by their results and consequences. The Quran only commands fighting the transgressing group after fighting has broken out. For Allah Most High says:

“If two groups of believers fight, make peace between them. But if one of them transgresses against the other, fight the one that transgresses”—to the end of the verse.

He did not command fighting alongside either group at the outset. Rather, He commanded reconciliation and fighting the transgressing group.

If it is said that “the transgressing group” includes both initial aggression and aggression after fighting has broken out, the reply is: The verse does not command either group to fight the other; rather, it commands the rest of the believers to fight the transgressing group. The point under discussion here is simply that ‘Alī was not commanded to undertake the fighting; rather, refraining from it would have been better.

If, however, he fought because fighting was permissible, even though refraining from it was better, or because he exercised independent judgment concerning it, even though it was not in fact permissible, then the question is whether it is obligatory to fight alongside him against the transgressing group or to refrain from fighting during civil strife. This is a point of conflicting evidence and independent judgment among the scholars and those believers who fought, once it is firmly established that he and his followers were the closer of the two groups to the truth.

Two lines of reasoning are possible. First: The command to fight the transgressing group is conditional upon ability and feasibility. Fighting them takes no greater priority than fighting polytheists and disbelievers, and it is well known that this too is conditional upon ability and feasibility. The benefit intended by Islamic law may sometimes lie in winning people over through gifts, maintaining peace, and making treaties, as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did on more than one occasion. If the ruler believes that the requisite ability exists when it does not, then refraining is, in reality, the better course.