Part 3
Abdul Wahid
Takfir and an Extremist View toward Muslims
One of the dangerous signs of the Khawarij in the narrations is their extreme treatment of Muslims and their regarding them as outside the fold of Islam. In their view, a sin or an act of opposition that doesn’t actually remove a person from Islam can sometimes become a reason for declaring a Muslim a disbeliever.
In our own time too, we see this same pattern: this misguided group considers every Muslim outside its own small circle a disbeliever, saying: “When we finish the war against the apostates (Muslims), we’ll fight the disbelievers.” In reality, this extremist outlook itself prepares the ground for enmity and war against Muslims, because apart from themselves, they consider all other Muslims disbelievers or apostates. In this regard, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:
“يَقْتُلُونَ أَهْلَ الْإِسْلَامِ، وَيَدَعُونَ أَهْلَ الْأَوْثَان”
[Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3344]
“They kill the people of Islam and leave the idol-worshippers alone.”
This hadith shows that one of the Khawarij’s greatest deviations is their harsh, violent treatment of Muslims, to the point that they target them with no regard for the sanctity of Muslim blood. Yet the Noble Quran gives a stern warning about deliberately killing a believer, saying:
﴿وَمَن يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُّتَعَمِّدًا فَجَزَاؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ خَالِدًا فِيهَا…﴾ [An-Nisa 93]
“And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, wherein he will abide eternally…”
Likewise, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) spoke about the danger of declaring a Muslim a disbeliever without evidence:
“إِذَا قَالَ الرَّجُلُ لِأَخِيهِ: يَا كَافِرُ، فَقَدْ بَاءَ بِهِ أَحَدُهُمَا”
[Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6103]
“If a man says to his brother, ‘O Kafir (disbeliever)!’ then surely one of them is such (i.e., a Kafir).”
This hadith matters a great deal, because it shows that attributing disbelief to a Muslim isn’t some simple, ordinary matter that anyone may do based on their own opinion. Takfir is a grave sharia ruling that demands clear sharia evidence and valid conditions. That said, this doesn’t mean denying the rulings on disbelief and faith; the point is that the decision to declare specific individuals disbelievers shouldn’t be made on the basis of emotion, personal disputes or mistaken assumptions. The scholars of Islam have drawn important distinctions on this subject between a statement or act being disbelief in itself and declaring a specific individual a disbeliever.
For this reason, one fundamental lesson from the hadiths about the Khawarij is that religious zeal must go hand in hand with knowledge, justice and caution. Anyone who easily declares Muslims disbelievers over intellectual, political or personal disagreement, without regard for the sanctity of their blood and property, is walking a dangerous path, the very path the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) warned against.
Recognizing these signs of the Khawarij is useful for more than studying a historical movement. It also warns all Muslims to avoid haste, excess and judgment without knowledge in matters of faith and disbelief, and to turn to established sharia principles and the guidance of trustworthy scholars when understanding the Holy Quran and the blessed Sunnah.
