Moreover...

Moreover, they say that murder is mischief, and that whoever murders in order to enforce obedience to himself, he is someone who wants to be exalted in the earth.

This mischief was the condition of Fir’awn, and Allah the Most High says, “That home of the Hereafter, We shall assign to those who do not seek to be exalted in the earth, nor commit mischief, and the good end is for the pious.” (28:83) Therefore, anyone who seeks to be exalted in the earth, and to do mischief, is not from the successful ones in the Hereafter. This was not like the fight of Abu Bakr against the apostates and those who refused to pay Zakat .

This was because al-Siddiq only fought them to enforce the obedience of Allah and His Messenger, and not to enforce his own obedience. Zakat was compulsory upon them, and fighting them was to the reason for its recognition (by the rebels) and payment, as opposed to the one who fought to enforce his own obedience.[^4] This is a simple summary of the claims of Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah against Amir al-Muminin ‘Ali: His wars were not for Islam.

He was only fighting for power and control of people’s wealth. He murdered a very large number of righteous Muslims in pursuit of his power struggle. Any Muslim who fights another Muslim is a pagan. Therefore, those who claim that ‘Ali had become a pagan through his wars have a strong point, backed by sahih ahadith . So, why does our Shaykh still consider ‘Ali to have been a “righteous” Muslim? He makes a further claim: وعلي بن أبي طالب رضي الله عنه ندم على أمور فعلها من القتال وغيره ‘Ali b.

Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, regretted things he did, such as fighting and others.[^5] Without that, Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah would have declared him a pagan war criminal like the Nawasib did. But, what is the truth of all these allegations, accusations and claims? Is any of them based upon reliable sources? Did ‘Ali truly fight only for power? Did he really murder Muslims? Did he ever regret his defensive wars against the insurgents? [^1]: Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad b. ‘Abd al-Halim b.

Taymiyyah al-Harrani, Minhaj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah (Muasassat Qurtubah; 1st edition, 1406 H) [annotator: Dr. Muhammad Rashad Salim], vol. 6, p. 191 [^2]: Ibid, vol. 6, p. 356 [^3]: Ibid, vol. 8, pp. 329-330 [^4]: Ibid, vol. 4, pp. 499-500 [^5]: Ibid, vol. 6, p. 209 Previous…