His statement, “or when the imam mobilizes him”: this is the third circumstance.

“If he mobilizes him,” that is, if he says, “Go forth.”

By “the imam” is meant the supreme ruler of the state. It is not a condition that he be the overall imam of all Muslims, for the universal imamate ceased to exist long ago. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Listen and obey, even if an Abyssinian slave is appointed over you.” (1) Thus, if a person assumes authority over a particular region, he takes the place of the overall imam: his word becomes binding and his command must be obeyed.

From the time of the Commander of the Believers, Uthman ibn Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, the Muslim Ummah began to fragment: Ibn al-Zubayr was in the Hijaz, the Marwanids in Syria, al-Mukhtar ibn Ubayd and others in Iraq. The Ummah became divided, yet the imams of Islam continued to hold that loyalty and obedience are due to whoever assumed authority over their respective regions, even if he did not possess the universal caliphate. From this we recognize the error of a generation that has arisen claiming, “There is no imam for the Muslims today, so no one is owed a pledge of allegiance!” We ask Allah for safety. I do not know whether such people want affairs to become chaotic, with no leader to guide the people, or whether they want it to be said, “Every person is his own ruler.”

If such people die without a pledge of allegiance, they die a death of the Age of Ignorance—Allah’s protection is sought—because Muslims have long acted upon the principle that whoever gains control over one of the regions and holds supreme authority therein is its imam. The scholars have explicitly stated this, such as the author of Subul