Kharijites

Long ago, a group left an army.

They were called the Kharijites. They had many new ideas.

They believed God should be the only judge. They thought any person could be a leader. This leader must be a good person.

Some of these people were poets. They wrote poems about being brave.

Many of their books are lost. Most stories come from other people. These stories are sometimes not kind to them.

A group called the Ibadiyya still lives today. They live in Oman. They do not follow the old ways of the Kharijites.

They are a different group now.

Long ago, a group left an army.

This group was called the Kharijites. They first appeared during a time of civil war in the Muslim community.

They had many strong ideas. One big idea was their motto. They said "judgment belongs to God alone." They believed God should be the only judge. They also thought any Muslim could be a leader. The leader did not need to come from a special family. They only had to be a very good person.

Some Kharijite groups were very tough. They believed people should rebel against leaders who sinned. Many of them were also poets. They wrote poems about being brave and holy.

It is hard to know everything about them. Most of their own books are lost. Most stories come from other people. These writers were often not kind to the Kharijites.

A group called the Ibadiyya is still around today. They live in Oman and North Africa.

They say they are not the same as the old Kharijites. They do not follow those old, tough ways.

The Kharijites were an early Islamic group that emerged during a period of civil war. This time was known as the First Fitna, which lasted from 656 to 661. The name comes from an Arabic word meaning "to leave" or "to get out." This describes how they left the army of the leader Ali. They called themselves "the Exchangers." This meant they believed they had traded their mortal lives for a life with God.

This group had very strong ideas about how to live and lead. Their main motto was "judgment belongs to God alone." They believed that any Muslim could be a leader, or caliph. It did not matter what their family or ethnic background was. The only rule was that the leader must be morally perfect. They also felt it was a duty to rebel against leaders who sinned. Some of their groups were very strict about these rules.

The history of the group began during a big conflict. In 657, Ali fought a man named Mu'awiya at the Battle of Siffin. During the fight, soldiers used leaves from the Qur'an to ask for peace. This led to talks to settle the fight. A group of Ali's soldiers disagreed with these talks. They left the army and went to a place called Harura. These people were known as the Harurites.

Many different groups formed within the Kharijite movement over time. Some groups, like the Azariqa and the Najdat, controlled large areas in Arabia and Persia. These groups faced many battles against the Umayyad leaders. In the 740s, large rebellions broke out across the empire. Most of these revolts were eventually stopped.

It is hard for historians to know exactly what the Kharijites thought. Almost none of their own books have survived to today. Most of what we know comes from writers who were not Kharijites. These writers were often quite harsh toward them. However, a group called the Ibadiyya still exists in Oman and North Africa. They are not the same as the old militant groups. They say they have no link to those earlier extremists.

The Kharijites were an early Islamic sect that emerged during a period of intense civil war. This era is known as the First Fitna, which lasted from 656 to 661. The name "Kharijite" is an exonym used by their opponents. It comes from an Arabic root meaning "to leave" or "to get out." This refers to how they left the army of the caliph Ali. Interestingly, they had a different name for themselves: "the Exchangers." They believed they had traded their mortal lives for a life with God.

Their core beliefs focused on religious purity and strict leadership. They held a motto that "judgment belongs to God alone." This idea meant they rejected human arbitration in religious or political matters. They believed any Muslim could serve as caliph. This role was not limited by descent or ethnicity. Instead, a leader only had to be morally irreproachable. They felt it was a religious duty to rebel against any caliph who sinned.

The movement began during the Battle of Siffin in July 657. This battle was fought between Ali and Mu'awiya. During the conflict, Mu'awiya's soldiers used leaves of the Qur'an on their lances. They did this to signal a desire for peace talks. Many in Ali's army were moved by this gesture. They pressured Ali to accept arbitration to settle the dispute. However, a group of dissenters refused to accept this human judgment.

These dissenters seceded from the army and moved to Harura. This location was near the city of Kufa. Because of this, these early followers were called the Harurites. Ali eventually defeated them at the Battle of Nahrawan in 658. Despite this defeat, their insurrection continued for many years. In 661, a Kharijite dissident assassinated Ali to seek revenge for the defeat at Nahrawan. This event helped lead to the establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate.

Kharijite groups later fragmented into different factions. During the Second Fitna, which lasted from 680 to 692, they regained strength. Factions like the Azariqa and the Najdat controlled large areas in Persia and Arabia. They faced many internal disputes and fragmentation. These issues weakened them before the Umayyads defeated them between 696 and 699. In the 740s, large-scale rebellions broke out across the caliphate. Eventually, all these major revolts were suppressed.

Modern historians view the Kharijites through different lenses. Some see them as religious extremists who left the community. Others highlight their egalitarian and proto-democratic tendencies. Academic historians debate if their motives were purely religious. They also consider economic factors or nomadic challenges to the state. It is difficult to know their true motives because their own writings are gone. Most of what we know comes from hostile, non-Kharijite authors.

Today, the only surviving branch is the Ibadiyya. They live in Oman and parts of North Africa. The Ibadiyya are non-activist and do not follow the militant paths of the past. They actually deny any link to the earlier Kharijite groups. They condemn those earlier groups as extremists. The study of the Kharijites remains complex because of how history was recorded. Many early sources were written to classify "deviant" sects. This makes reconstructing the exact truth a very difficult task for scholars.