a Muslim; he neither forsakes him nor wrongs him. By Him in whose hand is my soul, none of you truly believes until he loves for his brother the good that he loves for himself.”

Whoever fulfils the obligations of faith is a brother to every believer, and every believer must uphold his rights, even if no special pact has been concluded between them. For Allah and His Messenger have already established brotherhood between them through His words:

“The believers are but brothers.”

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“I wish I could have seen my brothers.”

Anyone who remains entitled to the rights of faith must be treated accordingly: he should be praised for his good deeds and shown loyalty on their account, admonished against his evil deeds and shunned on their account as far as possible. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Support your brother, whether he is an oppressor or is oppressed.” I said, “O Messenger of Allah, I support him when he is oppressed, but how do I support him when he is an oppressor?” He said, “You prevent him from committing oppression; that is how you support him.”

Every Muslim must ensure that his love and hatred, his loyalty and enmity, follow the command of Allah and His Messenger. He must love what Allah and His Messenger love, hate what Allah and His Messenger hate, be loyal to those who are loyal to Allah and His Messenger, and oppose those who oppose Allah and His Messenger.

Anyone who has both good deeds that warrant loyalty and evil deeds that warrant opposition must be treated accordingly. Such is the case with sinful Muslims: they deserve reward and punishment, loyalty and opposition, love and hatred, according to the righteousness and wickedness within them. For:

“Whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it.”

“And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.”