their prayer, his fasting compared with theirs, and his recitation compared with theirs. Wherever you encounter them, kill them, for whoever kills them will have a reward with Allah on the Day of Resurrection.”
This principle has been established through abundant evidence in the principles discussed above. The sins of those who commit acts of disobedience consist in doing certain things they have been forbidden to do: theft, unlawful sexual intercourse, drinking wine, or consuming wealth wrongfully.
The sins of people of religious innovation, however, consist in neglecting what they have been commanded to do: following the Sunnah and the community of believers. The foundation of the Khawārij’s innovation is that they do not consider it necessary to obey and follow the Messenger in matters which, in their view, contradict the apparent meaning of the Quran. This is the neglect of a duty.
Likewise, the Rāfidah do not acknowledge the uprightness of the Companions or the duty to love them and seek forgiveness for them. This is the neglect of a duty. Likewise, the Qadariyyah do not believe in Allah Most High’s eternal knowledge, His all-encompassing will, and His perfect power. This is the neglect of a duty. Likewise, the Jabriyyah do not affirm the servant’s power and will, and they may invoke predestination to reject the divine command. This is the neglect of a duty.
The same applies to the moderate Murjiʾah, although their innovation is one of the innovations of the jurists and involves no disbelief, a point on which none of the leading scholars disagrees. Anyone from our school who has included it among the innovations for which he reported and upheld a verdict of disbelief has erred in doing so. Their innovation arose only because they do not consider deeds or utterances to be included in faith. This is the neglect of a duty.
As for the extremist Murjiʾah, who deny punishment and claim that the scriptural texts threatened people with something that has no reality, this is a grave assertion, and it constitutes the neglect of a duty.