The Mālikīs

besides them, among whom there are the lees and the scum. God be our shield. A man is with whomever he loves, and happy is he who rises up and rouses himself and bends himself to obedience. God is the granter of success, the guide.

( The Mālikīs )

The Mālikī jurists are upon good and upon following the sunnah and upon merit — provided their judges and their muftis are kept clear of precipitancy toward blood and toward the charge of unbelief (takfīr). For it is incumbent upon the judge and the mufti that he keep God Most High before his eyes and go slowly in giving judgement by way of following authority (taqlīd), and above all in the spilling of blood; for God Most High has not made it obligatory upon them to follow their imam, and they may take and leave, as the imam Mālik, God have mercy upon him, said: “Every man's word is taken and left, save the occupant of this grave, God bless him and grant him peace.” So you there: if tomorrow you stand before God Most High and He asks you, “Why did you make so-and-so's blood licit?” — what is your plea? If you say, “I followed my imam”, He says to you: “But it was not I who made it obligatory upon you to follow your imam.” It is established that the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said: “The first thing judged between men is blood”; and in the hadith: “A man remains in the ample room of his religion so long as he does not besmirch himself with forbidden blood.” Yes: whomever you see to be a heretic (zindīq), an enemy of God Most High, then fear God concerning him, and shed his blood seeking the face of God Most High — after you have taken counsel of your own heart and sought God's guidance about him. (1)

— Notes —

[12] (1) The zindīq who makes an outward show of Islam while persisting in the insinuation of his poisons among the Muslims: his harm and his corruption cannot, for the most part, be removed if his repentance is accepted — as regards the ruling of this world — every time he displays his heresy; for he does not scruple to take on every colour and to appear in every guise, and he does not settle