In this case...

In this case, not performing the ritual prayers on account of obeying someone besides Allah is tantamount to polytheism in obedience; that is to say, one has preferred to obey someone other than Allah and has believed that obedience, which a prerogative of Allah, pertains to someone other than Allah. In short, obeying someone who opposes Allah denotes polytheism in obedience, and this is harām and forbidden. Obeying Satan is also of this kind.

Democracy and obedience to Allah Obeying any law which is incompatible or contrary to Allah’s injunctions is polytheism in obedience, even if that law is [put forward] in the form of democracy. Democracy is approved when it is compatible with Divine injunctions or anything that is permitted by Divine law, but there is no democracy in the wājib (obligatory religious duties) and the harām (inviolable religious things).

Even if all people were to vote that ritual prayers ought to be renounced, or that alcohol ought to be legalized, their ballot does not have any value. Allah has commanded obedience to the Infallible Imām ( ‘a ), and during his Occultation, the Islamic jurist. Obeying the Islamic jurist and leader is exactly the same as monotheism in obedience and following forbidden democracy is exactly the same as polytheism in obedience.

It is for this same reason that the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran states that after the president has been elected, the consent or endorsement of the Islamic jurist and leader is necessary, because the people’s vote does not by itself give him the religious authority to rule and be obeyed. The endorsement of the Islamic jurist and leader makes obeying the president tantamount to obeying Allah, and exactly the same as monotheism.

The prohibition of polytheism in obedience The following verse proves the prohibition of polytheism in obedience: First verse: “Among the people are those who set up compeers besides Allah, loving them as if loving Allah—but the faithful have a more ardent love for Allah—though the wrongdoers will see, when they sight the punishment, that power, altogether, belongs to Allah, and that Allah is severe in punishment.” [^2] It has been mentioned in “ Majma‘ al-Bayān ” that this verse means one of the following two possibilities: Most interpreters of the Holy Qur’an have said that ‘compeers’ [ indād ] means idols worshipped by polytheists, meaning that some of the people love idols in the same way that they love Allah.