Kharijites
Kharijites were members of an Islamic sect in late 7th
and early 8th century AD, concentrated in today's southern Iraq.
They were distinct from mainstream Islam and from the Shiites.
The origins of Kharijites lie in the strife over political supremacy
over the Muslim community in the years following the death of Muhammad.
The third Caliph, Uthman, was killed by mutineers in 656 AD,
and a struggle for succession ensued between Ali, cousin and
son-in-law of Muhammad, and Mu'awiya, governor of Damascus.
The core of Ali's followers later became Shiites, but a group of tribes
settled in Iraq who originally supported him rebelled in 658;
they became known as
Kharijites (in Arabic Khawārij, singular Khārijī, meaning 'those that
seceded'). Ali defeated the military rebellion, but the Kharijites
survived and an adherent of the movement murdered Ali in 661.
Kharijite theology was a form of radical fundamentalism,
preaching uncompromising observance of the teachings of Quran
in defiance of corrupt authorities.
Extreme Kharijites considered moderate Muslims to be 'hypocrites' or
'unbelievers', who could be killed with impunity; this practice is called takfir.
Their communities expelled from their midst those who committed
'grave sins', defined as any action contrary to the Quran.
Kharijites insisted that only the most pious members of the community
should be entrusted with political power.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the various Kharijite communities never
agreed on who the most pious person was, and the movement remained
politically fragmented throughout its existence.
With time the movement became more moderate and less antagonistic
to mainstream Islam.
The high point of the Kharijites' influence was in the years 690 to 730,
when their main city, Basra, became a center of Islamic theology. Kharijite ideology (like Shiism) became a popular creed for rebels against the officially Sunni Caliphate, inspiring breakaway states (like the Rustamids and the Midrarids) and rebellions (like Maysara's) throughout the Maghreb and sometimes elsewhere.
Two of the main Kharijite sects were named by color: the "white" Ibadis (still extant), and the "yellow" Sufris (who established the Midrarid state at Sijilmassa.)
One "Kharijite" sect, the Ibadis, have survived into the present day (though they reject the designation "Kharijite".) They form a significant part of the population of Oman, and there are smaller concentrations of them in the Mzab of Algeria, Jerba in Tunisia, and Djebel Nafusa in Libya.
