الخوارج

The Kharijites are a sect whose doctrine turns, as Ahmad Amin observes, on the question of unbelief and belief, like the Murji'a but in opposition to them. ²

Al-Ash'ari, in "The Differences between the Sects", says that what unites the Kharijites despite the divergence of their doctrines is their declaration of unbelief against Ali and Uthman, the people of the Camel, the two arbitrators and everyone who accepted the arbitration, and the obligation to rise against an unjust imam. Al-Ka'bi and al-Ash'ari differed on whether declaring the committers of grave sins to be unbelievers was agreed upon by all of them or was the view of most of them, since the Najadat do not declare the committers of grave sins to be unbelievers. ²

They held a narrow view of belief: no one was counted a believer among them unless he kept clear of grave sins. They are opposed to the Shi'a on two points, one of which is that the Shi'a sanctify Ali and the Kharijites declare him an unbeliever. They regard his killer, Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam, as one of the best of creatures, as in the verses of Imran ibn Hittan. ³

Ahmad Amin holds that their culture, because of the predominance of the desert, was pure Arabic, linguistic and literary, with no trace of foreign cultures. ⁴

See also the Ibadiyya and the Harouriyya.