while Allah Almighty has said: ﴿إِنَّمَا جَزَاءُ الَّذِينَ يُحَارِبُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيَسْعَوْنَ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَسَادًا أَنْ يُقَتَّلُوا أَوْ يُصَلَّبُوا أَوْ تُقَطَّعَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَرْجُلُهُمْ مِنْ خِلَافٍ أَوْ يُنْفَوْا مِنَ الْأَرْضِ ۚ ذَلِكَ لَهُمْ خِزْيٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَلَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ﴾[1]; “The punishment for those who wage war against Allah and His Prophet and spread corruption on the earth is none but that they be killed or crucified, or that their hands and feet be cut off on opposite sides, or that they be exiled from the land; that is a humiliation for them in the life of the world, and they will have a great punishment in the Hereafter”—and if I obtain power on the Earth, I will make them pay for their deeds, since removing them from the path of the Mahdi is obligatory upon every Muslim who has the power to do so.

[Obedience to Allah]

As for Allah’s oneness in these three areas, it necessitates worship of Him, which is the purpose of His takwin, tashri‘, and tahkim; as He has said: ﴿وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ﴾[2]; “And I did not create the jinn and humankind except to worship Me.” Worship of Him means obedience to Him; because, in the view of intellectuals, the worship performed by any servant is understood as his obedience to his lord—and Allah is the Lord of all; as He has said: ﴿بَلِ اللَّهُ مَوْلَاكُمْ ۖ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ النَّاصِرِينَ﴾[3]; “Rather, Allah is your Lord, and He is the Best Supporter.” Obedience to Allah is agreement with His will; and His will is sometimes manifested in His declarative expression, with which one can agree by affirming it, and sometimes in His performative expression, with which one can agree by acting upon it.

[Obedience to Allah in His Declarative Expression]

As for His declarative expression, it is sometimes about something that has already occurred.

[Prophethood]

An example is His declarative expression about the Prophethood of His Prophets—and the last of them, Muhammad —who are His intermediaries in tashri‘. Accordingly, affirming this is obligatory, since His declarative expression is certain and obedience to Him is obligatory;