Khawarij and Their Ideology

[LordJames]

As discussed with @BouncerGuy, I am sick of Sanghees polluting threads so I will be acting on his advice and reporting every post by a Sanghi to keep this conversation intact.

My focus is to discuss Khawarij (historically) and their modern incarnations of ISIS, TTP and their impact on Pakistan and its security.​

I am fairly disturbed by what I have discovered from people at a high level in Pakistan and I would like to extend my apology to @emranabbas @IronShield @The Bald Eagle @ElRaja @Major and others because I made certain statements about Taliban-Pakistan relationships which I now know to be wrong because I didn't know the full facts.

I will explain that later as we progress, so Khawarij...

 

[LordJames]

15 Characteristics of the Khawarij​

1. They are mostly young in age.
2. They are immature.
3. They quote the Quran and Hadith to their perverted purposes.
4. They do not have a deep understanding of Islam.
5. They show unnecessary excessiveness in their acts of worship.
6. They kill the believers and spare the idolaters.
7. They go to the extreme in religion until they abandon it.
8. They insult and defame Muslim leaders, declaring them to be misguided.
9. They appear in times of disunity and strife
10. The Khawarij do not hold the scholars and people of knowledge in high esteem if their opinions do not conform with theirs.
11. They quote verses about fighting the idolaters to justify their fight against the believers.
12. The Khawarij accuse of apostasy the people who oppose their opinion and stance, and consider it legal (halal) to kill them.
13. The Khawarij advocate violent opposition of oppressive Muslim leaders.
14. They disagree amongst each other to the point of dividing into several sects and attacking each other.
15. They abuse the Islamic principle of Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice (Al-Amr bi Al-Ma‘ruf wa Al-Nahi ‘an Al-Munkar) and manipulate the proofs in the Quran and Sunnah to justify recourse to violence.

This is a good article but published in a "Salafi magazine" and they use the points in RED to forbid criticizing the rulers in the middle east when they legibility need to be criticized, for example on their inaction on Palestine and collusion on Israel.

The Kahawarij excel in Islamic acts of piety and worship and are extra diligent.

 

[LordJames]

Narrated `Aisha: Whenever Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was given the choice of one of two matters, he would choose the easier of the two, as long as it was not sinful to do so, but if it was sinful to do so, he would not approach it. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) never took revenge (over anybody) for his own sake but (he did) only when Allah's Legal Bindings were outraged in which case he would take revenge for Allah's Sake [Bukhari]

Sign of Khawarij:

Always taking the tougher, harder, harsher option when the Sunnah is to take the easier option in permissible matters

 

[Stewie]

DO they have a historical origin or background?

 

[topspin]

A good example of the Khawarij are the Arabs who revolted against the Ottoman rulers. I'm not saying the Ottomans were perfect, they were far from it and had their fair share of flaws.

What we are witnessing in the ME today is a result of what happens when you backstab your brother in the Ummah. Palestine was under the rule of Muslims but the Arabs thought "why would a Turk rule over us for hundreds of years".

The Ummah is suffering because of some Arab traitors who are still in power in the Arab peninsula.

 

[IronShield]

A good example of the Khawarij are the Arabs who revolted against the Ottoman rulers. I'm not saying the Ottomans were perfect, they were far from it and had their fair share of flaws.

What we are witnessing in the ME today is a result of what happens when you backstab your brother in the Ummah. Palestine was under the rule of Muslims but the Arabs thought "why would a Turk rule over us for hundreds of years".

The Ummah is suffering because of some Arab traitors who are still in power in the Arab peninsula.

And they were right. Why should they be ruled over by someone living in Istanbul. There is no concept of dynastic kingship in Islam.... unless ofcourse you are Shia.

 

[topspin]

And they were right. Why should they be ruled over by someone living in Istanbul. There is no concept of dynastic kingship in Islam.... unless ofcourse you are Shia.

I'm a Sunni. Unlike you I'm not going to make assumptions about what you follow but what I will say is you're part of the problem since it appears that you're passively justifying how they backstabbed the Ottomans.

In case you didn't know, after the collapse of the Ottoman empire, the land got split up into dozens of countries by the Allies (Britian, France and Russia) and then we wonder why the Ummah is so divided and weak.

Justifying this is exactly what I would expect from a khawarij.

 

[LordJames]

A good example of the Khawarij are the Arabs who revolted against the Ottoman rulers. I'm not saying the Ottomans were perfect, they were far from it and had their fair share of flaws.

What we are witnessing in the ME today is a result of what happens when you backstab your brother in the Ummah. Palestine was under the rule of Muslims but the Arabs thought "why would a Turk rule over us for hundreds of years".

The Ummah is suffering because of some Arab traitors who are still in power in the Arab peninsula.

And they were right. Why should they be ruled over by someone living in Istanbul. There is no concept of dynastic kingship in Islam.... unless ofcourse you are Shia.

Shia and Sunni both believe in the Qur'aan:

[4:59] O believers! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you.

Should you disagree on anything, then refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if you ˹truly˺ believe in Allah and the Last Day. This is the best and fairest resolution.

The Arabs committed a sin by rebelling against the Caliphate and it is clear cut. I have deliberately split the verse and notice the subtlety between the first part and the second part.

DO they have a historical origin or background?

Will research and write on this later, InshaAllah.

 

[topspin]

Shia and Sunni both believe in the Qur'aan:

[4:59] O believers! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you.

Should you disagree on anything, then refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if you ˹truly˺ believe in Allah and the Last Day. This is the best and fairest resolution.

The Arabs committed a sin by rebelling against the Caliphate and it is clear cut. I have deliberately split the verse and notice the subtlety between the first part and the second part.


Will research and write on this later, InshaAllah.

Well said. Do you think the ones who rebelled meet the definition of a Khawariji?

 

[LordJames]

Well said. Do you think the ones who rebelled meet the definition of a Khawariji?

Although the Arabs rebelled against the Ottomans and also did mass Takfeer (declaring people Kaafir) which is the bedrock of Khawarij'ism, the Muslim scholars have not unanimously declared them to be Khawarij.

You have of course, dozens of Arab and non-Arab Scholars who call them "Wahabees, Najdees, Khawarij" etc and have dozens of books and articles etc. The reality is that the offshoot of that movement is Modern "Salafiyyah" which is split into branches each with its own distinct identity:

1. Purist Salafis
2. Jihadi Salafis
3. Reformist Salafis
4. Madkhali Salafis
5. "Neo-Salafis"

etc etc etc

These are not official branches but the type of scholars and Islam people tend to gravitate towards.

The Indian/Pakistani people lazily call them all "Wahabees" or "Salafees" or "Wobblers (the common British slang)" etc...

The Key distinction of Khawarij is that they rebel against rulers without them renouncing Islam. The "Madkhali Salafes" are the opposite e.g. cling to the ruler and refuse to criticize them no matter what! On the Sufi side, you have Hamza Yusuf etc who do the same to the rulers of UAE

This is the exact opposite of Khawarij thought which is "Madkhali Salafism" of modern day Saudia Arabia

 

[shamaan]

Most khawarij/salafi call people mushriks and destroy graves.

 

[shamaan]

Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah, 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.”Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah, 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.”

 

[Stewie]

Very interesting debate. It is believed that those who opposed the khulfa Rashidun were also khawarij, with all due respect to those Shia brothers who may disagree with this assessment. I honestly don’t know much of their origins which is why I asked the OP if he had some background on this subject.

 

[Boyka]

It’s hard to call any group Khawarij because they are still seen as believers, so each group can call another Khawarij.

ISIS are the perfect example.

With regard to Pakistan, the political, military, and the economic capital is provided by Punjab and Punjabis. If a Pathan like IK comes along it’s obviously a challenge to the hegemony. There’s an ethnic and religious discord with the host population. I think integrating Afghans into Pakistan is not a great idea.

What is your opinion on this? @LordJames