THE KHARIJITES
Among the other party, who were originally part of ‘Ali’s ranks in Seffeen, but who revolted against him when he accepted the arbitration, were the Kharijites. They constituted a third party that recognized neither ‘Ali nor Mu’awiyah. When the results of the arbitration came in, the Commander of the Faithful asked them to return to his troops in order to Fight Mu’awiyah and the entire people of Syria. They insolently answered: “An act of disobeying Allah did not upset you. Instead, you were outraged for being deposed. If you admit infidelity then repent your sin, we will consider the issue. Otherwise, we will fight you. Allah loves not the traitors.” Thereupon, ‘Ali invoked Allah’s curse on them saying: “After I had believed in Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, migrated with him and striven for the cause of Allah, you expect me to admit infidelity? I will have gone astray should I do.’* He then turned and walked away.
Ali then called on the companions to march to Syria afresh to fight Mu’awiyah and his troops. Shockingly, the Kharijites rebelled against everyone, violated the bounds of Islam, spread mischief in the land, held permissible what Allah forbade, shed Muslims’ blood and mutilated their bodies. It became evident that they had to be annihilated before heading for Syria. ‘ Ali sent them a messenger to order them to refrain from mischief, yet they killed him. He therefore made it to them himself at the helm of four thousand soldiers. He first asked them to hand in the murderers of ‘ Abdullah Ibn Khabab – the Prophet’s companion and his wife – so as to take vengeance on them. Their reply was that they were all the murderers and that they too thought that shedding their blood would not be unlawful. A debate took place between ‘ Ali and the Kharijites, the upshot of which was that eight thousand men returned to their senses, whereas four thousand others obstinately refused to. They therefore engaged in a lost battle against the Commander of the Faithful, who, in turn, managed to annihilate the transgressing party, with only a few survivors left. On the other hand, casualties in ‘ Ali’s ranks did not exceed seven or eight men. This battle, Al-Nahrawaan, took place to the south east of Baghdad in 38 AH. Nevertheless, survivors of this battle dispersed in various areas where they found listening ears. They thus succeeded in giving rise to several Kharijite factions that spread and continued to play an influential role for a considerable period of time.
(Source: Biographies of the Rightly Guided Caliphs )
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