The Khwarij of today

The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “There will be division and sectarianism in my nation and a people will come with beautiful words and evil deeds. They will recite the Quran but it will not pass beyond their throats. They will leave the religion as an arrow leaves its target and they will not return to it as the arrow does not return to its bow. They are the worst of the creation. Blessed are those who fight them and are killed by them. They call to the Book of Allah but they have nothing to do with it. Whoever fights them is better to Allah than them.”

There is an another Hadith which describes an incident during which the Messenger of God (saw) said: “Leave him, for he has friends that everyone among you would consider his prayer insignificant as compared with their prayer, and his fast as compared with their fasts. They would recite the Qur’an but it would not go beyond their collarbones. They would pass through (the teachings of Islam so hurriedly) just as the arrow passes through the prey.”

All of these Hadith are unanimously attributed to a group called Khawarij, a group of people who emerged within the first century of Islam, most probably during the times of Hazrat Ali. Their presence came to the forefront during and after the Battle of Siffeen fought between Hazrat Ali and Ameer Muawiyah. When Ameer Muawiyah requested Hazrat Ali to decide the matter through arbitration, Hazrat Ali obliged. A group within Hazrat Ali’s fraction dissented arguing that arbitration with a rebel is against the tenets of Islam. They argued that Hazrat Ali had thus erred and could not be a faithful leader.

This group were probably the first in the Muslims to readily and openly declare other Muslims as infidels/non-Muslims (called takfir). This extremist group was finally defeated conclusively in the Battle of Nahrawan at the hands of Hazrat Ali. What remained of the Khwarij were a few followers here and there, filled with vengeance sought revenge. This culminated in assassination attempts over the lives of Ameer Muawiyah and Hazrat Ali among others. They were successful in martyring Hazrat Ali.

What the Prophet (saw) had said about these people has been quoted in several Hadith books and in a great detail, some of which has been quoted above. The characters described in such Prophetic words are describer greatly in these narrations. I leaved it upon the reader to look for more on Khwarij if he is interested (See Sahih Muslim Book of Zakat Hadith 2333 onwards). What I propose to do here is to present a few other scholars’ opinion about the Khwarij. I have replaced the word Khwarij with a blank for you to draw parallels between the Khwarij and the current world Muslim extremists. These Muslim extremists belong to a group which I don’t wish to name here. A fair reader may draw conclusions himself/herself.

Ibn Kathir said, “If the ________ ever gained power, they would corrupt the entire earth, Iraq, and Syria. They would not leave alone a boy or a girl or a man or a woman, for in their view the people have become so corrupt that they cannot be reformed except by mass killing.”

Ibn Tayimmiyah said, “The _______ sect was the first to declare Muslims to be unbelievers because of their sins. They charged as unbelievers whoever disagreed with their innovations and they made lawful the spilling of blood and the taking of wealth”

At Tabari reported, “The ______________ came to a village and they seized a man and his daughter. She said to them, “O people of Islam! Indeed, my father is an old man so do not kill him, and I am only a girl. By Allah, I have never been immoral and I have never harmed anyone.” They brought her to kill her and she kept saying, “What is my sin? What is my sin?” Then she fainted and they killed her with their swords.”

Wahb Ibn Munabbeh said, “If there were to arise among ___________ ten or twenty men, there would not be a man among them except that he would claim the Caliphate for himself.”

I end this post with this quote from Quran:

“And when it is said to them, “Do not cause corruption on the earth,” they say, “We are but reformers.”
Unquestionably, it is they who are the corrupters, but they perceive it not.
And when it is said to them, “Believe as the people have believed,” they say, “Should we believe as the foolish have believed?” Unquestionably, it is they who are the foolish, but they know it not.

– Al-Quran 2:11-14

Indeed God knows the best.