of ʿAmila (1) and its environs—
When the Muslim armies set out from Egypt, they displayed such disgrace and humiliation as people had long associated with them. Yet when Allah granted Islam its greatest victory with the Sultan’s arrival, their condition was like that of mourners at a funeral.
All this—and worse—characterizes this faction, which was among the chief causes of Genghis Khan’s march against the lands of Islam, Hulagu’s capture of Baghdad, his advance upon Aleppo, the sack of al-Ṣāliḥiyya (2), and other (3) acts of hostility toward Islam and its people; for they hold that anyone who does not agree with their misguidance is an apostate unbeliever. Whoever deems fuqqāʿ (4) permissible is, according to them, a disbeliever. Whoever wipes over leather socks is, in their eyes, a disbeliever. Whoever pronounces temporary marriage unlawful is, for them, a disbeliever. Whoever loves Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, or ʿUthmān, or invokes Allah’s pleasure upon them or upon (5) the great majority of the Companions, is, in their estimation, a disbeliever. And whoever does not—