their due, and ask Allah for your due.” (1)

He also said:

“Whoever sees something from his ruler should bear it patiently, for whoever separates himself from the community by so much as a handspan has cast the bond of Islam from his neck.” (2)

He also said:

“Whoever renounces obedience and separates himself from the community dies a death of pre-Islamic ignorance.” (3)

He also said:

“The best of your rulers are those whom you love and who love you, for whom you pray and who pray for you. The worst of your rulers are those whom you hate and who hate you, whom you curse and who curse you.”

They asked, “Should we not fight them?”

He replied, “No, so long as they pray.” (4)

All these hadiths are found in the Sahih, in addition to other hadiths of the same kind.

Here, then, is his command to fight the Kharijites, and here is his prohibition against fighting unjust rulers. This provides evidence that not every unjust person is a rebel whom it is permissible to fight.

Among the reasons for this is that an unjust ruler who(5) monopolizes wealth and positions of authority is ordinarily fought only for worldly ends(6): people fight him(7) until he gives them wealth and positions of authority and ceases to wrong them. The underlying purpose of their fighting was therefore not to make religion entirely for Allah and the word of Allah supreme. Nor was their fighting comparable to fighting armed highway robbers, concerning whom(8) he said: “Whoever is killed defending his property is a