“…then let him support him.” (1)

These two designations—“the Emigrants” and “the Helpers”—(2) are divinely sanctioned names that appear in the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Allah Himself conferred them, just as He had previously named us “Muslims,” both before and in this context. (3) Thus, for someone to affiliate himself with the Emigrants (4) or with the Helpers is a noble and praiseworthy affiliation in the sight of Allah and His Messenger. It is not merely a permissible label used for simple identification, like affiliating with a tribe or a city, nor is it something disliked or forbidden, such as affiliating with that which leads (5) to innovation or any other sin.

Yet despite this, when each of the two groups called upon its own faction for support, (6) the Prophet ﷺ disapproved and labeled it a cry of the Age of Ignorance—even after he was told that the ones who had called out were only two youths and that the call had not come from the entire community. He ordered that the wrongdoer be restrained and the wronged assisted, so that the Prophet (7) ﷺ might clarify that the real danger (8) lies in a person’s blind partisanship for his group, as was the practice of the people (9) of Ignorance. Supporting one’s group upon the truth, without transgression, is praiseworthy—indeed obligatory or at least recommended.

A similar case is found in the narration reported by Abū Dāwūd and Ibn Mājah from Wāthilah ibn