The Kharijites are a sect of the Muslims whose beginnings date back to the time of the Prophet, and it is one of the first sects to appear. The Prophet (ﷺ) warned against it and declared its danger to the nation.

Imam Muslim narrated in his Sahih on the authority of Jabir bin Abdullah, who said: a person came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) at Jirana on his way back from Hunain, and there was in the clothes of Bilal some silver. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) took a handful out of that and bestowed it upon the people. He (the person who had met the Prophet at Ji’rana) said to him:

Muhammad, do justice. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Woe be upon thee, who would do justice if I do not do justice. Upon this Umar b. Khattab (Allah be pleased with him) said: Permit me to kill this hypocrite. Upon this he (the Holy Prophet) said: May there be protection of Allah! People would say that I kill my companions. This man and his companions would recite the Qur’an but it would not go beyond their throat, and they swerve from it just as the arrow goes through the prey.

Another story occurred in the ninth year after Ali was sent to Yemen, and the distribution there was gold, and he singled out four people for it, as in the hadith of Abu Saeed al-Khudri, that ‘Ali (Allah be pleased with him) sent some gold alloyed with dust to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) distributed that among four men, al-Aqra b. Habis Hanzali and Uyaina b. Badr al-Fazari and ‘Alqama b. ‘Ulatha al-‘Amiri, then to one person of the tribe of Kilab and to Zaid al-Khair al-Ta’l, and then to one person of the tribe of Nabhan. Upon this the people of Quraish felt angry and said:

He (the Holy Prophet) gave to the chiefs of Najd and ignored us. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: I have done it with a view to conciliating between them. Then there came a person with thick beard, prominent cheeks, deep sunken eyes and protruding forehead and shaven head. He said: Muhammad, fear Allah. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “If I disobey Allah, who would then obey Him? Have I not been (sent as the) most trustworthy among the people of the world? But you do not repose trust in me.” That person then went back. A person among the people then sought permission (from the Holy Prophet) for his murder. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), said: From the progeny of this (man) there would arise people who would recite the Qur’an, but it would not go beyond their throat; they would kill the followers of Islam and would spare the idol-worshippers. They will go out of the religion just as the arrow goes out of the game. If I were to ever find them I would kill them like ‘Ad. Narrated by Muslim (1064).

Al-Mubarrad said in al-Kamil (3/920): (His saying “From the progeny of this” “من ضئضئ هذا” means: of this type.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said that people would emerge like this man, his description and method of exaggeration and ignorance. It does not mean that he would produce people from his loins and descendants. The Kharijites are not from his descendants, but the similarities were in belief, poor understanding, and exaggeration. The emergence of this rogue sect has been repeated. In different eras up to our time, Muslims in the past and the present have suffered from this exotic thought that is far from religion and common sense.

Exaggeration in religion is a great fitnah that Allah (mighty and sublime be He) warns against it in his holy book: People of the Book (Christians and Jews), do not exaggerate in [practicing] your religion and tell nothing except the truth about Allah. [Ayah: (171) Surah: An-Nisā’]

It was reported on the authority of Ka’b al-Ahbar that the extremists revolted against the Prophet of Allah, David, peace be upon him, in his time. Therefore, the Prophet (ﷺ) warned his nation:

(Beware of exaggeration in religion, for indeed, those who were before you were decimated by exaggeration in religion) Sahih An-Nasa’i (2/640).

And when we study the Shariah texts that vilify them, we find that they are one of the most dangerous sects, the most seditious and deadly to people, and they have been warned and threatened more than other groups and sects that have been warned against, as is reported. It has been narrated in the Two Sahihs that the Prophet said about them: (If I live to see them, I will kill them, like the killing of ‘Ad).

It also came in the Two Sahihs: “Wherever you encounter them, kill them, for killing them brings to the one who kills them a reward.”

And it came in Sahih Muslim: (They are the most evil of mankind and all creation).

This reprehensible and threatened rogue group is not only in the past, but between the past and the present, and it is currently present and spreading among Muslims and in most countries!

Unfortunately, many people confused their situation during this time, so they supported them and backed them with money, speeches, and people. Slanderously and falsely called them the Mujahideen, out of ignorance on the part of some of them, and politics and malice on the part of others, I mean parties and groups!

In this series, “The Kharijites in the Present and the Past,” I try with humble effort to explain their situation, the relation of past thought to the present in terms of ideas, goals, suspicions, and attributes.

To expose their faults, to respond to their suspicions and to warn Muslims of their danger.

To be continued in the next article.

Written by/ Khaled Al-Hammad