(* Moreover, the people of Siffīn did not initiate the fighting against Alī. Abū Hanīfah and others do not permit fighting rebels unless they are the first to attack the ruler [in combat] (1). Likewise, Ahmad, Abū Hanīfah, and Mālik do not permit (2) fighting those who fulfill their obligation when a resisting group says: (3) “We will not pay our zakat to so-and-so.” *) (4). A distinction must therefore be made between fighting the apostates and fighting the Kharijites who had broken away.

As for fighting the rebels mentioned (5) in the Quran, that is a third category, distinct from both of these. Allah Most High did not command that rebels be fought from the outset. Rather, He commanded that when two groups of believers fight one another, reconciliation be made between them. This is not the ruling that applies to apostates or to the Kharijites (6).

There is disagreement concerning the fighting on the Day of the Camel and at Siffīn: Does it (7) fall under the category of fighting rebels as commanded in the Quran? Or was it fighting born of civil strife, in which (8) the one who remained aloof was better than the one who took part? The Companions who remained aloof, the majority of the scholars of hadith and the sunnah, and the leading jurists [after them] (9) held that it was fighting born of civil strife, not the fighting of rebels commanded in the Quran. Allah did not command rebellious believers to be fought from the outset merely because of their rebellion. Rather, He commanded that when believers fought one another, reconciliation be made between them.