“You have done such-and-such, and such-and-such.” Such people are rebels, and they are to be fought. The subjects must assist the ruler in fighting them, because they are rebels. It is not permissible to rise against rulers except under stringent conditions, for the harms caused by rising against them are many times greater than the reform these people seek. These conditions are:

First: that we know with certainty that they have committed an act of disbelief.

Second: that we know that this disbelief is explicit, admitting of no interpretation—plain, evident, and clear. For what is explicit, as stated in the hadith, is that which is manifest, evident, and conspicuous. Thus, Allah says of Pharaoh that he said to Haman: “Build me a lofty tower, that I may reach the ways—the ways of the heavens” [Ghafir 40:36–37]. It must therefore be explicit. As for that which admits of interpretation, it does not justify declaring someone outside the faith.

Third: that we possess a proof from Allah—decisive evidence, as clear as the sun—that this is disbelief. Thus, it is necessary that we know it to be disbelief and that we know its perpetrator to be a disbeliever, since there is no room for interpretation. As the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Unless you see manifest disbelief for which you have proof from Allah” (1). They asked, “Should we not then oppose them?” He replied, “No, so long as they establish the prayer among you” (2)—that is, as long as they pray.