and more bitter.’ [Surah al-Qamar, 46]

“Surahs al-Baqarah and al-Nisā’ were not revealed until I was living with him.”

He said: She then brought out the copy of the Quran for him and dictated the verses of the surahs to him.

Since disbelief, wickedness, and disobedience cause evil and aggression, an individual or a group may commit a sin while others remain silent, neither enjoining what is right nor forbidding what is wrong; this becomes one of their sins. Still others may condemn them in a forbidden manner, making that one of their sins. Division, discord, and evil then ensue. This has been among the gravest sources of strife and evil, past and present, for man is deeply unjust and ignorant. Injustice and ignorance take different forms: those of the first party are of one kind, while those of the second and third parties each take a different form.

Anyone who reflects on the strife that has occurred will recognize this as its cause. They will see that this lies at the root of the strife that has arisen among the Muslim community’s rulers and scholars, including the kings and shaykhs who became involved and the ordinary people who followed them.