sometimes in your favor and at other times against you; and perfect, absolute perfection is for the servant to remain a servant of Allah in both conditions—during ease and during hardship, when events unfold as he loves and when they take the opposite course. Such is the attainment of completeness for the individual and for entire communities alike, and Allah alone grants success.
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Among the matters of the greatest importance is that the commander be compassionate toward his charges, sincerely wishing them good, laboring for it with all his might, and frequently engaging them in discussion and consultation—especially those endowed with sound judgment and insight. Equally, the subjects must be obedient and compliant, free of quarrels and disturbances. Allah the Exalted says: “O you who believe, obey Allah, obey the Messenger, and those vested with authority among you. If you differ over anything, refer it back to Allah and the Messenger.” 59 [An-Nisāʾ 4:59]—that is, whenever a dispute arises in any matter, and particularly in affairs pertaining to the management of war, it is to be referred to this principle in which the believers find assurance and to which both their leaders and their commonfolk turn. They know that this is an obligation upon them all, that the ruling of Allah and His Messenger is nothing but goodness and rectitude, and that Allah knows their true interests better than they do and guides them to everything that will benefit them.
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Another matter of great importance is to adhere to the path of truth and to be just in the distribution of the spoils, so that they are not seized by the strong to the exclusion of the weak, nor allowed to degenerate into chaos. These two wrongs, besides being religiously impermissible and among the gravest of prohibitions, inflict the utmost harm upon the army: they breed enmity, kindle greed and avarice, and set its members pursuing divergent aims. As a result, order collapses, failure ensues, and this becomes the enemy’s greatest weapon against the Muslims.
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Also of great importance—and it is a powerful aid in warfare—is to strive, as far as one is able, to sow division within the enemy’s ranks, pursuing every means that will disperse their unity: making truces with those among them who may be conciliated, and offering funds to their leaders if