Chapter: The Imam’s and Governor’s Punishment of the Adherents of Deviant Doctrines

Muhammad ibn al-Husayn—may Allah have mercy on him—said:

When it has been reliably established before the Muslim ruler or any of his governors throughout the lands that a man openly professes the doctrine of the adherents of deviant doctrines, he should punish him severely. Anyone among them who deserves death should be put to death; anyone who deserves to be beaten, imprisoned, and made an example of should be treated accordingly; and anyone who deserves banishment should be banished, and the people should be warned against him.

If someone asks, “What is the proof for what you have said?” the response is: evidence that no scholar whom Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has benefited through knowledge would dispute. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb—may Allah be pleased with him—flogged Sabīgh al-Tamīmī and wrote to his officials ordering them to make him stand publicly and denounce himself. He also deprived him of his stipend and ordered that he be shunned, so he remained disgraced among the people.

Likewise, ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—put to death eleven people in an open area in Kufa who claimed that he was their god. He dug a trench for them and burned them with fire, saying:

[Rajaz meter]

When I heard the words—an abhorrent claim—
I set my fire ablaze and summoned Qanbar.