Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) narrated that the verse, "Obey Allah and obey the Messenger ( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ) and those in authority among you." (An-Nisa: 50) was revealed regarding Abdullah bin Hudhafah bin Qais bin Adi (may Allah be pleased with him). When the Messenger of Allah ( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ) sent him as a commander on an expedition.

Narrated Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever obeys me has obeyed Allah, and whoever disobeys me has disobeyed Allah. And whoever obeys the leader appointed by me has obeyed me, and whoever disobeys my appointed leader has disobeyed me. (But if the leader's command is against the Qur'an and Hadith, then it should be abandoned and the Qur'an and Hadith should be followed.)

Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It is obligatory for a Muslim to listen to and obey the leader, in matters that he likes and also in matters that he dislikes, as long as he is not commanded to commit a sin. But when he is commanded to commit a sin, then listening and obeying are no longer required.

Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a detachment and appointed a man from the Ansar as their leader, and ordered the people to obey him. Then the leader became angry with the people and said, "Did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) not order you to obey me?" The people replied, "Indeed, he did." Upon this, he said, "I order you to gather wood and light a fire with it, and then jump into it." The people gathered wood and lit the fire. When they were about to jump in, they began to look at one another, and some among them said, "We followed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) only to save ourselves from the fire. Should we then enter it ourselves?" Meanwhile, the fire cooled down and the leader's anger subsided. Later, when this was mentioned to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he said, "If they had jumped into it, they would never have come out of it. Obedience is only in good matters."

Junadah bin Abi Umayyah says that we went to Hazrat Ubadah bin Samit (may Allah be pleased with him), he was ill. We said: May Allah grant you health, please narrate a hadith from which Allah may benefit you. (He narrated that) I heard from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) on the night of Aqabah, that he called us and we pledged allegiance to him. Among the things that the Prophet (peace be upon him) took a covenant from us was that we would obey and follow in happiness and displeasure, in hardship and ease, and even when our rights are denied, and also that we would not dispute with the rulers regarding authority unless we see open disbelief from them; if they commit open disbelief, then you will have a proof with Allah.