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7 - The Wahabi and the Khawarij
Surprising, there are many similarities between the
Wahabi and the Khawarij which distinguish them from the
rest of the Muslim. Some of these common points follow.
1. The Khawarij disagreed with all Muslims by
maintaining that whoever commits a cardinal sin is a
heretic. The Wahabis copied them by equating heresy with
committing what they considered to be sins.15
2. The Khawarij decreed that if committing cardinal
sins become common in a Muslim land then it deserved to
be considered dar harb, literally a land of war
and those who live in it forfeit their lives and
possessions.
This is also the Wahabi's verdict on the nation of
Islam if they believe that it is permissible to travel to
the Prophet's tomb and the shrines of pious men and ask
for their intercession with Allah, though they worship
only Allah and perform good deeds.
It is clear from the previous two points that the
Wahabis are more disruptive and evil than the Khawarij
While the khawarij based their verdict of heresy on deeds
that all Muslims agreed on being cardinal sins, the
Wahabis chose acts which are not actually sins but
favourable deeds performed by devout early Muslims
including the Prophet's Companions.
3. The Wahabis and the Khawarij are similar in their
strict application of religion and their ossified
interpretations of its doctrines. Thus when the Khawarij
read the Quranic verse: «Judgment belongs to Allah»
they said that whoever allowed resort to settlement is an
idolator. 'There is no judgment but Allah's' became their
slogan. And though it is indisputable it was misapplied
to justify their deviant ways. This attitude illustrates
their ignorance of Islam and rigid thinking since the
principle of settlement of dispute through adjudicator or
third-party intervention was established by the Holy
Quran, the Prophet's Tradition and the deeds of the
Companions and early Muslims. It is also supported by
common logic.
Similarly, the Wahabis interpreted the following
verses:
«You alone we worship and You alone we pray
for help».16
«Who is he that can intercede with Him but by
His own permission».17
No intercession shall avail with Him but that
which He Himself allow».18
To mean that anyone who justifies visiting the
Prophet's Mosque or the shrines of pious Muslim and ask
for their intercession is an idolator. They considered
such acts as tantamount to worshipping the Prophet or
those pious Muslims instead of Allah. Accordingly, they
declared that there is no deity but Allah and there is no
intercession except His.
While these heated declarations are indisputable, the
intentions behind them are open to suspicions. The
Wahabis chose to ignore the tradition established by the
Companions and early Muslims regarding the legality of
visiting the Prophet's Mosque and other shrines and
asking for intercession.
4. Ibn Taimia observed that the deviant group the
Khawarij was the first bida' or corruption in
Islam because its followers judged other Muslims as
heretics and legalized killing them.19 It can
be added that the Wahabia, and for the same reason, is
the last bida' in Islam.
5. Some of the Prophet's comments on the rise of the
Khawarij and their deviation from Islam also apply to the
Wahabis. Consider, for example, the Prophet's saying
that: «a group of people shall emerge from the east who
reads the Quran without understanding it. They shall
deviate from it like an arrow missing its target. Shaving
the head shall be their distinguishing characteristic.»20
In commenting on this saying, al-Qastalani said that
«'due east' means east of al-Medina such as Najid and
further.»
Najid is the birthplace of Wahabia from which it
spread to other places. Also, shaving their heads was one
of the Wahabis' established tradition which was mandatory
for all their followers including women. None of the
deviant groups who predated them was known to impose it.
Some of the religious scholars who witnessed the rise of
this movement maintained that there is no need to write
books to refute the Wahabia because it is sufficient to
repeat the Prophet's saying that 'Shaving the head is
their distinguishing characteristic,' since none has done
it before them.
6. The Prophet described the Khawarij as «those who
will slaughter Muslims and leave the pagans unharmed.»
This also applies to the Wahabis who fought only Muslims.
Their scholars and books also call for waging war on
other Muslims only.
7. Al-Bukhari reported that Ibn Omar described the
Khawarij as «having applied verses revealed regarding
pagans to the believers.»24 Ibn Abbas is
reported to have said on the same subject:
Don't be like the Khawarij who interpreted some
[verses] of the Quran to apply to the faithful. Those
verses were revealed regarding followers of other
divine messages and pagans. The Khawarij were
ignorant of their meanings and as a result they
killed [Muslims] and looted their possessions.
The Wahabis followed suit by applying verses revealed
in the case of idolaters to the believers.
8. We can now imagine the following dialogue between a
Sunni and a Wahabi:
-The Wahabi: The Hanabila [i.e. followers of Imam Ibn
Hanbal] books are also ours. Which of these books do you
disapprove of? If you indeed have something against them
then you must cite their books and not their critics!
-The Sunni: What do you think of the Karamita? [a
dissident group formed during the Abbasid rule].
-The Wahabi: They are pagans and idolaters.
-The Sunni: But they claim adherence to the Prophet
Household's doctrines and that their books are also
theirs. But the books of the Prophet Household contain
nothing but words of enlightenment and truth.
-The Wahabi: The Qaramita were liars and historians
have demonstrated their heresy and falsification.
-The Sunni: Then you accept evidence presented by
historians?
-The Wahabi: Yes! Imam al-Shafi said that the
historian's methodology in relying on multiple sources is
better, in his opinion, than the acceptance of a single
source by the narrators of the Prophet's Tradition.
-The Sunni: Then you must accept what the historians
considered as evidence of the Wahabi heresy. A person's
deed may be held as evidence against him or her even if
he denies doing it. And when the Qaramita legalized
murdering Muslims and stealing their possessions no doubt
regarding their heresy remained. This also applies to
your Wahabi masters.
-The Wahabi: (was angry and speechless).
- The Sunni then added: What is your opinion of the
description of the Khawarij as heretics who shall be
punished with Hell's fire?
-The Wahabi replied: The consensus is that the
Khawarij deviated from the true path and thus incurred
Allah's wrath. But the Khawarij were put to rout at the
Nahrawan battle and the Wahabis do not belong to them!
-The Sunni said: Why do you think the Khawarij
deserved Allah's wrath? was it because of the inadequacy
of their prayers and fasting?
-The Wahabi: No!
-The Sunni: Was it then because of their devotion, or
recital of the Quran or paying lipservice to the truth?
-The Wahabi: No!
-The Sunni persisted: Why then? Tell me!
-The Wahabi stammered and could not manage a reply.
-The Sunni: There is one and only one reason for
incurring Allah's wrath and that is legalizing the
slaughter of innocent Muslims and the theft of their
possessions after calling them heretics and also whoever
makes the claim that he is the only true Muslim. Anyone
who commits such deeds and makes such claims deserves the
same fate.
