but Allah.’ (1) This is the general rule; how much more, then, with the rulers whose defiance and opposition would splinter obedience, fracture Muslim unity, and bring harmful consequences upon the believers?

Such is the doctrine of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamaʿah: they observe the Friday and congregational prayers and they wage jihad in Allah’s cause under every leader—upright or sinful—so long as he has not left Islam. This is one of the fundamental principles of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamaʿah from the time of the Companions through the age of the leading Imams, and it is the point upon which the Sunni community is unanimously agreed.

The second issue: offering the funeral prayer for a Muslim, even if he is openly corrupt, so long as he has not exited Islam. Such a person remains a Muslim, entitled to the rights and bound by the obligations of all Muslims. If, however, he has departed from Islam, the funeral prayer is not performed for him because he is no longer a Muslim. Yet the verdict of apostasy is not for just anyone to pronounce; it is issued only by scholars of insight who judge according to the principles of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamaʿah. No individual—however good his intention or laudable his aim—may deliver that ruling; it belongs solely to those endowed with discernment and firmly grounded knowledge.