Part 2
By Ehsan
The First Group to Declare Muslims Disbelievers
To properly understand the intellectual and practical nature of Daesh, there is no way around going back to the first deviant movement in Islamic history, the Khawarij. This return is not just a historical exercise. It is the basic key that opens up an understanding of most of Daesh’s behavior, its fatwas, its intellectual framework, and its takfiri methods. The reason for this is clear. The Khawarij were the first group to open the door to declaring Muslims unbelievers, while Daesh, through the use of modern instruments such as mass media, cyberspace, and advanced military technology, has widened that same door and carried violence and criminality to their furthest limits.
According to some researchers and analysts, Daesh is in reality nothing more than the revival of the Khawarij’s old thinking, just dressed up in the clothing of a state. The same sweeping takfir, the same rigid literalism, the same organized violence, only this time carried out through cinematic-quality videos and broad social media networks.
The word “Khawarij” is the plural of “Khariji” and comes from the Arabic root “kharaja,” meaning to go out or to leave. In its literal sense, a “Khariji” is simply someone who has left or departed from something.
But in theological, doctrinal, and historical usage, the word took on a specific meaning, applied to groups or individuals who rise up against the legitimate rule of Muslims. Among Islamic scholars, al-Shahrastani, in his important work al-Milal wa al-Nihal, offered a comprehensive definition of the Khawarij. In his view, anyone or any group that rises up against a rightful imam whom Muslims have agreed upon and reached consensus over, and who refuses obedience to him, is called a “Khariji.” This definition shows that the concept of Khawarij is not limited to one particular historical period. It is a general label that can apply to any kind of rebellion against legitimate rule, in any era.
Other Islamic theologians and historians have each clarified this concept from their own angle. Abu al-Hasan al-Ashari, in his book Maqalat al-Islamiyyin, points to the historical side of how the Khawarij got their name, writing that they became known by this name because of their uprising against the Muslims’ caliph, Ali (RA). Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi, in al-Farq bayn al-Firaq, looks at it from the doctrinal angle and considers the Khawarij to be those who adopted the belief that Ali (RA) and his companions were disbelievers and issued a ruling of takfir against them.
In another definition, the Khawarij are described as the first people to declare Muslims disbelievers, who embraced violence and considered it permissible to kill those who opposed them. This definition rests on three core traits of the Khawarij: takfir, violence, and treating the blood of opposing Muslims as lawful. What stands out here is that Daesh has revived these exact same three traits. Just as the Khawarij were the first group to begin declaring Muslims disbelievers, Daesh has carried forward that same intellectual inheritance through its sweeping takfir of Shias, Sufis, Ikhwanis, and even other jihadist movements.
In the same way, just as the Khawarij embraced violence and considered killing their opponents permissible, Daesh has pushed organized violence to its peak through mass executions, beheadings, burning prisoners alive, and enslaving women and children. Because of this, we can say that the Khawarij, historically through their uprising against Ali (RA), doctrinally through their takfir of opponents, and practically through their violence and their treatment of Muslim blood as lawful, are considered the original source of all takfiri movements in the history of Islam.
Daesh, too, is counted among the bloodiest and most extreme modern manifestations of this same current. The Prophet of Islam (PBUH) foretold before his passing the emergence of such deviant movements and warned the Ummah against their fitna. These very prophetic teachings later became the foundation for the rulings issued by Islamic jurists, who throughout history have firmly condemned the Khawarij and groups like them.