until he dies. Neither his witnessing of divine decree nor anything else releases him from commands and prohibitions. Whoever does not know this must be informed and have it explained to him. If he persists in believing that commands and prohibitions no longer apply to him, he is to be put to death.

Such doctrines have become widespread among later generations, whereas they were not known among the earlier generations of this community. These doctrines constitute defiance of Allah and His Messenger, hostility toward Him, obstruction of His path, opposition to Him, rejection of His messengers, and resistance to His judgment. Yet someone who voices these doctrines may be unaware of this and believe that the path he follows is the way of the Messenger and of Allah’s spiritually realized friends. In this respect, he is like someone who believes that prayer is not obligatory for him because the spiritual states he has attained in his heart make him independent of it; or that wine is lawful for him because he belongs to the elect, whom drinking wine does not harm; or that sexual immorality is lawful for him because he has become like the sea, which sins cannot sully; and other such beliefs.

There is no doubt that the polytheists who rejected the messengers waver between innovations contrary to Allah’s revealed law and invoking divine decree to justify disobeying Allah’s commands. Thus, these groups