truth, and support of its adherents, and to dissociation from evil and enmity to its followers. To him who recognises the truth and accedes to it and supports us for it, we give our 'friendship' and support and prohibit shedding his blood. He should struggle on our side. He among them who denies the right of Allah, preferring blindness to guidance, and disagreement with Muslims to agreement with them; we dissociate ourselves from him and fight him until he accepts the precepts of Allah or dies believing in error, without regarding them as idolaters or permitting capturing them, killing their children, taking their property for spoils or prohibiting inheritance from them. We do not approve of assassinating our people (i.e. non-Ibadhi Muslims) or killing them secretly even if they were misguided (dullal), as long as we lived among them appearing to accept their government, for God did not command it in His Book. Nor did we know of any one of His friends and worshippers of the communities of the part in the same circumstances, as we are, who held any such thing lawful, so we follow their example. None of the Muslims who were at Mecca acted thus against the polytheists, so how should we act thus against the people of the Qiblah. God has ordered that covenants with those people suspected of treachery be nullified. He said, "And if thou fearest treachery anyway at the hands of a people, dissolve it (covenant) with them equally; surely God loves not the treacherous." (Qur'an=viii.58) ... It is reprehensible that any one of the Muslims, (i.e. Ibadhis) should accept an assignment to any post with kings or rulers of our people, as long as they remain in error .... He who fights with them arrives at one of two positions; either friendship with them and acceptance, or supporting them and strengthening their rules."

"We hold it lawful to marry from among our people and to inherit from them. This is not prohibited for us as long as they face our Qiblah, for the Muslims used to marry from the hypocrites and inherit from them, though they knew and saw more of their misdeeds than those seen of our people today. We disapprove of accusing any one of those who face our Qiblah of that which we have no knowledge, for great many of the Kharijites hold it lawful, in their religion, to accuse of adultery one of their people, whom they know to be innocent, out of their opposition to him. They might even never have spoken to him, nor might any one of their supporters and friends have told them that he had spoken to him, and they knew nothing of his actual conduct. God said, "O Believers, be you securers of justice, witnesses for God. Let not detestation for a people move you not to be equitable; be equitable - that is nearer to god fearing. And fear God; surely God is aware of the things you do."110 (Qur'an v: 8)

"We do not believe in killing our people on sight before inviting them to reconsider the truth and adopt it, as long as they face our Qiblah, for God loves 'summoning', (al-Da'wah), and ordered His Apostle to do so. God has said, "O