For this reason, one finds many of their leading figures commanding unconditional obedience to the ruler and asserting that whoever obeys him has thereby obeyed Allah. Their obedience thus became proverbial, as in the expression:
“Syrian obedience.”
Accordingly, they maintain that their imam commands them only to do what Allah has commanded them to do. There are no Shia among them; rather, many of them hate Alī and revile him.
Whoever believes that everything the imam commands (1) is something Allah has commanded, that obeying him is obligatory, and that Allah rewards a person for such obedience and punishes him for failing to obey, has no need for anyone infallible besides his own imam.
The response, then, is twofold. The first is to say: whenever any of these groups is told [to it] (2), “It (3) must have an infallible imam,” it replies, “The infallibility of the imam whom I follow is sufficient for me. I have no need for the infallibility of the Twelve—neither Alī nor anyone else.” One says, “My shaykh and exemplar,” while the Umayyad and the Ismāʿīlī each says, “My imam.” Indeed, many people believe that whoever obeys rulers incurs no sin by doing so, regardless of who the ruler may be. They interpret His words:
“Obey Allah, obey the Messenger, and those in authority among you.”
[Surah al-Nisāʾ: 5]
If it is objected, “Their disagreement carries no weight (4),” the reply is: These people are better than the Rāfidī Ismāʿīlīs.