suit their whims and desires, or are based on their materialistic interests and physical desires, or their power – like the kaafir peoples who do not follow the religion of Allaah and do not care about morality or virtue.

Not even Abu Jahl and his ilk, as evil and stubborn as he was, dared to utter this lie, because the abhorrence of this lie is obvious to anyone who has common sense. People’s tastes and inclinations vary, so if the will of the people is regarded as being part of the will of Allaah, this would mean that all kinds of trends such as existentialism, communism, nazism, zionism, the law of the jungle and others are also part of the will of Allaah that He enjoins upon people. Then all the things that evil souls desire and sick hearts love, such as promiscuity, immorality, drinking alcohol and fulfilling physical desires at the expense of others would also be a part of the will of Allaah.

So why do they criticize and condemn others for it, if the will and desires of the people are part of the will of Allaah concerning the rulings that He likes? Why would Allaah send Messengers and reveal Books, and enjoin jihaad, and issue commands and prohibitions to the people, if their will is part of His will that He likes?

This is impossible; it is the ultimate immorality and misguidance.  Those who make this claim do not apply it to themselves, rather they use it as permission to suppress the people who do not submit to their power or act according to their plans.

It is as if the people whom they are ruling with an iron fist are the people whose will is divine and is part of the will of Allaah.

Falsehood is inevitably self-contradictory, and points out its own false nature. This is an action of major shirk, because they have made the people rivals to Allaah, and they have made their desires rivals to His sharee’ah and wisdom, instead of subject to Allaah’s rulings and adhering to His limits, content with and implementing His sharee’ah.