Editing Political aspects of Islam (section)

===Obedience and opposition===
[[File:Muhammad's widow, Aisha, battling the fourth caliph Ali in the Battle of the Camel.jpg|thumb|Muhammad's widow, [[Aisha]], battling the fourth caliph [[Ali]] in the [[Battle of the Camel]] (16th-century miniature from a copy of the ''[[Siyer-i Nebi]]'')]]

According to scholar Moojan Momen, "One of the key statements in the Qur'an around which much of the exegesis" on the issue of what Islamic doctrine says about who is in charge is based on the verse <blockquote>
"O believers! Obey God and obey the Apostle and those who have been given authority [''uulaa al-amr''] among you" ({{cite quran|4|59|s=ns}}).
</blockquote>

For Sunnīs, the expression "those who have been given authority" (''uulaa al-amr'') refers to the rulers (caliphs and kings), but for Shīʿas it refers to the Imams.<ref>Momen, Moojan, ''Introduction to Shi'i Islam'', Yale University Press, 1985 p.192</ref> According to the British historian and Orientalist scholar [[Bernard Lewis]], this Quranic verse has been
<blockquote>elaborated in a number of sayings attributed to Muhammad. But there are also sayings that put strict limits on the duty of obedience. Two dicta attributed to the Prophet and universally accepted as authentic are indicative. One says, "there is no obedience in sin"; in other words, if the ruler orders something contrary to the divine law, not only is there no duty of obedience, but there is a duty of disobedience. This is more than the [[right of revolution]] that appears in Western political thought. It is a duty of revolution, or at least of disobedience and opposition to authority. The other pronouncement, "do not obey a creature against his creator," again clearly limits the authority of the ruler, whatever form of ruler that may be.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20050501faessay84305/bernard-lewis/freedom-and-justice-in-the-modern-middle-east.html?mode=print |title=Freedom and Justice in the Middle East |access-date=2008-11-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230195152/http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20050501faessay84305/bernard-lewis/freedom-and-justice-in-the-modern-middle-east.html?mode=print |archive-date=2007-12-30 |url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote>

According to the [[Tafsir|exegetical interpretation]] of the medieval Sunnī Muslim scholar [[Ibn Taymiyyah]], for this verse "there is no obedience in sin"; that people should ignore the order of the ruler if it would disobey the divine law and shouldn't use this as excuse for revolution because it will spill Muslims' blood. According to Ibn Taymiyyah, the saying "sixty years with an unjust imam is better than one night without a sultan" was confirmed by experience.<ref name=Lambton>{{cite book|last1=Lambton|first1=Ann K. S.|title=State and Government in Medieval Islam|date=2002|publisher=Routledge|page=145|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DVvYAQAAQBAJ&q=siyasa+ibn+taymiyyah&pg=PA144|access-date=19 September 2015|isbn=9781136605208}}</ref> He believed that the Quranic injunction to "[[Enjoining good and forbidding wrong|enjoin good and forbid evil]]" (''al-amr bi-l-maʿrūf wa-n-nahy ʿani-l-munkar'', found in {{cite quran|3|104|s=ns}}, {{cite quran|3|110|s=ns}}, and other verses) was the duty of every state functionary with charge over other Muslims, from the caliph to "the schoolmaster in charge of assessing children's handwriting exercises."<ref>Ibn Taymiyya, ''Le traite de droit public d'ibn Taimiya.'' Translated by Henri Laoust. Beirut, 1948, p.12</ref><ref name=kadri-139>{{cite book|last1=Kadri|first1=Sadakat|title=Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari'a Law from the Deserts of Ancient Arabia ...|date=2012|publisher=macmillan|isbn=9780099523277|page=139|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ztCRZOhJ10wC&q=Heaven+on+Earth%3A+A+Journey+Through+Shari%27a+Law}}</ref>