Imam Abu Jaʿfar al-Ṭaḥāwī said: “We do not consider it permissible to revolt against our leaders and those in charge of our affairs, even if they behave unjustly. We neither invoke curses upon them nor withdraw our hand from obeying them. We regard obedience to them as obedience to Allah, so long as they do not command disobedience, and we pray for their righteousness and well-being.”1

Imam al-Barbahārī (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Know that a ruler’s injustice does not reduce any of the obligations Allah has imposed through the tongue of His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. His injustice is against himself, whereas your voluntary acts and dutifulness performed alongside him remain, if Allah wills, fully accepted—meaning the congregational prayer, the Friday prayer, jihad conducted with them, and every act of obedience, so join them in all of these. If you see a man supplicating against the ruler, know that he is a follower of whim; and if you hear a man supplicating for the ruler’s rectitude, know that he is, Allah willing, a follower of the Sunnah. Al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ said, ‘Were I granted one supplication that would certainly be answered, I would make it for the ruler.’ We have been commanded to pray for their righteousness and not commanded to pray against them, even if they are unjust and oppressive, for their injustice and oppression rebound upon themselves and upon