that the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—once dispatched a military detachment, appointed a man as their commander, and instructed them to listen to him and obey. They angered the commander, so he said, “Gather some firewood for me.” They gathered it for him. He then said, “Ignite a fire.” They lit the fire. Next he said, “Did not the Messenger of Allah order you to listen to me and obey me?” They replied, “Yes.” He said, “Then enter the fire.” They looked at one another and said, “We fled to the Messenger of Allah precisely to escape the Fire.” They remained as they were until his anger subsided. When they returned, they told the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—what had happened. He said, “Had they entered it, they would never have come out of it,” and he added, “There is no obedience in disobedience to Allah; obedience is only in what is right.”

Likewise, in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, it is related from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“It is incumbent upon the Muslim to listen and obey in matters he likes and dislikes, unless he is commanded to commit a sin; for if he is commanded to commit a sin, then no listening and no obedience are due.”