The
First Fitna of 656 to 661 forever divided Islam. The Sunnis and Shias emerged
at the end of the conflict along with a smaller and obscured sect of Islam
called the Kharijites – those who walk out.
Beginnings
The
Kharijites or Khwarij founded themselves in a middle of a civil war resulting
from a murder and a longtime controversy regarding the leadership of the fast
growing Islam. The 3rd Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate Uthman was
murdered by an angry mob. His successor, Ali ibn Abi Talib, a relative of the
Prophet of Islam Mohammed, hesitated to deliver justice for the fact the
murderers supported his candidacy as Caliph. Eventually, the absence of justice
for Caliph Uthman led to rebellions and eventually civil war with the most
prominent being Muawiya Abu Suffyan, a relative of the slain Caliph Uthman and
head of the Umayya Clan. In July of 657, Ali and Muawiya fought in the
inconclusive Battle of Siffin in the banks of the Euphrates River. Ali, agreed
to an arbitration to end the dispute.
The
decision of Ali to submit to an arbitration by a council of men infuriated a
faction within his party the Shia’t Ali (Party of Ali) or simply Shia. This
faction believed from the passage “judgment belongs to Allah alone” coming from
6:57, 12:40, and 12:67 of the Quran. Soon the passage became the faction’s
battle cry. They believed that Allah’s judgment on who had rights to be Caliph
would manifest from a victory in a battle mirroring another passage from the
Quran 49:9 saying “If one party rebels against the other, fight against that
which rebels.” Submitting to a Council objected this and they decided to leave
the Shia.
This
faction became known as the Kharijites from the Arabic word Kharaju meaning those who walk out. But
the Kharijites called themselves al-Shurat
or the Exchangers who ardently believing of exchanging their lives for the
preservation of the pure Islam. This faction led by Abdullah ibn Wahb fled
Kufa, Ali’s capital, for the town of Harura and later Nahrawan, a vital city
lying in the Tigris River.
The
number of the Kharijites increased as the arbitration held in 659 failed to
declare Ali as Caliph and rather condemned his inaction in dispensing justice.
The Kharijites grew in numbers as well as in notoriety. They developed an
extremist view perceiving all Muslims following Ali and Muawiya as heretics,
thus becoming a 3rd belligerent in the First Fitna or civil war. Their view of
non-Kharajite Muslims as heretics led to their violence and use of terrorism
within the Caliphate. They killed and pillaged villages and harassed the
countryside.
Their
violence forced Ali to mobilize against the Kharijites in 659 reaching the
climax in the Battle of Nahrawan. In the battle many of the Kharijites fell in
battle along with their first leader Abdullah Ibn Wahb. This weakened the
organization driving it underground. Nonetheless, as the surviving members
reeled from their defeat, their zeal remained as strong as before.
In
661, the remaining Kharijites plotted an ambitious simultaneous assassination
of 3 very important Muslims – Muawiya, Ali, and the Governor of Egypt Amr ibn
al-As, who many Muslims blamed for the failure of the arbitration and the
conclusion of the conflict. 3 Kharijites positioned to carry out the plot: Amr
ibn Bakar would kill Amr ibn al-As; Barq ibn Abdullah would kill Muawiya; and
Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam al-Sarimi would kill Ali. The plotters chose January
20, 661 as the day to carry out their assassination. In the end, the plotters
wounded but failed to kill Amr ibn al-As and totally failed to hit Muawiya.
Abd-al-Rahman succeeded in mortally wounding Ali who passed away from his
wounds days later.
The
assassination led to the rise of the Umayyad Caliphate and it also displayed
the continuing presence of the Kharijites.
Development as a Thorn to the Umayyads
Kharijites
persisted even after the end of the First Fitna. They developed into a
community promoting democratic, egalitarian, as well as puritanical Islamic
community. As before, they continued to believe Allah’s judgment to be the
highest and absolute.
In
leadership, they believed anyone, even a slave of any color, had the chance of
becoming the Imam or leader as long as he shows upright morality and strong
piety. This opposed to the selective process of the Shias who believed the
leadership coming from the relatives of Mohammed or the Sunnis who placed their
faith in any leader coming from the tribe of the Prophet – the Quaraysh. This
led to the rise of their membership, especially from non-Arab Muslims who suffered
from discrimination.
Although
the Kharijites showed freedom in qualification, they imposed, however, strict
rules for an Imam to follow. An Imam must remain good and immaculate of any
sins. Failure gave the Kharijites the obligation to revolt and kill the ruling
Imam.
The
Kharijites believed themselves to be the perfect and good society of Islam,
different from what they perceived as the corrupted society of the Sunnis and
Shias. Their vision meant, however, strict puritanical rules. Any commitment of
major sins equaled to an act of apostasy, therefore death to the committer. And
those major sins numbered tremendously, intermarriage and music and games
without the consent of wives constituted a sin. They followed a literal
interpretation of Quran making the Kharijites the early version of Islamic
fundamentalist.
Views,
however, differed even within the Kharijite community. Moderates who relax in
some of their puritanical beliefs emerged and even prospered. Among these
moderates included the Ibadiya Kharijite sect. They tolerated other religions,
especially religions of the people of the book which included Jews and
Christians. They survived even to the modern age flourishing in Northern
Africa, Zanzibar, and Oman where they constituted as a major sect in that
country.
But
other sects zealously followed their beliefs and viewed sinners along with
their family must be killed. This sect known as the Azariqa emerged as a
powerful rebel group in Southern Iraq and Western Iran in 690’s during the
Second Fitna that lasted from 680 to 692.
The
Azariqa led by Qatari ibn Fuja’a rebelled against the Umayyads in 689 centering
in southern and eastern Iraq becoming a thorn for the Umayyad leadership for
over the next decade. In 694, Qatari raised the stakes by calling himself the
Amir al-Mu’minin or Commander of the Faithful, a title reserved only to a
Caliph.
In
695, another Kharijite group led by Shabib bin Yazid rebelled in Northern Iraq.
Both rebellions though faced a tough opponent in form of the Umayyad governor of
Iraq al-Hajjaj Bin Yusuf.
A
ruthless commander al-Hajjaj said in his arrival speech in Kufa, “Oh, people of
Iraq! I see among you heads ripe for harvest. The time of harvest has arrived
and I am the harvester. Blood will soon flow below the turbans and above the
beards.” He along with his lieutenant al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra quelled the
rebellion gradually and brutally. The Azariqa faced internal strife between
Arabs and non-Arabs weakening the sect. Qatari eventually fell in an ambush in
697 or 698 while the Azariqa outlived him only for a year when they faced annihilation.
Shabib bin Yazid’s Kharijite rebellion, meanwhile, fared no better and in 697
suffered a defeat. The rebellion ended with Shabib’s drowning during their
retreat.
Kharijites
continued to be a source of rebellion for the Umayyad as well as Abbasid
Caliphates. Eventually, the moderate Ibadiya sect remained to be largest
surviving sect of the Kharijites today.
Kharijites in Islamic
History
Kharijites
are a sect marginalized in the mainstream divide of Islam. Nonetheless, their
actions reverberated in Islamic history. Their zeal led to the end of the
Rashidun Caliphate and the rise of the Umayyad. They rebelled the Umayyad and
the succeeding Abbasid Caliphate challenging their style of choosing a leader
and preferring an egalitarian way disregarding once background in favor of
morals and faith. But they mirrored the extremist today with their puritanical
view of Islam that drove them to fight and become an influential sect in
Islamic history.
See also:
Bibliography:
Books:
Brown, Daniel. A New Introduction to Islam. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2017.
Daryaee, Touraj (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2012.
Hawting, G.R. The First Dynasty of Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate, AD 661-750. New York, New York: Routledge, 2000.
General Reference:
"Hajjaj bin Yusuf, Al-." In Historical Dictionary of Iraq. Edited by Beth Dougherty and Edmund Ghareeb. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2013.
Kenney, Jeffrey. "Khawarij (Kharijites)." In Encyclopedia of Islam. Edited by Juan Campo. New York, New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2009.
Waskey, Andrew. "Kharijites." In Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia. Edited by Alexander Mikaberidze. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2011.
"Kharijites." In the New Encyclopedia of Islam. Edited by Cyril Glasse and Huston Smith. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press, 2002.
Websites:
"Kharijites, Khawarij." In the Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World. Encyclopedia.com Accessed on December 31, 2017. URL: http://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kharijites-khawarij
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