So how can he seek to escape a lesser trial that has not befallen him by falling into a greater trial that has already afflicted him? Allah says:

“And fight them until there is no more fitnah (tribulation) and religion is entirely for Allah.”

Thus, whoever abandons the fighting Allah has commanded for fear of tribulation has already fallen into it through the doubt in his heart, the sickness within it, and his abandonment of the jihad Allah has commanded. Reflect on this, for this is a perilous matter. People here fall into three groups:

One group enjoins right, forbids wrong, and fights, seeking to remove what they claim to be tribulation, yet their actions cause an even greater tribulation—as with those who fight one another in the strife that arises within the Muslim community.

Others shrink from enjoining right, forbidding wrong, and fighting through which religion becomes entirely for Allah and Allah’s word is supreme, lest they fall into temptation, although they have already fallen into tribulation. The tribulation mentioned in Surah Barā’ah includes temptation by beautiful people, for that was the occasion of the verse’s revelation. This is the condition of many religious people: they abandon their obligations of enjoining right, forbidding wrong, and engaging in jihad through which religion becomes entirely for Allah and Allah’s word is supreme, lest they be tempted by desires. Yet they have fallen into a tribulation greater than what they claim to have fled.

Rather, their duty is to fulfil what is obligatory and refrain from what is forbidden. The two are inseparable. They have abandoned this only because their own souls will yield to them only if they either do both together or abandon both together—as with many of those who love leadership or