al-Siddīq—may Allah be pleased with him—fought. This was despite the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—having commanded that they be fought (1) in authentic hadiths, and despite reports describing them as “the worst of those slain beneath the vault of heaven, while the best person slain (2) is one whom they killed,” in the hadith reported by Abū Umāma, which al-Tirmidhī and others transmitted (3). This means that they were more harmful to the Muslims than anyone else. No one—not the Jews or the Christians—was more harmful to the Muslims than they were. They strove to kill every Muslim who disagreed with them, deeming the lives and property of Muslims, as well as the killing of their children, lawful and declaring them unbelievers. They regarded this as an act of religious devotion because of their profound ignorance and their misguiding innovation.

Yet despite this, the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—and those who followed them faithfully did not declare them unbelievers, regard them as apostates, or transgress against them in word or deed. Rather, they feared Allah concerning them and treated them justly. The same holds true for all the other groups among the people of religious innovation and caprice, including the Shia, the Mutazila, and others. Thus, whoever declares the seventy-two sects unbelievers