The Rise of Kharijites

The Kharijites first appeared in the days of the Prophet (ﷺ) and their ideas gained momentum during the caliphate of Uthman until they emerged as a full-fledged and organized group during the caliphate of our master Ali. God Most High alluded to the Kharijites in the Qura’n and there are many Hadith reports that explain their signs, beliefs, doctrines and practices. In general, the Kharijites committed acts of terrorism and carried out atrocities in the name of Islam. Due to their extreme and specious religious arguments, they would declare it permissible to shed the blood of the Muslims.

Many disruptions erupted in the Ummah after the passing of the Prophet (ﷺ) including false claims to prophet-hood, apostasy, refusal to pay Zakat and rejection of some basic teachings of the Islam. Those who embraced the beliefs of the Kharijites promoted their wrapped understanding, exploited these disruptions and began organizing themselves. Those who actively hatched the conspiracy against Uthman, and ultimately killed him in the final days of his rule, were composed of the people who held the extremist beliefs of Kharijites. The most prominent of them was name Abd Allah b. Saba. This was the first time an extremist and terrorist group challenged the authority of the Islamic state.

Practically, the Kharijites surfaced in the caliphate of the fourth caliph Ali. However, the Prophet (ﷺ) had given them the title Kharijites well before that, saying: “They shall exit from the religion just as an arrow exits from a hunted game.” When we look critically at the history of the Kharijites, we see that they came out as a violent movement in Ali’s name. They were against dialogue and peaceful settlement of the disputes and raised the slogan la hukma illa li-llah-i arguing,

تُحَکَّموُنَ فِی اَمْرِ اللہ الرَّجَالَ؟ لَا حُکْمَ الَّا للہِ!

“Do you seek judgment from men in that which is God’s command? There is no judgment but for God.”

The Kharijites initiated an armed rebellion against Ali and based themselves in Harura, located on the Iraqi border. They accused him of polytheism and blameworthy innovations and declared him a disbeliever and rebelled against him. They formed a group at Harura, appointed one of them as caliph, and, setting up a state within a state, they challenged the writ of the government. They established a new Caliphate, under a new leader and rebelled against the Caliphate of Ali. They would meticulously perform tahajjud, five obligatory prayers, and fast and do all acts of worship most rigidly, declaring themselves the only staunch Muslims. They believed that the one who committed a major sin was disbeliever, that is, telling a lie is an act of disbelief. The Kharijites firmly believed that the perpetrator of a mortal sin straight away turned one into a disbeliever. This was the first ever group of extremists and terrorists who kick-started radicalism and militancy, and launched armed aggression against Muslims. That is how the Umma called them by the title ‘Kharijites’ – those who zoomed out of faith. The Companions led by the Caliph Ali took up arms and fought against them. These were Khairjites in a historical perspective.