as Abū Hanīfa held. Another group says that she may not be enslaved, as al-Shāfiʿī and Ahmad held. The position known from the Companions is the former: apostate women—the wives of apostates—may be enslaved. Indeed, the woman of Banū Hanīfa whom ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—took as a concubine, the mother of his son Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, was among the captives of the apostate Banū Hanīfa. Abū Bakr al-Siddīq—may Allah be pleased with him—and the Companions fought them when he dispatched Khālid ibn al-Walīd against them.

The “Nusayriyyah” do not conceal their beliefs and practices. Rather, all Muslims know that they do not perform the five daily prayers, fast the month of Ramadan, make pilgrimage to the Sacred House, or pay zakat. Nor do they acknowledge these duties as obligatory. They deem wine and other forbidden things lawful, and believe that ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib is God. They say:

“We bear witness that there is no god but Haydara, bald at the temples and large-bellied;
And no veil before Him but Muhammad, the truthful and trustworthy;
And no path to Him but Salmān, the strong and steadfast.”

If, however, they do not openly profess rejection of the Companions or the belief that this liar is the awaited Mahdī, yet refuse to submit, they are still to be fought. But they are to be fought as were the renegade Khawārij whom ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—fought at the command of the Messenger of Allah