Its roots thus nourish and strengthen its branches, while its branches perfect and preserve its roots. Whenever an outward deficiency occurs in it, it begins in its branches. Hence the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“The first thing you will lose from your religion is trustworthiness, and the last thing you will lose from your religion is prayer.”

It is also reported that he said:

“The first thing to be taken away is trustworthy governance.”

“Governance” is the work of rulers and those in authority, as Allah Most High says:

“Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due and, when you judge between people, to judge with justice.”

As for prayer, it is the first obligation prescribed and is among the foundations of religion and faith, coupled with the two testimonies of faith. It therefore disappears only at the end, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Islam began as something strange and will return to being strange as it began, so glad tidings to the strangers.”

He thus stated that its return would resemble its beginning. When the rule of the Rightly Guided Caliphs ended and gave way to kingship, deficiency appeared among the rulers; it was therefore inevitable that it would also appear among people of knowledge and religious devotion. Thus, toward the end of ‘Alī’s caliphate, the two innovations—those of the Khawārij and the Rāfidah—arose, for they concern leadership, the caliphate, and the practices and rulings of Islamic law that follow from them.

Mu‘āwiyah’s rule was a merciful kingship. When Mu‘āwiyah—may Allah have mercy on him—passed away and Yazīd’s rule began, there occurred during it the turmoil surrounding the killing of al-Husayn in Iraq and the turmoil involving the people of al-Harrah in Medina. They also laid siege to Mecca when ‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr rose up.