TAFSIR OF SOME OF THE AYAT OF THE QUR’AN IN RELATION TO THE KHAWAARIJ

TAFSIR OF SOME OF THE AYAT OF THE QUR’AN IN RELATION TO THE KHAWAARIJ

 

وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الكَافِرُونَ

“And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are the disbelievers.” (1)

i. Abu Hayyan al-Andalusi (dead 745 AH) said:

“The Khawarij use this Ayah as evidence to show that anyone who has disobeyed Allah has become a Kafir (disbeliever). They say that this is textual evidence that anyone who judges with other than anyone who sins has indeed judged with other than what Allah has revealed thus making the ruling of Kafir obligatory upon him”. (2)

ii. From al-Hasan who said:
“One day ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan came out, to speak to us, but some of the Khawarij would interject his speech, and they began to throw soft sand up in the air, so much so that you could not see the sky.”
Al-Hasan said:
“We heard a voice from the some of the rooms of the wives of the Prophet , and it was said, this was the voice of the mother of the believers ! I heard her and she was saying:{ Indeed your Prophet has cleared himself from those who divided his religion and entered into partisanship.}

And She recited:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَرَّقُوا دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُوا شِيَعاً لَّسْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ إِنَّمَا أَمْرُهُمْ إِلَى اللَّهِ ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْعَلُونَ

Verily, those who divide their religion and break up into sects (all kinds of religious sects)[2], you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) have no concern in them in the least. Their affair is only with Allâh, Who then will tell them what they used to do. (3)

It is narrated from Abu Hurairah , that this Ayah was revealed regarding this Ummah. And From Abu Umama who said:

“They are the Khawarij.”

Al-Qadi said:

“The apparent meaning of the Qur’an indicates that anyone who innovates an innovation into this Din from the Khawarij and from other than them, then he enters into this Ayah, because if they innovated then they have debated, quarrelled,divided and become parties.”(4)

iii.From these Ayat is the saying of Allah :

قُلْ هُوَ القَادِرُ عَلَى أَن يَبْعَثَ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَاباً مِّن فَوْقِكُمْ أَوْ مِن تَحْتِ أَرْجُلِكُمْ أَوْ يَلْبِسَكُمْ شِيَعاً وَيُذِيقَ بَعْضَكُم بَأْسَ بَعْضٍ

Say: "He has power to send torment on you from above or from under your feet, or to cover you with confusion in party strife, and make you to taste the violence of one another." (5)

From Ibn Abbas who said:

"To cover them with confusion in party strife is the different types of desires."

Ash-Shatabi (d.790) said:

“So according to this statement, the saying of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic: “...and make you taste the violence of one another” would mean: Some people making Takfir of others until they fight one another, as the Khawarij did when they rebelled against Ahlus-Sunnah wa-al Jama-ah” (6)

iv. In the Sahih of al-Bukhari from ‘Amr from Mus’ab who said:
“I asked my father about the statement of Allah, the Most High:
 
قُلْ هَلْ نُنَبِّئُكُم بِالأَخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَالاً

Say (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم): "Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds? (7)

Are they the Hururiyah? (8) He said: “No.They are the Jews and the Christians. As for the the Jews they belied Muhammad, and as for the Christians, then they belied Paradise, and they said there is no food there nor any drink. The Hururiyah are: “Those who break Allah’s covenant after accepting it.” (9) Sa’d bin Abi Waqas used to call them evil people.” (10)

v. In the Tafsir of Sa’id bin Mansur from Mus’ab bin Sa’d who said:
“I asked my father about:
 
الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعاً

"Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds.” (11)

Are they the Hururiya? He said: “No; they are the companions of monasteries, however, the Hururiya are those about whom Allah says:

فَلَمَّا زَاغُوا أَزَاغَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمْ

So when they turned away (from the Path of Allâh), Allâh turned their hearts away (from the Right Path). (12)

It is conveyed by ‘Abd bin Humaid from Humaid bin Mahran who said:
“I heard al-Hasan say: ‘What do the people with these evil desires do with these Ayat in Ali ‘Imran:

 وَلاَ تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ تَفَرَّقُوا وَاخْتَلَفُوا مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَهُمُ البَيِّنَاتُ

 And be not as those who divided and differed among themselves after the clear proofs had come to them.

He said: “They throw the clear signs- I swear by the Lord of the Ka’bah – behind their backs”.
Also from Abu Umamah who said:

“They are the Hururiya.” (13)

The conclusion of what Imam Ash-Shatabi said regarding these previous Ayat:
“So these previous Ayat and from Sa’d bin Abi Waqas , about the saying of Allah :
 
الذين ينقضون عهد الله من بعد ميثاقه ويقطعون ما أمر الله به أن يوصل ويفسدون في الأرض أولئك هم الخاسرو“

Those who break Allâh’s Covenant after ratifying it, and sever what Allâh has ordered to be joined (as regards Allâh’s religion of Islâmic Monotheism, and to practise its laws on the earth and also as regards keeping good relations with kith and kin), and do mischief on earth, it is they who are the losers. (14)

This Ayah includes the Ahlul Bid’ah because the people of Hurura (15) had these characteristics combined in them, namely breaking Allah’s agreement, and separating what Allah has ordered to be practiced, and making mischief on the earth.

Firstly: because they left the correct way, and this has been testified, by the Messenger of Allah , as the Khawarij interpreted the Ayat with the wrong explanation. This is what innovators do, and this is the door through which they enter. Secondly: because they exaggerated concerning the rulings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and they exaggerated excessively.

So the people of Hurura and other than them from the Khawarij, separated the saying of Allah:

“Indeed the Hukm is only for Allah” (16)

From another saying of Allah :

“...as adjudged by two just men among you...” (17)

And other similar Ayat, just as the other innovators have done.

Thirdly: because the Hururiya unsheathed their swords against the worshippers of Allah, and that is the height of evil on the earth. This is widespread amongst most of the Ahlul-Bida’ah. The rest of Ahlul-Bida’ah spread evil in the form of causing enmity and hatred between the people of Islam.” (18)

Notes:
(1) Surat al-Maidah: 44

(2) Bahr al-Muhit, 3/493

(3) Surat al-An’am:159

(4) Al-Itisam by ash-Shatabi, vol.1/84

(5) Surat al-An’am:65

(6) Al-Itisam by ash-Shatabi, vol.1/86

(7) Surat al-Kahf:103

(8) Dr.Awaji said: “This is an ascription to the place where their ancestors rebelled when they split away and rebelled against the army of the Imam ‘Ali and they went to that place. So this faction was ascribed to this place, which is a place near Kufa called Hurura.” [al-Khawarij, p.32]. Al-Ashari said: “The reason they were called Hururiya because they stated in a place called Hurura at the beginning of their rebellion.” [See al-Maqalat of al-Ashari 1/207]

(9) Surat al-Baqarah: 27

(10) Al-Itisam, ash-Shatabi, vol.1/89, Fathul-Bari 8/4728/425, Kitab Tafsir, Chapter: “Say:’Shall We tell you who are the greatest losers in respect to their deed’s’”.

(11) Surat al-Kahf: 104.

(12) Surat Saff:5

(13) Al-I’tisam of ash-Shatabi, vol.1/89.

(14) Al-I’tisam of ash-Shatabi, vol.1/74.

(15) Surat al-Baqarah: 27

(16) A village about two miles from Kufa

(17) Surat al-An’am: 57

(18) Surat al-Maidah: 95

(19) Al-It’isam by ash-Shatabi, Vol. 1/90-91

From the book: “The Religious Insurgency of the Khawarij” The Khawarij and their characteristics".