The shaykh was also asked:

There are people possessing armed strength who live in a certain territory but do not perform the prescribed prayers. They have no mosque, no call to prayer, and no call announcing its commencement. If any of them prays, he does so in a manner other than that prescribed. They do not pay zakat, despite their considerable wealth in livestock and crops. They fight among themselves, killing one another, plundering one another’s property, and killing children. They may show no restraint in shedding blood and seizing property, whether during Ramadan, the sacred months, or at any other time. When they take one another captive, they sell their captives to the Franks. They also openly sell their male and female slaves to the Franks, driving them along like livestock. They marry women during their waiting periods, deny women their inheritance, and do not submit to the Muslim ruler.

When one of them is summoned to abide by Islamic law, he says, “We ourselves are the law!” And they do other such things. Is it permissible to fight them under these circumstances? How can they be brought into Islam, given what has been mentioned?

He replied:

Yes, it is permissible. Indeed, by the consensus of the Muslims, it is obligatory to fight these people and others like them: any group that refuses to comply with any of the manifest ordinances of Islam