(1) Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah states in Al-Sarim al-Maslul, 3/735: “Muharaba (waging war) is of two kinds: muharaba by the hand and muharaba by the tongue. In religious matters, fighting by the tongue can be more devastating than fighting by the hand … For that reason the Prophet would sometimes execute those who fought him with their tongues while sparing some who fought him with their hands—especially since opposition to the Messenger after his death can occur only through the tongue. Likewise, fasad (corruption) may be perpetrated by the hand or by the tongue; what the tongue corrupts in matters of religion is many times greater than what the hand corrupts, just as what the tongue reforms in religion is many times greater than what the hand reforms. It is therefore established that waging war against Allah and His Messenger with the tongue is graver, and that working to spread religious corruption by the tongue is more emphatically condemned.”