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Hadith On Khawarij
My question regarding the below mentioned hadith is: Was it a prediction of Holy Prophet s.a.w about insurgency of khawarij?
Sahih muslim: 1064b
Abu Said al-Khudri reported:
‘Ali b. Abu Talib sent to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) from Yemen some gold alloyed with clay in a leather bag dyed in the leaves of Mimosa flava. He distributed it among four men. ‘Uyaina b. Hisna, Aqra’ b. Habis and Zaid al-Khail, and the fourth one was either Alqama b. ‘Ulatha or ‘Amir b. Tufail. A person from among his (Prophet’s) Companions said: We had a better claim to this (wealth) than these (persons). This (remark) reached the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) upon which he said: Will you not trust me, whereas I am a trustee of Him Who is in the heaven? The news come to me from the heaven morning and evening. Then there stood up a person with deep sunken eyes, prominent cheek bones, and elevated forehead, thick beard, shaven head, tucked up loincloth, and he said: Messenger of Allah, fear Allah. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Woe to thee. Do I not deserve most to fear Allah amongst the people of the earth? That man then returned. Khalid b. Walid then said: Messenger of Allah, should I not strike his neck? Upon this he (the Holy Prophet) said: Perhaps he may be observing the prayer. Khalid said: How many observers of prayer are there who profess with their tongue what is not in their heart? Upon this the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: I have not been commanded to pierce through the hearts of people, nor to split their bellies (insides). He again looked at him and he was going back. Upon this he (the Holy Prophet) said: There would arise a people from the progeny of this (man) who would recite the Qur’an glibly, but it would not go beyond their throats; they would (hurriedly) pass through (the teachings of their) religion just as the arrow passes through the prey. I conceive that he (the Holy Prophet) also said this: If I find them I would certainly kill them as were killed the (people of) Thamud.
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Hadith On Khawarij
updated 1 year, 9 months ago
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This is a typical anti Khawarij hadith that was forged in the later period and retrojected to the Prophet (pbuh). Notice how it specifies excessive devotion as a characteristic of the Kharajites. For this to be understood, you need to consider the Kharjite creed in which, if you commit a sin, you leave the fold of Islam and in order to become a Muslim, you have to renew your faith. For this reason, many Kharjites were zealots. In some anti Khawariji hadiths, you will even find “sunken eyes, prominent cheek bones, and elevated forehead, thick beard, shaven head, tucked up loincloth” being used for the physical description of Kharijites . The Kharijtes were also known for holding the Quran as the ultimate arbitrator in case of conflict between people. The Prophet (pbuh) wasn’t known for giving such specific description of future events/groups in the manner of a soothsayer.
Anyways we know the Kharjites did not belong to a specific tribal group, this in itself proves the inauthenticity of the hadith but there’s a bigger problem with this narration. The Prophet (pbuh) would never kill people who claim to be his followers, he didn’t even harm the hypocrites who lived in Medina during his lifetime. The hadith is also against the manner in which Ali (ra) ( who the Kharjites planned to assassinate ) interacted with Kharjites by offering reconciliation, peace talks and dialogue. This led many of them to renounce kharjite mentality. However, some remaining Kharjites were obstinate on assassinating Muslim leaders and when all dialogue failed, Ali(ra) was forced to confront them at the battle of Nahrawan.
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These Ahadith are mentioned in Sahih muslim. What is the status of these hadith according to Muhaddeseen? And where can I find Ghamdi’s view on that?
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There are no specific comments of Ghamidi Sahab available on this specific narration.
Although Imam Muslim has brought this narration and other similar variants under Chapter of Khawarij and their attributes (باب ذِكْرِ الْخَوَارِجِ وَصِفَاتِهِمْ). It is quite possible that in addition to these narrations prophesying Khawarij, when seen in the light of Quran, are also pointing towards Hypocrites of Medina, whose condemnation is mentioned in Quran more or less with the same attributes.
وَمِنْهُمْ مَّنْ يَّلْمِزُكَ فِي الصَّدَقَاتِ فَإِنْ أُعْطُوْا مِنْهَا رَضُوْا وَإِن لَّـمْ يُعْطَوْا مِنْهَا إِذَا هُمْ يَسْخَطُوْنَ. وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ رَضُوْا مَا آتَاهُمُ اللّهُ وَرَسُوْلُهُ وَقَالُوْا حَسْبُنَا اللّهُ سَيُؤْتِينَا اللّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ وَرَسُوْلُهُ إِنَّا إِلَى اللّهِ رَاغِبُوْنَ
Among them [O Prophet!] are those who censure you [in the distribution] of charity. [These are the ones whom greed has joined with you.] Thus if they are given from this wealth, they remain happy and if they are not given, they become annoyed. [It was better for them] if they had remained content with what God and His Messenger had given them and said: “God is sufficient for us”. (Quran 9:58-59)
And also:
فَلاَ وَرَبِّكَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّىَ يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لاَ يَجِدُواْ فِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِّمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيمًا
But no – [O Messenger!] I swear by your Lord – these people will never be true believers until they accept you as the arbitrator in their disputes. Then whatever decision you give, they submit to it without feeling any uneasiness in their hearts. (Quran 4:65)
If one looks all the narrations in the light of these Quranic verses specific to hypocrites, one can justifiably say that this particular incident related to this specific person mentioned in narration could have to do with hypocrites and their attributes mentioned in Quran. It is also a possibility that Prophecy of a rogue muslim group (i.e. Khawarij) was an independedent prophecy and it got conflated with this separate incident, but in reality, they could’ve been two separate sayings.
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