Fighting Rebels Is Obligatory Until They Return to the Truth
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
Linguistic Clarification (لغوی وضاحت)
بُغاة is the plural of باغی (rebel), meaning those who commit rebellion.
• باب بَغَى يَبْغِي (ضَرَبَ): to seek, to commit injustice/excess, to disobey, to deviate from the truth.
• باب أَفْعَلَ (أَبْغَى يُبْغِي): to cause one to seek (to make someone a seeker).
• باب تَفَاعَلَ (تَبَاغَى يَتَبَاغَى): to wrong each other.
[Al-Muʿjam al-Wasīṭ: pp. 64–65; Al-Munjid: p. 69; Al-Qāmūs al-Muḥīṭ: p. 1137]Sharʿī Definition (شرعی تعریف)
Rebels are those who, based on a fabricated/invalid interpretation, take up arms and power against the ruler (e.g., the Khawārij), even if they have no leader, and even if they revolt against an unjust ruler.
[Al-Fiqh al-Islāmī wa Adillatuh: 7/5479]Al-Shawkānī (رحمه الله) said:
“A rebel is one who exits from the obedience that Allah has made obligatory to the ruler of the time.”
[As-Sayl al-Jarrār: 4/556]Difference Between a Rebel (باغی) and a Highwayman (محارب)
A muḥārib exits obedience without any (claimed) interpretation, whereas a bāghī starts fighting upon (his) interpretation, killing and seizing wealth.
[Al-Fiqh al-Islāmī wa Adillatuh: 7/5479]Primary Evidences
① Qur’ān
وَإِنْ طَائِفَتَانِ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ اقْتَتَلُوا فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَهُمَا ۖ فَإِنْ بَغَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا عَلَى الْأُخْرَىٰ فَقَاتِلُوا الَّتِي تَبْغِي حَتَّىٰ تَفِيءَ إِلَىٰ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ
[Al-Ḥujurāt: 9]
“If two groups among the believers fight, make peace between them; but if one of them transgresses against the other, then fight the one that transgresses until it returns to the command of Allah.”
② Hadith: About ʿAmmār (رضي الله عنه)
تَقْتُلُهُ الْفِئَةُ الْبَاغِيَةُ
“The rebellious group will kill him (ʿAmmār).”
[Muslim: 2916, Kitāb al-Fitan]③ Hadith: On the Khawārij
Sayyidunā ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Near the end of times, there will appear among the Muslims a people who are young and foolish; they will recite the best of speech (i.e., Qur’an and Hadith) but faith will not go beyond their throats. They will go out of the religion as an arrow passes through the game. Wherever you find them, kill them, for killing them has reward on the Day of Resurrection.”
[Bukhārī: 3611, 6930, 5057; Muslim: 1066; Aḥmad: 1/81–113; Abū Dāwūd: 4767; Nasā’ī: 7/119; Ibn Ḥibbān: 6739]Al-Shawkānī (رحمه الله) said: Fighting the rebels is permissible by consensus, and it is not far-fetched that it is obligatory, due to Allah’s statement: “فَقَاتِلُوا الَّتِي تَبْغِي”. Some even said fighting them is superior to fighting disbelievers in their homes.
[Nayl al-Awṭār: 5/631]Methodology: From Reconciliation to Combat
❀ When a person/group is definitively established as rebellious, then withholding fighting them contradicts Allah’s command. But in cases of doubt/ambiguity, no fighting takes place; rather, reconciliation is pursued per “فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَهُمَا”. If a ruler errs in ijtihād contrary to evidence, this is not rebellion; he is to be advised, not fought, so long as they establish prayer and do not commit clear kufr.
[As-Sayl al-Jarrār: 4/556]Sayyid Sābiq (رحمه الله): It is obligatory upon all Muslims to unite and fight the rebellious group (if they refuse reconciliation). The ruler will fight them, as Abū Bakr (رضي الله عنه) fought the withholders of Zakāt.
[Fiqh al-Sunnah: 3/95]Dr. Wahbah al-Zuḥaylī (رحمه الله):
- If rebels lack refuge/arms, the ruler should arrest and detain them until they repent.
- If they possess fortresses, arms, and war logistics, the ruler should first invite them to return to obedience, the house of justice, and to the community’s decision (as with enemy combatants). If they refuse, the people of justice should fight them until they are defeated.
[Al-Fiqh al-Islāmī wa Adillatuh: 7/5480]
Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān (رحمه الله): The Muslim’s life and wealth are inviolable. Allah has permitted nothing besides fighting the rebels; therefore, no wealth is to be seized from them while they persist in rebellion.
[Al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah: 2/770]Ibn Ḥazm (رحمه الله) distinguished two types of taʾwīl (interpretation):
① That which nullifies Sunnah (e.g., denying stoning, declaring major sinners disbelievers, denying the Beatific Vision, rejecting intercession) — no excuse is accepted.
② That which does not rupture the religion, such as Muʿāwiyah’s (رضي الله عنه) demand for qiṣāṣ for ʿUthmān (رضي الله عنه) before pledging allegiance to ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) — such people are excused.
Whoever calls to enjoining right, forbidding wrong, dominance of Qur’an & Sunnah, and justice is not the rebel; his opponent is.
[Al-Muḥallā bil-Āthār: 11/335]Rules During Combat with Rebels
Their prisoners are not to be killed; their fugitives are not to be pursued; their wounded are not to be finished off; and their wealth is not to be taken as spoils.
① From Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam (re: Day of Jamal):
A caller announced: “The one who flees is not to be killed; the wounded are not to be finished off; whoever closes his door is safe; whoever lays down arms is safe.”
[Sunan Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr: 2/389; Ḥākim: 2/155; Bayhaqī: 8/181; Ibn Abī Shaybah: 33277]② Hadith of Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنهما) — the Prophet ﷺ said to Ibn Masʿūd (رضي الله عنه):
لَا يُتْبَعُ مُدْبِرُهُمْ وَلَا يُجْهَزُ عَلَى جَرِيحِهِمْ وَلَا يُقْتَلُ أَسِيرُهُمْ
“Their fugitive is not to be pursued; their wounded is not to be finished off; and their captive is not to be killed.”
[Ḥākim: 2/155; Bayhaqī: 8/182]Another wording:
وَلَا يُذَفَّفُ عَلَى جَرِيحِهِمْ وَلَا يُغْنَمُ فَيْئُهُمْ
“Their wounded is not to be finished off, and their property is not to be taken as booty.”
— Ibn ʿAdī stated it is not preserved; al-Bayhaqī graded it weak; Ibn Ḥajar said al-Ḥākim declared it ṣaḥīḥ, but he erred due to Kawthar ibn Ḥakīm (matrūk) in its chain. However, it is authentically established from ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) via multiple chains.
[Al-Kāmil: 6/78; Nayl al-Awṭār: 5/629; Bulūgh al-Marām: p. 254; As-Sayl al-Jarrār: 4/557]③ Abū Umāmah (رضي الله عنه): At Ṣiffīn, the army of ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) did not attack the wounded, did not kill fugitives, nor strip the slain.
[Bayhaqī: 8/182]④ ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) on the Day of Jamal:
“If you overcome (the opposing) people, do not pursue the one who flees; do not finish off the wounded; seize only the weapons with which they arrived, and whatever is besides that belongs to their heirs.”
[Bayhaqī: 8/181] (Bayhaqī graded it munqaṭiʿ.)⑤ Abū Fākhtah: A prisoner was brought to ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) at Ṣiffīn. The prisoner pleaded not to be killed with torment. ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) said: “I will not kill you with torment, for I fear Allah,” and released him.
[Bayhaqī: 8/182]⑥ Imām al-Zuhrī (رحمه الله):
When fitnah erupted and the Companions were many, they agreed not to seek qiṣāṣ from anyone nor to seize wealth on account of Qur’ānic interpretation — except if someone found his very property with them.
[Sunan Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr: 2953; ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 18584; Bayhaqī: 8/175]Conclusion from these reports: The blood and wealth of Muslims are sacred, and only a Sharʿī proof can permit them.
[Al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah: 2/771]Legal Status of Rebels (Faith and Aftermath)
Sayyid Sābiq (رحمه الله): A group does not exit Islam by rebellion, as Allah still described them as believers despite the command to fight: “وَإِنْ طَائِفَتَانِ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ…” Hence:
• Do not kill fugitives or wounded, do not seize their wealth, do not enslave their women/children.
• They are not liable for wartime destruction (life or property).
• Whoever among them is killed is given ghusl, shroud, and funeral prayer; whoever among Ahl al-Ḥaqq is killed is a martyr.
• All this applies when the rebellion is against the Caliph of the Muslims.
[Fiqh al-Sunnah: 3/95]Ḥanafīs: The fugitive, prisoner, and wounded among the rebels may be killed.
Jumhūr: Oppose the Ḥanafī view.
[Al-Mughnī: 8/114; Mughni al-Muḥtāj: 4/127; Al-Kitāb maʿa al-Lubāb: 4/154; Ḥāshiyat al-Dusūqī: 4/300]On a fleeing rebel with a group or with fear of re-attack:
• Abū Ḥanīfah (رحمه الله): He may be killed.
• Imām al-Shāfiʿī (رحمه الله): He may not be killed.
[Al-Umm: 4/217; Badāʾiʿ al-Ṣanāʾiʿ: 10/4397; Al-Mughnī: 12/252]Preferred (Rājiḥ) View: Imām al-Shāfiʿī’s stance is stronger, because the earlier athār clearly establish not pursuing fugitives, with no qualifying restriction (whether he has a group or there is fear of return). Thus, it is obligatory to suffice with the established evidence, and restricting it by mere opinion is unacceptable.
[As-Sayl al-Jarrār: 4/558]