are they? He said: They are a people who were afflicted by tribulation, so they became blind and deaf within it, they rebelled against us, and they fought us, so we fought them (29). And when Ibn Muljam wounded him, he said to Al-Hasan: Treat his captivity well; if I live, then I am the master of my own blood (it is my right to pardon or execute), and if I die, then one strike for my strike. This was the view of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz regarding them, and many of the scholars (30). The correct view, if Allah wills, is that it is permissible to kill the Khawarij initially, and to attack their wounded, due to the Prophet's (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) command to kill them, and his promise of reward for those who kill them. For Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Were it not that you would become arrogant (31), I would have told you what Allah has promised those who kill them, upon the tongue of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) (32). Also, their innovation and evil conduct necessitate the lawfulness of their blood, as evidenced by what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) reported regarding the gravity of their sin, that they are the worst of creation and the created, that they pass through the religion [like an arrow through prey], that they are the dogs of the Fire, and his incitement to kill them, and his reporting that if he were to catch them, he would kill them the killing of 'Ad. Therefore, it is not permissible to equate them with those whom the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ordered to refrain from fighting, and from whom many of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) exercised restraint, as there is no innovation in them. The fourth category: A people from the people of truth who emerge from the authority of the Imam and intend his removal based on a plausible interpretation, and among them is the strength that requires gathering the army to restrain them. These are the rebels (bughat) whose ruling we discuss in this chapter. It is incumbent upon the people to assist their Imam in fighting the rebels, because of what we mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, and because if they were to abandon helping him, the people of rebellion would overpower him, and corruption would appear upon the earth.