and some of their subjects. This then became more widespread, giving rise to strife whose cause was what has already been explained: on both sides, piety and obedience were not pure, but were mixed with a measure of desire and disobedience. Each side believed, on the basis of its own interpretation, that it was enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and upholding truth and justice. Yet this interpretation was accompanied by a measure of desire, and thus involved some conjecture and indulgence of the soul’s desires—even though one of the two groups was closer to the truth than the other.

The believer must therefore seek Allah’s help and rely upon Him to keep his heart upright, not let it deviate, and make it steadfast upon guidance and piety. He must not follow his desires, as the Most High says:

“So call people to this faith, stand firm as you have been commanded, and do not follow their desires. Say, ‘I believe in whatever Scripture Allah has revealed, and I have been commanded to deal justly between you. Allah is our Lord and your Lord.’”

This is also the condition of the Muslim community in the doctrinal views and acts of worship over which it has divided and differed. Such matters greatly intensify the trials faced by believers.

They need two things: to protect themselves from the trials in religious and worldly affairs that have afflicted their peers, despite the presence of the factors that give rise to those trials. For they, like others, have their own souls and devils to contend with. When such things occur among their peers, the impulses toward them grow stronger within them, as experience shows. Thus the impulse within a person grows stronger, as does his devil, together with the incentive generated by the actions of others and his peers. How many people have had no intention of doing either good or evil until they saw someone else—especially a peer—