Imam Al-Nawawi said (in Sharh Muslim): "And his saying, peace be upon him: (But whoever is pleased and follows) means: But the sin and punishment are on whoever is pleased and follows. It is evidence that whoever is unable to remove evil is not sinful by mere silence, but rather becomes sinful by being pleased with it, or by not disliking it in his heart, or by following it." This hadith clarifies that (loyalty that makes one an apostate for the one who commits disbelief) is to be pleased with his act of disbelief, or not to deny it, even in your heart, or not to dislike it, or to follow him in it, or to approve of it, or to assist him, or to support him in his disbelief, or to strengthen his power and support him in a way that leads to the spread of his disbelief and its establishment on earth, or to support him in his war against the Muslims. For supporting the disbelievers in their war against the Muslims is disbelief in itself, regardless of the inner feeling. Whoever does any of this is an apostate. As for whoever loves the disbeliever, or gets close to him, or is kind to him, or similar forms of closeness and love, but with dislike, denial, and dissociation from his disbelief, then all of these are forms of forbidden loyalty, not loyalty that makes one an apostate. From the foregoing, it is clear that: 1. Not all loyalty to the one who commits disbelief is loyalty that makes one an apostate. Rather, loyalty can be apostasy if it includes pleasure and following the disbeliever in his disbelief, or if denial, dislike, and dissociation from what the disbeliever is upon of disbelief is absent because of it. It may be forbidden if it involves some form of closeness and love along with dislike, denial, and dissociation from what the disbeliever is upon of disbelief.