Ali’s [radiAllahu anhu] treatment of the Kharijites.

 

Amir al-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (radiAllahu anhu) treated the Kharijites as Muslims, both before and after the battle. No sooner had the battle ended but he issued orders to his troops, saying:

“Do not pursue anyone who is fleeing, do not finish off anyone who is wounded, and do not mutilate anyone who has been killed.”

 

Shaqeeq ibn Salamah, who was known as Abu Wa’il, one of the jurists of the Tabi’oon who was present with ‘Ali during his battles, said: ”

‘Ali did not take any female prisoners either on the day of the Camel or on the day of Nahrawan.[1]“

 

After the battle of Nahrawan, he took the property of the slain to Kufah and said: “Whoever recognizes anything, let him take it.” The people started taking things until there was one pot left, then a man came and took it.[2]  ‘Ali (radiAllahu anhu) did not divide anything among his troops except what the Kharijites had brought into battle with them: weapons and horses only.

 

Amir al-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (radiAllahu anhu) did not regard the Kharijites as disbelievers. Before the battle, he tried to bring them back to the main body of Muslims, and many of them did come back. He exhorted them and reminded them of the seriousness of fighting.

 

Ibn Qudamah said:

“He did this because his aim was to restrain them and fend off their evil, not to kill them. If it was possible to achieve this by talking, that should take precedence over fighting because of the harm that may be caused to both parties as a result of fighting. This indicates that the Kharijites were a group of Muslims, as was stated by many of the scholars.”[3]

 

‘Ali (radiAllahu anhu) was asked whether they were disbelievers.

He said: “They have fled from disbelief.” He was asked: “Are they hypocrites?” He said: “The hypocrites only remember Allah a little.” He was asked: “What are they?” He said: “They are people who transgressed against us, so we fought them.” [4]

 

According to another report:

“They are people who transgressed against us, therefore we prevailed over them.” According to a third report: “They are people upon whom a fitnah came, and they became blind and deaf.”[5]

 

Ali (radiAllahu anhu) also offered this advice to his army and to the Muslim Ummah after him:

“If they go against a just ruler, then fight them, but if they go against an unjust ruler, do not fight them, because they have a reason.”[6]

 

It may be noted that ‘Ali (radiAllahu anhu) regretted and was grieved by the fighting in the Battle of the Camel and Siffeen, while he expressed satisfaction and contentment about fighting the Kharijites.

 

Ibn Taymiyyah [Rahimahullah]said:

“The texts and scholarly consensus differentiate between the two cases. He fought the Kharijites on the basis of a text from the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) and was happy about that, and none of the Companions objected to that. As for his fighting on the’ day of Siffeen, he showed a great deal of sorrow and regretted it.”[7]

 

Footnotes:

[1] Sunan al-Kubra/Baihaqi [8/182]

[2] Al-Talkhees ul Habeer [4/47]

[3] Fath ul Bari [12/300,301], Nayl al-Awtar [8/182]

[4] Musannaf Abdur Razzaq [10/150], Musannaf ibn Abi Shaybah [10, 332]

[5] Musannab ibn Abi Shaybah [10/320,324], Al aitisaam/ Shaatibi[1/62]

[6] Musannaf ibn Abi Shaybah [10/320], Fath ul Bari [12/301]

[7] Majmoo al-Fatawa [28/514]

[Taken from: Rightly guided Caliphs by Dr. Ali Sallabi]

 

Download PDF: [E-Book] The most correct opinion concerning the takfeer of Khawarij

Abu Bakr to his son: “I would not have veered away from you.”

 

When the fighting began in earnest, the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam left his command post and descended to the battlefield. Rousing his troops to fight bravely, the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam proceeded to set an example for them by entering into the thick of the battle. He sallallahu alaihi wasallam fought intensely on that day, and throughout the battle, Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhu remained close by his side, eager to fight any polytheist that appeared before him, even if that meant fighting against his own son.

 

For on that day, his son Abdur Rahmaan was fighting alongside the polytheists. Happily for Abdur Rahmaan, however his father did not see him that day on the battlefield.

 

Later on, when he embraced Islam, Abdur Rahmaan radiAllahu anhu said to his father,

“You appeared before me as a clear target on the Day of Badr. But I veered away from you, opting not to kill you.”

 

Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhu replied, “But had you appeared before me as a clear target, I would not have veered away from you.”

[Taareekh al Khulafaa, by As-Suyootee, page94]

 

The Generosity of Prophet Muhammed (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam).

Bismillah Ar Rahmaan Ar Raheem

 

The Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) was unequalled in his generosity, liberality, open-handedness and leniency. His generosity was comprehensive and included all levels of giving, the highest of which is to offer one’s life in the cause of Allah (Subhanahu wataala). He gave himself in fighting against the enemies of Allah (Subhanahu wataala) and he was closest to the enemy during battle; only the bravest soldiers would stand beside him.

 

He (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) offered his knowledge and would teach his
companions of what Allah (Subhanahu wataala) had taught him. He was keen
to teach them everything good and would be gentle with them when teaching.

 

He  (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said,

“Allah did not sent me to make difficulty or be difficult, but he sent me as a teacher, making things easy.” (Muslim)

 

And he (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said,

“I am to you in the position of a father, teaching you.”

(Ahmad and Abu Dawud – graded as hasan by al-Albani)
When a questioner asked him something, he would often reply with additional information. Someone once asked him about the purity of sea water, and he  (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said, “Its water is pure and its creatures are permitted [to eat].” (Ahmad and others)

 

He (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) was also the most generous of people in giving his time and foregoing his comfort in order to take care of the needs and interests of others. Sufficient is the aforementioned example of the slave woman in Madinah who would grasp his hand and take him wherever she wanted in the city to show him what she needed. (Ibn Majah)

 

And Jabir ibn `Abdullah(RadiAllahu anhu) reported:

“Nothing was ever asked of the Messenger of Allah(Sallallahu alaihi wasallam)  that he refused.”

(Al- Bukhari and Muslim)

 

Anas (RadiAllahu anhu) reported:

“Nothing was ever asked of the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) in exchange for acceptance of Islam but that he granted it. A man came to him and he gave him a valley full of sheep. So, he went back to his people andsaid, ‘O people, accept Islam, for Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) gives, not fearing poverty.’ “

(Muslim)

 

Anas (RadiAllahu anhu) added, “Even if the man entered Islam only for worldly gain, it would soon become more beloved to him than the world and all it contained.”

 

The Messenger of Allah(Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) gave Sufwan ibn Umayyah (RadiAllahu anhu)three hundred grazing animals after the battle of Hunayn. Sufwan (RadiAllahu anhu)later said,

“By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) gave what he gave me while he was the most hated of people to me, and he kept on giving me until he was the most beloved of people to me.”

(Muslim)

 

Ibn `Abbas said (RadiAllahu anhu), “The Messenger of Allah  (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam)was the most generous of people with goodness. And he was most generous of all during the month of Ramadhan, when Jibreel(Alaihissalam) met him and reviewed with him the Qur’an. The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) was swifter in good deeds than the wind.”

(Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

 

Jubayr ibn Mut`im (RadiAllahu anhu) said,

“While we were with the Messenger of Allah  (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam)along with some people returning from Hunayn, the Bedouins crowded around requesting from him until they pushed him to an acacia tree and snatched his cloak.

The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam)stood and said,
“Return my cloak to me, for by Allah, if I had livestock as many as these bushes I would have divided them among you. And you will not find me miserly or a liar or a coward.”

(Al-Bukhari)

 

Generosity was part of the Prophet’s (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) character even before his prophethood. When the angel came down to him in the cave of Hiraa’ and he returned to Khadijah shaken, she told him, “No, by Allah. Allah will never humiliate you, for you keep the ties of relationship, bear the burden of the weak, help the needy and assist those afflicted by calamity.”

 

Anas (RadiAllahu anhu)reported,

“The Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) never saved anything for tomorrow.”

(At-Tirmidhi – graded saheeh by al-Albani)

 

And Abu Sa`eed (RadiAllahu anhu) related, Some people from the Ansar asked the Messenger of Allah  for something, and he gave them what they asked. Then, they asked him again, and he gave them what they asked. Then, they asked him again, and he gave them what they asked – until finally, when what he had was finished, he (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said,

“Whatever I have I will never keep from you, but whoever refrains and seeks to be self-sufficient – Allah will make him self sufficient, and whoever practices patience – Allah will give him patience. And no one has been given anything better for him and more ample than patience.”

(Ahmad and Muslim)

 

[ Forty Encounters With the Beloved Prophet, page158-160 ]