What is so interesting about Kharijites?

The Khawarij/Khariji sect (although not as old as the Shia sect) appeared earlier than all the other Muslim sects (i.e., all the Sunni madhabs, Zaydis, all the Ismaili sects, the Ghulats and the new age Muslim sects like Wahhabiyya/Salafiyya, Ahmadiyya ..etc).

One of the most common misconceptions about the Kharijite is that all the sects formally known as Kharijites are extinct now. Not true! At least we know that one of the Kharijite group, the Ibadiya, still exist quietly in the Muslim world. In fact, I think they (Ibadi) are the only surviving group among the Kharijite. I remember reading a hadith from Imam Ali (may peace be upon him) after the battle of Nahrawan that foretell (prophecy) of a single surviving group among the kharijite. Need to look this up.

I think it would be interesting to look into some of the Kharijite sects.

Quick notes about Kharijite/Khawarij

1. They were members of a group that seceded from Imam Ali's (may peace be upon him) party after the arbitration at the Siffin.
2. The earliest Kharijites were also known as Haruris (from the name of the place "Harura").
3. Their main slogan was lā hukma illā li-llāh or No judgement but God's. They were the hypocrites who forced Imam Ali (as) to accept the arbitration with Muawiyah and later came out against the arbitration when their own candidate (Abu Musa Ashari) was deceived by Muawiyah’s negotiator.
4. Their core belief is that whoever committed a grave sin is an apostate and is damned to hell.
5. Some of the major Kharijite's sects are Azariqa, Bayhasiyya, Najadat, Ajarida, Fuddakiya, Sufriyya, Ibadi and others.
6. Kharijites do not believe in the intercession (unlike the Sunni and the Shia sects)

To be continued...

4th objection from Zaydis

I am continuing with Zaydis vs Imammi discourse.

Before looking into the exact objection (from Zaydis), let's recap a few of my last entries.

Why Ismail son of Imam Jaffar as-Sadiq is not his father's successor
Ismail's death reported in our traditions
Why Imam Musa al-Kadhim is the only true successor
The Murjiyyah sect
The haruriyya (Kharajite) sect

The Zaidiyyah in Shaykh Saduq's book made the following statement
If the tradition regarding the number of Imams to be twelve had been correct, people would not have doubted in the successor-ship of Imam Ja’far Sadiq (may peace be upon him).

A number of people believed in the Imamate of Abdullah (son of Imam as-Sadiq) and some adopted the belief in Imamate of Ismail (son of Imam as-Sadiq). When Abdullah was put to test, they found him lacking/did not posses the necessary qualities to be the Imam.

Then the people came out saying: “Now where do we go? To Murjiah or to Hururiya?”


When Musa Ibne Ja’far heard this, he said:
“Neither to Murjiah or Qadariya or Hururiya; come to me.”

The Zaydis tried to invalidate the tradition of twelve Imams by giving a few examples of people being misguided or unclear on the identity of the Imam who succeeded Imam as-Sadiq.

And on top of this, the Zaydis started spreading rumors about the Shia Jurist (Faqih) of this period, Zurarah bin Uyun. They falsely accused Zurarah of dying in the state of being unclear of the successor of the sixth Shia Imam (Jaffar as-Sadiq).

The rebuttal from Shaykh Saduq will be in the next blog post.

Haruriyya

Haruriyya
Haruriyya is one of the early sects (it predates all the Sunni school of thoughts/sects). The Haruriya sect is a branch of the Kharajite ("Rejectors") sect/movement. Kharajite rejects Imam ‘Alī's (may peace be upon him) right to the Caliphate.

Ibn Muljam (may Allah damn him to hell for eternity), the killer of Imam Ali, was a member of this sect.