Part 4
By Ehsan
The Four Defining Characteristics of the Khawarij That Reached Their Peak in Daesh
To fully understand the deviant course of the Khawarij and the depth of its intellectual and practical connection to the takfiri movement known as Daesh, it is necessary to examine the defining characteristics that set the Khawarij apart from other Islamic groups. While these traits first appeared among the Khawarij in a limited form, they have been revived within Daesh on an unprecedented scale and with far greater brutality.
Researchers such as Ahmad Abdul Rahman Mustafa, in his book “Daesh min al-Zanzanah ila al-Khilafah,” and Dr. Hani Nasira, in “Sardab Al-Dam,” have both highlighted these intellectual and practical similarities between the early Khawarij and modern-day Daesh. These characteristics rest on four fundamental principles. Any one of them is enough to lead a movement into deviation, but when all four come together, they create a movement that is both ruthless and extremely dangerous.
The first and most important characteristic of the Khawarij was their widespread practice of takfir. They were the first group in Islamic history to declare other Muslims unbelievers. In their view, anyone who committed a major sin became a disbeliever whose blood could lawfully be shed. Their campaign of takfir became so extreme that even some of the greatest Companions of the Prophet (PBUH) were not spared.
Sheikh-ul-Islam ibn Taymiyya writes in Majmu’ al-Fatawa that the Khawarij even declared as unbelievers those who opposed their Bid’ah, considering both their lives and property lawful to seize.
This same outlook lies at the heart of Daesh’s ideology. In its publications, Daesh has repeatedly declared that anyone who refuses to pledge allegiance to its self-proclaimed caliphate, or who commits what it considers a major sin, is an apostate and an unbeliever whose blood is lawful. The difference between Daesh and the Khawarij lies only in the scale of their takfir. The Khawarij mainly excommunicated those immediately around them, whereas Daesh has declared nearly one and a half billion Muslims to be apostates and has considered their killing permissible.
The second defining characteristic was their shallow and literal understanding of religion. The Khawarij confined themselves to the outward wording of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah while remaining blind to their deeper meanings. They applied verses revealed about unbelievers to believing Muslims and, through this false interpretation of the Qur’an, pronounced them unbelievers and apostates.
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) pointed directly to this characteristic in the hadith recorded in both Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, saying:
“They will recite the Quran, but it will not go beyond their throats.”
The same superficial understanding appears in Daesh with even greater intensity. It interprets lofty Islamic concepts such as jihad, the caliphate, hijrah, and takfir in the narrowest and most violent way possible, while turning away from sound reasoning, qualified scholarly judgment, and the rich juristic tradition that Muslims developed over centuries.
The third characteristic was killing Muslims while leaving the idolaters alone. This striking and deeply revealing trait is mentioned explicitly in the Prophetic traditions. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:
“They will kill the Muslims and leave the idolaters.”
Ibn Umar (RA) also said:
“They took verses that had been revealed about the unbelievers and applied them to the believers.”
Instead of confronting the real enemies of Islam, the Khawarij turned the sword of takfir against fellow Muslims.
The same pattern is clearly visible in Daesh. Most of its bloody attacks have been directed at Muslims. It has declared Shi’a to be unbelievers and massacred them. It has branded Sufis as polytheists and beheaded them. It has also declared Sunni Muslims who opposed it to be apostates and has killed them as well.
The fourth characteristic was rebellion against Muslim rulers, whether those rulers were just or unjust. The Khawarij rebelled against the Rightly Guided Caliphs, who were the most just rulers after the Prophet (PBUH), and declared them unbelievers.
Daesh has followed the same path, declaring all Muslim rulers to be unbelievers whose blood is lawful. In his famous sermon at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called on every ruler in the Muslim world to pledge allegiance to his self-proclaimed caliphate. Those who refused, he declared, were unbelievers whose killing was permissible.
Taken together, these four characteristics paint a clear picture of the deviant nature of the Khawarij and of their modern heirs, Daesh. The real difference between them lies only in their methods, not in their foundations or their ideology. The Khawarij fought with swords and sermons. Daesh fights with automatic weapons, mortars, satellite communications, and the internet. In reality, Daesh is nothing more than the old Khawarij ideology pursued in its most savage and blood-soaked form.
