follow you, all together.” He is also among those of whom Satan said:

“By Your might, I will surely mislead them all, except Your chosen servants among them.”

Allah said:

“Indeed, you have no authority over My servants, except those among the misguided who follow you.”

And the Most High said:

“Indeed, he has no authority over those who believe and put their trust in their Lord. His authority is only over those who take him as an ally and those who associate others with Allah through him.”

And the Most High said:

“Indeed, We have made the devils allies of those who do not believe. When they commit an indecency, they say, ‘We found our fathers doing it, and Allah has commanded us to do it.’ Say, ‘Indeed, Allah does not command indecency. Do you say about Allah what you do not know?’”

How, then, can you command polytheism and unbelief and give unbelievers—polytheists and People of the Book—power over Muslims? The killing of Muslims by unbelievers is not something Allah commands, just as He does not command indecency. Indeed, this is among the gravest indecencies, if “indecency” is understood to encompass everything profoundly reprehensible, so that all evil and reprehensible deeds fall within its scope.

There was also in Baalbek, in Syria, one of the leading shaykhs—Shaykh Uthmān, the shaykh of Dayr Nā‘is. The protector of the Christian Franks would visit him riding a lion, meet with him in seclusion, and speak to him confidentially, saying, “O Shaykh Uthmān, I have been entrusted with guarding their pigs.” Uthmān and his followers would excuse him for this, believing that Allah had commanded him to do it, just as He had commanded al-Khidr to do what he did. Likewise, Ibn al-Sakrān and others like him excused the protectors of the polytheist Tatars.

The answer to this is the same as the answer to the previous case. He should be asked, “Has Allah Most High entrusted you with this?