are the Muslims supposed to obey him just because he is the 'ruler' or 'hukmaran'??? Isn't the law of Allah and his Rasool (SAWS) more superior to what a human ruler says??

Recently, I was talking with one of my friends who happens to be a student of religious knowledge in a madrassa in Pakistan. He told me that it is necessary to obey the 'Hukmaran' (ruler) in every condition. I asked him even if the ruler asks his citizens to do something against the Shariah and his reply was in the affirmative. Only if he commits open kufr are we allowed to oppose him, he said. Now, this made no sense to me whatsoever. When I quoted him the Hadith wherein Rasullullah (SAWS) is reported to have said "There is no obedience to the creation when there is disobedience to the creator", he said that the Hadith is true but that what he was saying is the opinion of the Ulama. From what I know, the Muslims are allowed to REBEL against the ruler only if he commits open kufr but if he imposes something against the Shariah on his subjects, are the Muslims supposed to obey him just because he is the 'ruler' or 'hukmaran'??? Isn't the law of Allah and his Rasool (SAWS) more superior to what a human ruler says?? For example, consider the following:

i) A Muslim ruler (or government) imposes the law that women are NOT to wear the Hijab in public, instead they have to expose themselves. Are Muslim women supposed to obey the ruler/government just because they are the 'hukmaran'??

ii) Similarly, if they impose a law that Muslim men are NOT allowed to wear beards or that all Muslims are ONLY allowed to eat Haram meat or just in general, something which is totally against the Shariah. Are Muslims of that country supposed to obey the ruler/government just because they are the 'hukmaran'??

iii) You might know that since the London bombings last year, the Pakistani government has been pushing the Madrassas to expel all foreign Muslim students because they think that nothing but terrorism is being taught in the Madrassas and that the foreign students will spread terrorism after leaving Pakistan. Naturally, the madrassas have opposed the government in this issue because it is a fact that madrassas don't teach terrorism to anybody and the foreign students are all innocent. This is not a Sharii' masla but aren't the madrassas and the Ulama right in doing this?? I mean they shouldn't just bow down to government pressure otherwise the government might do something else in the future which might be even worse than this and the madrassas/Ulama would have to bow down again.

From all your previous fatwas, I have come to know that even parents (who have such a high status in Islam, surely higher than a ruler) are not to be obeyed if they ask us to do something which is against the Shariah. How on earth is then it possible that we obey a ruler blindly just because he's the 'ruler'??

I became really confused after talking with him and that's why I am writing to you. Please help me clear my confusion in this matter.