http://www.sunnah.org/aqida/kharijites1.htm
Wanted to start a serious topic of discussion of this very important but often neglected and misunderstood sect of muslims
Just to clarify what they believed in esp. with regard to their political stance I quote [very briefly ] from a sermon given by one of their clerics abu hamza when he briefly held medina
related by Malik b anas
Abu Bakr [RA] “…acted in accordance with Book and Sunnah”
Umar b Khattab [RA] “”…acted in accordance with Book and Sunnah , collected the tributes and distributed the shares "
and “…may Lord have mercy on both of them”
so they clearly held the first 2 caliphs in very high regard
regaring the next 2 their criticism was also much moderate
Uthman b affan
“in the last six years he rendered to no avail and passed away”
Ali b abi talib [AS]
“no beacon was given to him for guidence and he passed away”
By contrast their criticsim of the ummayads was very different
muawiyah b abusufyan
“accursed son of accursed , made farmers of God’s servants …so curse him with God’s curse”
yazid b muawiyah
“yazid of wine, apes and hunting panthers …God and his angels curse him”
then he criticized every other caliph skipped over umar b abdul aziz [RA]- who is said to have reconcilled many of their factions for the first time
Ameerulmomineen sayyidna ALi [AS] said about them
“Do not fight the Kharijites after me, because one who seeks right but does not find it, is not like one who seeks wrong and finds it”.
he also considered them as muslims since he neither forbade them to pray in mosque of Kufa nor stopped their stipends from Bayt ul Mal
Ali’[AS]'s generals Qays b Sa’d [RA] and Abu Ayyub[RA] also address them as “servants of God” and “return with us to fight against our enemy and your enemy” right before the battle of Nahrawan.
surprisingly their arguments did have an effect. It is known that great many of them nearly half of them] did eventually come back to the side of sayyidna ALi which was no mean feat since these guys were known for their extremely uncompromising stance and suicidal bravery
It is very hard to have any sympathy for them considering their widespread pillaging and contempt for muslim lives …however at the same time it cannot be denied that they were extremely observant muslims and did what in their minds was needed to reform the ummah.Arguing with them was also very difficult and only extremely pious men of the high status of sayyidna ALi[AS] and his companions (and later Umar II [RA])were able to convince a sizable portion of them to abandon their ways.
The other later rulers simply lacked the religious knowledge to present valid arguments to them and ended up suppressing them brutally as terrorists.The High regard in which they held Abu Bakr[ra] and Umar[ra] also proves that they did not differ fundamentally from other muslims and were just another school of thought , though a very militant one.
Why is this topic relevant today? Most of the modern day “extremists” are also mirror images of these sects not only in their being extremely pious muslims and in their political inflexibility but also on the low value they place on muslim lives.
Having said all that they do however have a point …what is the alternative are we offering to them today? we have put people who like the tyrants in the past openly ridicule islamic values …where can we find men like Umar[ra] , ALi[as] and abu ayyub [ra] who can convince them to return back to mainstream of muslims
plz dont use this thread to start a new shia-sunni debate
keep this focussed on the khawarij only …other members esp. picoico, US Resident, code_red , ravage and everyone else are welcome to share their thoughts