such as Mu’tah, Hunayn, Tabūk, and others; the one who called them was the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It is also possible that the caller was ‘Alī, since he fought the oath-breakers, the unjust, and those who had departed from the religion. Their return to obedience to him constituted embracing Islam, because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

‘O ‘Alī, war against you is war against me, and war (1) against the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is disbelief.’”

The response is as follows:

A number of scholars have cited this verse as evidence for al-Siddīq’s caliphate and the obligation to obey him, including al-Shāfi‘ī, al-Ash‘arī, Ibn Hazm, and others. They based their argument on Allah Most High’s words:

“If Allah brings you back to a group of them and they ask your permission to go out, say, ‘You will never go out with me, nor will you ever fight an enemy with me.’” [Surah al-Tawbah: 83], to the end of the verse.

They said: Allah commanded His Messenger to tell these people, “You will never go out with me, nor will you ever fight an enemy with me.” It is therefore clear that the one who would call them to fight was not the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He must consequently have been someone who came after him: none other than Abū Bakr (2), then ‘Umar, then ‘Uthmān, who called the people to fight the Persians, the Byzantines, and others—or those peoples would embrace Islam—as He said: “You will fight them, or they will submit.”

These scholars identified those mentioned in Surah al-Fath with those addressed in Surah Barā’ah. This is where the argument becomes open to question, for those mentioned in Surah al-Fath were the people called upon at the time of al-Hudaybiyyah to set out with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when