Kharijites does not necessarily mean those who were present in the past caliphate period. Today their presence is felt amongst us. In simple words, today’s image of Islam that has been depicted in a distorted form is greatly supported by these Kharijites.
Kharijites literally means the group of people who left the religion of Islam. They are the people for whom Prophet Muhammad SAW made a prophecy a long time ago. He mentioned the characteristics of Kharijites which differentiates them from the people who are true believers. They are the people who use force to implement Islam. Their mindset is that they find all other Muslims as Kafir except themselves.
He(SAW) prophesied that these groups will emerge, almost thirty times in my ummah. These people were already there in the time of Muhammad SAW, but they openly came out after the caliphate period of Hazrat Umar R.A., and even still they could be present among our society and it has become difficult to differentiate them.
In the caliphate period of Hazrat Usman R.A, these Kharijites played an active role in creating disturbance for the message of Islam. In that time, these people used to live in isolation which gave them the reputation of being involved in religious activities due to their physical appearance.
Hazrat Usman R.A was also charged by these Kharijites with nepotism for giving favor to his close family and relatives which was not true and also was martyred because of Kharijites.
When come to their appearance, they used to worship a lot, always busy in recitation of the Quran and doing Zikr. For that Prophet, Muhammad SAW said “you shall consider your worship and your prayer and your recitation of the Qur’an to be nothing compared to theirs.” One can also say them as extremists. They recite Quran with just their mouths and try to implement half ahadith in any situation without understanding the broader context for their benefit. For example, they use the verses of the Quran to kill non-Muslim’s in general without understanding the context. Also, apply the verses of the Quran which were revealed for non-Muslims.
Not only in the Hazrat Usman’s R.A Caliphate but also in the fourth caliphate period of Hazrat Ali R.A, these Kharijites were strong and became a challenge for Hazrat Ali R.A and also resulted in big battles among the Muslims such as the battle of Siffin and Jamal.
These kharijites have always been behind the representation of Islam in a negative way. Terrorists in today’s time are more likely to be called Kharijites in their appearance who have long beards, shalwar above the knee but they are involved in killing their own Muslim brothers. This is the reason that in the outside world people associate this appearance with terrorism and extremism. Hence, Islamophobia has become common for the western world when they hear about Islam.
