and the other two opinions (1) are also found in the school of al-Shāfiī, may Allah have mercy on him, and others. As for Mālik and others, Mālik is reported to have held that some crimes may warrant execution. Some of Ahmad’s followers agreed with him in cases such as that of a Muslim spy who spies (2) on behalf of the enemy against the Muslims. Ahmad withheld judgment regarding (3) his execution, while Mālik and some Hanbalīs, such as Ibn Aqīl, permitted it. Abū Hanīfa, al-Shāfiī, and some Hanbalīs, such as al-Qādī Abū Yalā, did not permit it (4).
A group of the followers of al-Shāfiī, Ahmad, and others permitted the execution of one who calls people to innovations contrary to the Quran and sunnah, as did many Mālikīs (5). They said that Mālik and others permitted the execution of the Qadariyya because they spread corruption in the land, not because of apostasy (6).
The same has also been said regarding the execution of a sorcerer, for most scholars hold that he is to be executed. Al-Tirmidhī narrated (7) from Jundub—both as a statement of Jundub and as a report traced back to the Prophet—“The prescribed punishment for a sorcerer is a stroke of the sword” (8).
(1) The other manuscripts read: “al-awwalān” (“the first two”).
(2) The other manuscripts read: “tajassasa” (“spied”).
(3) The base manuscript reads: “min” (“from”).
(4) See *al-Mughnī*, 12:523–525.
(5) All the other manuscripts except F read: “Mālik’s followers.” See Mālik’s discussion of executing the Qadariyya in *Tahdhīb al-Mudawwana*, 2:77, and *al-Tāj wa-l-Iklīl*, in the margin of *Mawāhib al-Jalīl*, 8:368.
(6) Some manuscripts add: “The same ruling has likewise been stated concerning a member of *ahl al-ahwā* (heterodox sects) who has fallen under the authorities’ power, such as the Khawārij, the Rāfida, and the Qadariyya, according to one of the two reports from Ahmad. According to the report that does not declare them unbelievers, this is only because they spread corruption in the land, not because of unbelief.”
(7) The other manuscripts read: “ruwiya” (“it was narrated”), and add after the hadith: “It was narrated by al-Tirmidhī.”
(8) It was transmitted by al-Tirmidhī (1460), al-Tabarānī in *al-Kabīr* (1666), al-Dāraqutnī, 3:114, al-Hākim, 4:360, and al-Bayhaqī, 8:136, all through Ismā'īl ibn Muslim, from al-Hasan, from Jundub ibn Abd Allāh—may Allah be pleased with him.
Al-Tirmidhī said: “We know this hadith as a report attributed to the Prophet only through this route. Ismā'īl ibn Muslim al-Makkī is considered weak in hadith … The sound version is the statement of Jundub.” He also said in *al-Ilal al-Kabīr*, 2:624: “I asked Muhammad—that is, al-Bukhārī—about this hadith. He replied: ‘It is nothing. It was narrated only by Ismā'īl ibn Muslim.’ He deemed Ismā'īl ibn Muslim al-Makkī extremely weak.”