as when he rules that travel to places other than the three mosques is prescribed and recommended, that whoever undertakes it is rewarded, and that anyone who says it is not recommended is to be harmed and punished or imprisoned.
Such a ruling is invalid by the consensus of the Muslims. No one who knows the religion of Islam may follow it, nor may any ruler enforce it. Whoever enforces and supports such a ruling is subject to the same judgment as others like him: if the proof with which Allah sent His Messenger has been established against him and he contravenes it, he deserves punishment. Likewise, if he imposes such a ruling out of ignorance and obliges people to follow something of which he has no knowledge, he deserves punishment. If, however, he errs while exercising independent legal judgment, he is pardoned.
Allah has required Muslim rulers to follow the revealed law, namely the Quran and Sunnah. When Muslims disagree over a religious question, even if the person disputing it is merely an individual student of knowledge, the rulers may not compel him to follow a judge’s ruling. Rather, they must explain the truth to him, just as someone with knowledge explains the truth to someone who is ignorant. If the truth with which Allah sent His Messenger becomes clear and manifest to him, and he stubbornly opposes it thereafter, he deserves punishment.
As for someone who says, “What I have stated is my own view or the view of a group of Muslim scholars, and I have stated it on the basis of independent legal judgment or in reliance on scholarly authority,” the Muslims agree that he may not be punished, even if he has committed an error contrary to the Quran and Sunnah. Were such a person to be punished, all Muslims would be punished, for every one of them holds some mistaken views reached through independent legal judgment or reliance on scholarly authority. If Allah punished everyone who erred, He would punish all of creation. Rather, Allah Most High has said in the Quran:
“The Messenger has believed in what was sent down to him from his Lord, as have the believers. Each has believed