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The Khariji [Kharijis, in Arabic Khawarij,
singular Khariji, meaning "those
that seceded"] were members of
the earliest sect in Islam
that left the followers of Hadrat
Ali [cousin and son-in-law of Prophet
Mohammad]. The third Caliph, Hadrat
Uthman, was killed by mutineers in
656 AD, and a struggle for succession
ensued between Hadrat Ali, and Mu'awiya,
governor of Damascus. The Khariji
left the followers of Hadrat Ali [the
Shia] because
of Shia willingness to allow human
arbitration of Hadrat Ali's dispute
with Mu'awiya in 657, rather than
divine judgment. The Khariji believed
that the Imam should be elected for
his moral qualities. The Khariji considered
that Hadrat Ali made a mistake in
looking for a compromise with Mu'awiya.
For this reason they are not considered
as properly Shiite by some commentators.
Hadrat Ali defeated their rebellion,
but the Khariji survived and an adherent
of the movement murdered Hadrat Ali
in 661.
Khariji rejected primogeniture succession
of the Quraysh, the tribe of Prophet Mohammad,
and assert that leadership of Islam,
the caliphate, should be designated
by an Imam elected by the community
from candidates who possess spiritual
and personal qualities.
The Khariji theology was a radical
fundamentalism, with uncompromised
observance of the Quran in defiance
of corrupt authorities. Khariji
considered moderate Muslims to be
"hypocrites" and "unbelievers"
who could be killed with impunity.
The Khawarij made takfir -- declaring
a person to be Kafir -- of the main
body of believers. The Khariji held
that only the most pious members of
the community could be entrusted with
political power.
The most prominent quality of the Khariji
movement was opposition to the caliph's
representatives and particularly to
Muawiyah, who became caliph after
Hadrat Ali. Although the Khariji were
known to some Muslims as bandits and
assassins, they developed certain
ideal notions of justice and piety.
The Prophet Mohammad had been sent
to bring righteousness to the world
and to teach the humanity to pray
and to distribute their wealth and
power fairly. According to the Khariji,
whoever was lax in following the Prophet's
directives should be opposed, ostracized,
or killed.
The Khariji Islamic school in late 7th
and early 8th century AD was concentrated
in today's southern Iraq. Khariji
uprisings continued under the Umayyads
in Iraq, Iran, and Arabia. The apogee
of Khariji influence came between
690 and 730, when their main city,
Basra, emerged as a center of Islamic
learning. Finally, under the Abbasids,
Kharijism was suppressed in Iraq.
Modern Khariji are sometimes called
Ibadis after Abu Allah ibn Ibad
(ca. 660-ca. 715), a moderate Khariji
who spent considerable time in Basra,
Iraq. Ibad's followers founded communities
in parts of Africa and southern Arabia.
In the eighth century, some Khariji
began to moderate their position.
Leaders arose who suppressed the fanatical
political element in Khariji belief
and discouraged their followers from
taking up arms against Islam's official
leader. Khariji leaders emphasized
instead the special benefits that
Khariji might receive from living
in a small community that held high
standards for personal conduct and
spiritual values.The Khariji movement
continued to be significant on the
Persian Gulf coast in the ninth through
the eleventh century. It continued
to play an important political role
in eastern Arabia, North Africa, and
eastern Africa. Over time the views
of the movement moderated and adherents
became less antagonistic to the rest
of Islam. Eventually, the Khariji
insistence on the primacy of religion
in political life moved into the mainstream
of Islamic thought.
The Khariji school survived into the
twentieth century in the more moderate
form of Ibadi Islam. Ibadis refer
themselves back to the Khariji but
reject their aggressive methods. There
is a Khariji majority in Oman and,
there are significant Khariji minorities
in Algeria (in the Mzab, more than
150,000). Some 60,000 Berber-speaking
Ibadi people living on Jerba [Djerba]
Island in Tunisia still kept to austere
Khariji beliefs.
Ibadi leadership is vested in an Imam,
who is regarded as the sole legitimate
leader and combines religious and
political authority. The Imam is elected
by a council of prominent laymen or
shaykhs. Adherence to Ibadism accounts
in part for Oman's historical isolation.
Considered a heretical form of Islam
by the majority Sunni
Muslims, Ibadis were not inclined
to integrate with their neighbors.
Oman became a Khariji centre early in
the Islamic era, its mountains and
geographic isolation providing them
with a secure haven. The first Ibadi
Imam of Oman, al-Jundala ibn-Mas'ud
was elected at the beginning of the
'Abassid caliphate (751). For over
a century the Ibadis of Oman defended
themselves against attacks by 'Abassid
forces attempting to bring Oman under
'Abassid rule. Their capital Nazwa
eventually became the spiritual centre
of the Ibadi movement as the Mashayekh
(doctors of the faith) gradually migrated
there from their original centre at
Basra. The Ibadis were ruled by elected
Imams until 1154 when the Banu-Nahban
established a dynasty of kings. In
1428 Imams were once again elected
by the community. In 1624 Nasir ibn-Murshid
of the Ya'ribi tribe was elected Imam
and ended tribal conflict. He and
his successors fought the Portuguese
(who had taken control of the Omani
coast in 1507) throughout the 17th
century, and under them Oman became
the strongest power on the Indian
Ocean coasts, expanding to Zanzibar.
Their strong fleet was feared by all
other powers.
The Persians dominated Oman for a while,
until in 1741 Abu-Sai'd became Imam
and expelled them. The rivalry between
the two tribal confederations of the
Hinawis (Yamanis, Qahtanis, south
Arab) and the Ghafiris (Qaysis, Nizaris,
North Arab) was renewed in his time
- it had always characterised Omani
history. In the 18th century Abu-Sa'id's
descendants, who styled themselves
Sultans and had Muscat as their capital,
built an empire which included Zanzibar,
was based on trade, and lasted until
Oman came under British influence.
The Sultans and the elected Imams of
Oman struggled for dominance in the
19th and 20th centuries. The tribes
of the interior supported the Imam
against the coastal tribes who supported
the Sultan. The British, hoping to
exploit oil found in the interior,
backed the Sultans and in 1959 expelled
the last Imam, Ghalib, who fled to
Saudi Arabia.
Oman has the largest group of Ibadis
in the Islamic world. Sultan Qabus,
though an Ibadi, is not the Imam and
is not recognised as the religious
head of the sect. The Ibadis live
mainly in the landward side of the
al-Hajar mountains around Nazwa, the
old capital of their Imams. They are
equally divided between the two main
tribal groups: the Hinawis, representing
the South Arabian branch and the Ghaffiris
who are of North Arabian stock.
After their defeat in Iraq and central
Arabia in the 8th century, some Kharijis
fled to North Africa where the Ibadis
succeeded in 776 to found a state
with its centre at Tiaret (Tahart
in Algeria) under 'Abd al-Rahman ibn-Rustam.
In 908 the Fatimids conquered the kingdom
of Tahart and the Ibadi survivors
migrated south. The invasion of the
Maghreb by the Banu-Hilal Beduin tribes
drove them still further south into
the desert, to the oasis of Wargla
where they founded a new state based
at Sadrata. To evade persecution by
the Sunni
al-Murabitun and al-Muwahidun dynasties
of the 11th and 12th centuries they
were again forced to migrate southward.
For safety's sake they decided to
settle in the most inhospitable region
they could find along the Oued Mzab
where they founded the Ibadi league
of five towns in the Ghardaia oasis.
The Mzabis are Berbers numbering today
some 150,000. Their first settlement,
el-'Atf, was founded in 1010 AD. Their
league of five walled cities is administered
by a council of 12 elders-scholars
called 'Azzabah who have taken over
the authority once vested in their
Imams. The population is divided into
two groups: the Talaba, who are the
religious elite, and the 'Awamm, or
common people who form the majority.
A lay person of good character can
join the religious class by attending
a Qur'anic school and passing examinations.
The 'Azzaba rule the community in both
religious and secular areas. They
make sure that the Shari'a is strictly
kept and offenders punished in accordance
with their laws. The strongest punishment
they can mete out is excommunication,
the mere threat of which is sufficient
to restore the offender.
The commoners have their own assembly,
the Jama'a, responsible for public
order. A Qa'id (judge) presides over
the Jama'a and relies on special guards,
Makari, to perform police functions.
Ghardaia is the most important town and
the administrative capital. It is
fortified and has white and red clay
houses that rise in terraces towards
the pyramid-like mosque at its centre.
Banu-Isjan is the Mzabi Holy Town
and strangers are banned from entering
it for four hours each day during
the midday prayers. Strangers are
also banned from spending the night
within its walls (restored in 1860).
At its west end stands a white 12th
century mosque.
Malika is a town populated mainly by
black African Mzabis and Bou-Nouara
is built on a rock overlooking the
river-bed. Two other towns, Garara
and Barian were added in the 17th
centuries.
Mzabis are strict Ibadis with a rigid
moral code who do not permit non-members
to enter their mosques. The Mzabis
do not marry outside their own religious
community. The men travel to other
towns of Algeria to find work, mainly
as shop keepers and owners of small
businesses, but the women are discouraged
from leaving the oasis.
Page last updated:
Friday, November 25, 2005 22:04:51 -0500 |
