He said to them, “That is not permissible.”
They replied, “Then we (1) shall go to the houses of those who harmed you, kill them, and demolish their dwellings, for they have thrown the people into confusion and stirred up this turmoil.”
He answered, “That, too, is not lawful.”
They said, “So what they have done to you—is that lawful? We cannot put up with this; we must go to them and fight them for what they have done.”
The Shaykh kept forbidding them and rebuking them.
When their insistence became excessive, he said, “The right involved here is either mine, yours, or Allah’s. If the right is mine, I have pardoned them. If it is yours, and you refuse to listen to me or seek my verdict, then do whatever you wish (2). And if the right is Allah’s, then Allah will take His right as He wills, if He wills (3).”
They said, “So what they did to you is lawful for them?!”
He replied, “What they did may well earn them reward.”
They said, “Then are you upon falsehood and they upon truth? If you claim they are rewarded, then listen (4) to them and agree with their view!”