The reason for this is that they had subjected themselves to the laws governing Muslims, while they had no valid interpretation to excuse them; liability therefore fell upon them. This is supported by the case of highway robbers. Such liability does not apply to the people of the Abode of War, because they had not subjected themselves to the laws governing Muslims. Nor does it apply to the rebels, because they have a valid interpretation. They may not be granted a truce, unlike the people of the Abode of War. Nor may a peace agreement be concluded with them in exchange for payment that would allow them to persist in their apostasy, unlike the people of the Abode of War.

If someone is accused of apostasy and denies it, his statement is accepted without requiring him to take an oath. But if apostasy is established against him by legally admissible evidence, he does not become a Muslim merely by denying it; rather, he must verbalize the two testimonies of faith.

If a group refuses to pay zakat to the just imam while denying its obligation, they are apostates and the rulings governing apostates apply to them. But if they withhold it out of stinginess while acknowledging its obligation, the imam fights them, just as Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah be pleased with him, fought them when they withheld zakat. One of them even said, “We obeyed Allah’s Messenger as long as he was among us; but, how astonishing—what right does Abū Bakr’s rule have?” If they persist, he kills them as Muslims, just as highway robbers are killed after being given three days to repent.

Aḥmad said, according to the narration of Abū Ṭālib: “If he says, ‘Zakat is due from me, but I will not pay it,’ he is told—twice or three times—‘Pay zakat.’ If he does not pay it, he is given three days to repent. If he repents, all well; otherwise, his neck is struck.” Thus, he explicitly stated that they are to be killed. According to the narration of al-Maymūnī, he said: “If they withhold zakat, as they did from Abū Bakr, and fight over it, no one inherits from them, nor is the funeral prayer offered over them.” This is understood to refer to those who withheld it while denying its obligation, as the apostates did. But if they acknowledge its obligation, they are not disbelievers.

He also said, according to the narration of ʿAbdūs: “Whoever abandons the prayer has disbelieved. There is no deed such that abandoning it constitutes disbelief, except the prayer.”