to obey him. If they present a grievance, he should remove it from them. But if they raise no grievance and persist in their rebellion, the imam is to fight them until they return to obedience to him. The rulings governing combat against them are that their fleeing men are not to be pursued, their captives are not to be killed, and their wounded are not to be finished off. On the day of the Camel, Ali’s herald proclaimed: “Let no fleeing man be pursued, and let no wounded man be finished off.” (1)

On the day of Siffin, a captive was brought before Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, and he said to him: “I will not kill you in captivity, for I fear Allah, Lord of the worlds.” Whatever loss of life or property either party causes the other during the fighting entails no liability.

Ibn Shihab said: “During that civil strife, blood was shed in cases where both the killer and the slain were known, and much property was destroyed. Then, once the war between them had ceased and judgment was passed concerning them, I do not know of anyone against whom retaliation was exacted or who was made to compensate for property he had destroyed.”

As for those in whom these three conditions are not all found—such as when they are a small group without strength or defensive power, have no plausible interpretive justification, or have not appointed an imam—they are not to be confronted so long as they do not take up arms or attack the Muslims. But if they do so, they are like highway robbers.

It is related that Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, heard a man in one part of the mosque saying, “Judgment belongs to Allah alone.” Ali said: “A word of truth by which falsehood is intended. You have three rights due from us: we shall not prevent you from the mosques of Allah, where you remember His name; we shall not withhold from you the public revenues so long as you stand alongside us; and we shall not initiate fighting against you.” (2)

“O believers! Let not one people ridicule another people; perhaps they may be better than them. Nor let women ridicule other women; perhaps they may be better than them. Do not defame one another, nor call one another by offensive nicknames. How evil it is to be called wicked after having believed! And whoever does not repent—then it is they who are the wrongdoers.” (11)

Regarding His saying, exalted is He, “O believers! Let not one people ridicule another people,” and the rest of the verse: Ibn Abbas said, “It was revealed concerning Thabit ibn Qays ibn Shammas. He had impaired hearing in one of his ears. When he came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, after the people had already taken their places in the gathering, they would make room for him so that he could sit beside him and hear what he said. One day, he came after having missed [a unit of the prayer