the Camel and Siffīn. This is mistaken. Rather, the Quran, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the Companions distinguish between the two categories, as most leading scholars of jurisprudence, Sunnah, hadith, Sufism, speculative theology, and other disciplines have explained. Furthermore, reports from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, encompass these people and others. Among them is what Muslim narrated in his Sahīh from Abū Hurayrah, who said:

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever abandons obedience and separates from the Muslim community, then dies, dies a death of pre-Islamic ignorance. Whoever is killed under a banner of blind allegiance, becoming angry out of partisan loyalty and fighting for partisan loyalty, is not of me. Whoever rises against my ummah, striking its righteous and wicked alike, neither sparing its believers nor keeping faith with those under its covenant, is not of me.”

He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, thus mentioned the rebels who abandon obedience to the ruler and separate from the Muslim community, stating that whoever among them dies has died a death of pre-Islamic ignorance. For the people of the pre-Islamic age did not appoint rulers over themselves; rather, each group sought to overpower the others. He then mentioned fighting out of partisan loyalty, as with those who fight on grounds of lineage, such as Qays and Yaman, stating that whoever is killed under these banners is not part of his ummah. He then mentioned the fighting waged by violent aggressors, the Kharijites, and their like, stating that whoever does this is not of him. These people combine all three characteristics and go beyond them.

For they have abandoned obedience and the Muslim community. They kill believers and those protected by covenants, and they recognize none of the rulers of