Who are these terrorists?

A soldier stands guard at the Kochchikade Church following the attack on Sunday – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara 

Muslims, as in Christianity, are divided into various sects and denominations. The sects vary from being Sufis, Salafis, Secularists, Thablighis, etc. All these sects have their differences. Their variations maybe to do with how to pray, how long to grow the beard, how women should cover themselves, when to celebrate the Eid festivals, etc. 

These differences affect their own practices of the religion and is a matter of religious discourse. None of their practices affect, hurt or inconvenience anyone but themselves and it is a matter of choice on how they best deem their religious practices will please their creator.

The beginning of the Khawarij

However there is one particular group known as the Khawarij. The title comes from the Arabic word “khuruj,” meaning “revolt” or “insurrection”. This group was the first group to exhibit extremist tendencies and the first sect to split away from mainstream Islamic thought and this took place soon after Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) during the Leadership of his Cousin Ali, when some political instability took place there.

The extreme, overzealous practices of the Khawarij are what drove them into constant conflict and bloodshed. They would kill anyone who did not believe in their extremist ideology. Some of the many features of the Khawarij were among the following:

• They considered anyone who had committed a major sin (i.e. drinking alcohol, fornication, backbiting) to be a disbeliever, and that they should be killed
• They believed only they were on the correct path and everyone else was a disbeliever and had to be killed
• They questioned the religious scholarship of notables like Ibn Abbas, Ibn Masud, Aishah—and even The Prophet himself.
• They were narrow-minded and short-sighted
• They lacked any sort of religious knowledge or scholarship
• They acted without knowledge or insight into the consequences of their actions
• They saw the need to openly fight whoever they considered to be an unjust ruler

In short, much of the Khawarij belief stemmed from an overzealous sense of righteousness. 

Modern times

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that this group would continue to come and go until near the Day of Judgement. He described the Khawarij of our times thus:

“There will come towards the end of time a group of people, young men, they have the most grandiose visions, they are speaking the best speech that you will ever hear of any man. But they will leave Islam like an arrow leaves its prey.”

There are a few noteworthy things to take from that hadith (Prophet’s sayings):

• They will be young men. Meaning they will be comprised mainly of overzealous young men. You won’t see the old and wise among their ranks.
• They will have the most grandiose visions. They will, as young men do, dream of changing the world and will be able to inspire others with their dreams—though their dreams will be incompatible with reality.
• They will be speaking the best speech. Meaning, as the Prophet said before, they will call to Islam and to the Book of God, but their actions will be outwardly evil.
  
   

In our times, groups like ISIS have woven a grand illusion in which they consider themselves the representatives for Muslims everywhere. And yet they act in ways similar to the Khawarij. And what groups like ISIS have failed to realise is that blatant acts of violence and bloodshed are not the foundations of a just society.

Among the most obvious traits that modern groups share with the Khawarij is the lack of insight into their own actions. They do not see beyond the scope of their rifle.

When Ju’hayman al-Otaybi and his group held the Ka’bah in Mecca hostage in 1979, resulting in the deaths of over 200 people, did he think that he would win the hearts of people by threatening them at the holiest place in the Muslim world?  

In our times, groups like ISIS have woven a grand illusion in which they consider themselves the representatives for Muslims everywhere. And yet they act in ways similar to the Khawarij. And what groups like ISIS have failed to realise is that blatant acts of violence and bloodshed are not the foundations of a just society. And in our times, with Al Qaeda strapping bombs to their chests, and Boko Haram kidnapping young girls, and ISIS beheading journalists, to what end do they see their barbaric actions? Do they think that their bombs, guns and beheadings will make people love God, love Islam, love Prophet Muhammad? Do they not see how out of touch they are with reality? Perhaps they should learn their own history. But even if they did, would that stop them from repeating it? Or would they just burn the book?

When Khalid Islambouli assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981, did he think that peace would immediately flow out of the dead President’s body? Rather, Sadat was replaced with Hosni Mubarak and the rest of that is history.When the Gamat Islamiya (Group of Islam) killed 62 tourists in the 1997 Luxor Massacre, did they imagine the world would suddenly respect them and fear them? Rather, their own people and government hunted them down.

And in our times, with Al Qaeda strapping bombs to their chests, and Boko Haram kidnapping young girls, and ISIS beheading journalists, to what end do they see their barbaric actions? Do they think that their bombs, guns and beheadings will make people love God, love Islam, love Prophet Muhammad? Do they not see how out of touch they are with reality?

Perhaps they should learn their own history.But even if they did, would that stop them from repeating it? Or would they just burn the book?

 

Sri Lankan context

The 21 April atrocities committed by ISIS and/or its splinter groups in Sri Lanka stem from the Khawarij. The Khawarij may not even outwardly look religious, physically or for example through action they could be seen drinking or visiting brothels the night before an attack as in many of the European attacks. Thus we should not confuse being a Khawarij with being conservative or religious. The only difference is that they are bloodthirsty at whatever cost and the rest are not.

So we plead with the Government and public not to target a particular community on the whole or a particular religious practice which has no relationship to the strife we are in today. But rather be objective and address the extremist ideology of the Khawarij and their supporters. 

– A concerned citizen



References:

‘Khawarij: A History of Violence’ – Aaron Wannamaker

‘How the Khawarij Came into Existence’ – Al-Islam

‘Who Were the Kharijis?’ – Lost Islamic History

‘Who Were the Khawarij?’ – Jammaat-Ul-Muslimeen

‘Conclusive Scholarly Opinions on ISIS’ – 

Islam 21c

‘Grand Mosque Seizure’ – Wikipedia

‘The Modern Jihadists Khawarij or Mujahideen’ – Sh. Yasir Qadhi (video)

‘Extremism in Islam Kharijism to ISIS – A Brief Historical Analysis’ – 

Sh. Yasir Qadhi (video)

‘Today’s Answers’ – Imam Suhaib Webb (video)