The passage below has several problems , the chief being that since it is written by a Non Muslim Reynold Richardson , it will lack the respect we show to names of our caliphs. However this passage does try to describe the origin of various sects . The article is principally about the kharijites and Shias but also describes origin of some other sects. One persistent problem with Non muslim authors is that they some times confuse revelations and political moves.
If found to be repugnant there is no harm if administrators remove it but for those who are interested in history and arepreapred to listen to mall views , it is good starting point to discover more about the subject of Kharajites and Shias .
Excerpts below from book
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[FONT=&]When ‘Al, on the field of Ṣiffin, consented that the claims of Mu‘wiya and himself to the Caliphate should be decided The Khrijites. by arbitration, a large section of his army accused him of having betrayed his trust. He, the duly elected Caliph—so they argued—should have maintained the dignity of his high office inviolate at all costs. [FONT=&]On the homeward march the malcontents, some twelve thousand in number, broke away and encamped by themselves at Ḥarr, a village near Kfa. Their cry was, "God alone can decide" (l ḥukma ill lillhi): in these terms they protested against the arbitration. ‘Al endeavoured to win them back, but without any lasting success. They elected a Caliph from among themselves, and gathered at Nahrawn, four thousand Battle of Nahrawn (658 a.d.). strong. On the appearance of ‘Al with a vastly superior force many of the rebels dispersed, but the remainder—about half—preferred to die for their faith. Nahrawn was to the Khrijites what Karbal afterwards became to the Sh‘ites, who from this day were regarded by the former as their chief enemies. [/FONT] [FONT=&]
Frequent Khrijite risings took place during the early Umayyad period, but Khrijite risings. the movement reached its zenith in the years of confusion which followed Yazd's death. The Azraqites, so called after their leader, Nfi‘ b. al-Azraq, overran ‘Irq and Southern Persia, while another sect, the Najdites, led by Najda b. ‘mir, reduced the greater part of Arabia to submission. The insurgents held their ground for a long time against ‘Abdu ’l-Malik, and did not cease from troubling until the rebellion headed by Shabb was at last stamped out by Ḥajjj in 697.[/FONT] [FONT=&]It has been suggested that the name Khrij (plural, Khawrij) refers to a passage in the Koran (iv, 101) where mention is made Meaning of 'Khrijite.' of "those who go forth (yakhruj) from their homes as emigrants (muhjir[SUP]an[/SUP]) to God and His Messenger"; so that 'Khrijite' means 'one who leaves his home among the unbelievers for God's sake,' and corresponds to the term Muhjir, which was applied to the Meccan converts who accompanied the Prophet in his migration to MednaAnother name by which they are often designated is likewise Koranic in origin, viz., Shurt (plural of Shr[SUP]in[/SUP]): literally 'Sellers'—that is to say, those who sell their lives and goods in return for Paradise.[/FONT] [FONT=&] The Khrijites were mostly drawn from the Bedouin soldiery who settled in Baṣra and Kfa after the Persian wars. Civil life wrought little change in their unruly temper. Far from Their political theories. acknowledging the peculiar sanctity of a Qurayshite, they desired a chief of their own blood whom they might obey, in Bedouin fashion, as long as he did not abuse or exceed the powers conferred upon him.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] The mainspring of the movement, however, was pietistic, and can be traced, as Wellhausen has shown, to the Koran-readers who made it a matter of conscience that ‘Al should avow his contrition for the fatal error which their own temporary and deeply regretted infatuation had forced him to commit. They cast off ‘Al for the same reason which led them to strike at ‘Uthman: in both cases they were maintaining the cause of God against an unjust Caliph.[/FONT] [FONT=&] It is important to remember these facts in view of the cardinal Khrijite doctrines (1) that every free Arab was eligible as Caliph, and (2) that an evil-doing Caliph must be deposed and, if necessary, put to death. [/FONT] [FONT=&]Mustawrid b. ‘Ullifa, the Khrijite 'Commander of the Faithful,' wrote to Simk b. ‘Ubayd, the governor of Ctesiphon, as follows: "We call you to the Book of God Almighty and Glorious, and to the Sunna (custom) of the Prophet—on whom be peace!—and to the administration of Ab Bakr and ‘Umar—may God be well pleased with them!—and to renounce ‘Uthmn and ‘Al because they corrupted the true religion and abandoned the authority of the Book."[/FONT] [FONT=&] From this it appears that the Khrijite programme was simply the old Islam of equality and fraternity, which had never been fully realised and was now irretrievably ruined. Theoretically, all devout Moslems shared in the desire for its restoration and condemned the existing Government no less cordially than did the Khrijites.
What distinguished the latter party was the remorseless severity with which they carried their principles into action. To them it was absolutely vital that the Imm, or head of the community should rule in the name and according to the will of God: those who followed any other sealed their doom in the next world: eternal salvation hung upon the choice of a successor to the Prophet. Moslems who refused to execrate ‘Uthmn and ‘Al were the worst of infidels; it was the duty of every true believer to take part in the Holy War against such, and to kill them, together with their wives and children.
[/FONT] [FONT=&]These atrocities recoiled upon the insurgents, who soon found themselves in danger of extermination. Milder counsels began to prevail. Thus the Ibḍites (followers of ‘Abdullh b. Ibḍ) held it lawful to live amongst the Moslems and mix with them on terms of mutual tolerance. But compromise was in truth incompatible with the raison d'tre of the Khrijites, namely, to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth. This meant virtual anarchy: "their unbending logic shattered every constitution which it set up." As ‘Al remarked, "they say, 'No government' (l imra), but there must be a government, good or bad."
Nevertheless, it was a noble ideal for which they fought in pure devotion, having, unlike the other political parties, no worldly interests to serve.[/FONT] [FONT=&]The same fierce spirit of fanaticism moulded their religious views, which were gloomy and austere, as befitted the chosen Their religion. few in an ungodly world. Shahrastn, speaking of the original twelve thousand who rebelled against ‘Al, describes them as 'people of fasting and prayer' (ahlu ṣiym[SUP]in[/SUP] wa-ṣalt[SUP]in[/SUP]). The Koran ruled their lives and possessed their imaginations, so that the history of the early Church, the persecutions, martyrdoms, and triumphs of the Faith became a veritable drama which was being enacted by themselves. The fear of hell kindled in them an inquisitorial zeal for righteousness. They scrupulously examined their own belief as well as that of their neighbours, and woe to him that was found wanting! A single false step involved excommunication from the pale of Islam, and though the slip might be condoned on proof of sincere repentance, any Moslem who had once committed a mortal sin (kabra) was held, by the stricter Khrijites at least, to be inevitably damned with the infidels in everlasting fire.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Much might be written, if space allowed, concerning the wars of the Khrijites, their most famous chiefs, the points on which they quarrelled, and the sects into which they split. Here we can only attempt to illustrate the general character of the movement. We have touched on its political and religious aspects, and shall now conclude with some reference to its literary side. The Khrijites did not produce a Milton or a Bunyan, but as Arabs of Bedouin stock they had a natural gift of song, from which they could not be Khrijite poetry. weaned; although, according to the strict letter of the Koran, poetry is a devilish invention improper for the pious Moslem to meddle with. But these are poems of a different order from the pagan odes, and breathe a stern religious enthusiasm that would have gladdened the Prophet's heart. Take, for example, the following verses, which were made by a Khrijite in prison:—
[/FONT] [FONT=&]"'Tis time, O ye Sellers, for one who hath sold himself To God,[/FONT]
[FONT=&] that he should arise and saddle amain.
Fools! in the land of miscreants will ye abide,
[/FONT] [FONT=&]To be hunted down, every man of you, and to be slain?[/FONT] [FONT=&] O would that I were among you, armd in mail,[/FONT]
[FONT=&] On the back of my stout-ribbed galloping war-horse again! And would that I were among you,
fighting your foes, [/FONT] [FONT=&]That me, first of all, they might give death's beaker to drain! It grieves me sore that ye are startled and chased Like beasts,
while I cannot draw on the wretches profane My sword, [/FONT] [FONT=&]nor see them scattered by noble knights Who never yield an inch of the ground they gain,
[/FONT] [FONT=&]But where the struggle is hottest, with keen blades hew Their strenuous way and deem 'twere base to refrain.
[/FONT] [FONT=&]Ay, it grieves me sore that ye are oppressed and wronged, [/FONT] [FONT=&]While I must drag in anguish a captive's chain."
[/FONT] [FONT=&]Qaṭar b. al-Fuj’a, the intrepid Khrijite leader who routed army after army sent against him by Ḥajjj, sang almost as Qaṭar b. al-Fuj’a. well as he fought. The verses rendered below are included in the Ḥamsaand cited by Ibn Khallikn, who declares that they would make a brave man of the greatest coward in the world. "I know of nothing on the subject to be compared with them; they could only have proceeded from a spirit that scorned disgrace and from a truly Arabian sentiment of valour." [/FONT] [FONT=&]
"I say to my soul dismayed— 'Courage!
[/FONT] [FONT=&]Thou canst not achieve, [/FONT] [FONT=&]With praying,
an hour of life Beyond the appointed term. [/FONT] [FONT=&]Then courage on death's dark field, Courage!
[/FONT] [FONT=&]Impossible 'tis To live for ever and aye.[/FONT] [FONT=&]
Life is no hero's robe Of honour: the dastard vile Also doffs it at last.'" [/FONT] [FONT=&]
The murder of ‘Uthmn broke the Moslem community, which had hitherto been undivided, into two sh‘as, or parties—one The Sh‘ites. for ‘Al and the other for Mu‘wiya. When the latter became Caliph he was no longer a party leader, but head of the State, and his sh‘a ceased to exist. Henceforth 'the Sh‘a' par excellence was the party of ‘Al, which regarded the House of the Prophet as the legitimate heirs to the succession. Not content, however, with upholding ‘Al, as the worthiest of the Prophet's Companions and the duly elected Caliph, against his rival, Mu‘wiya, the bolder spirits took up an idea, which emerged about The theory of Divine Right. this time, that the Caliphate belonged to ‘Al and his descendants by Divine right. Such is the distinctive doctrine of the Sh‘ites to the present day. It is generally thought to have originated in Persia, where the Ssnian kings used to assume the title of 'god' (Pahlav bagh) and were looked upon as successive incarnations of the Divine majesty.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]"Although the Sh‘ites," says Dozy, "often found themselves under the direction of Arab leaders, who utilised them in order Dozy's account of its origin. to gain some personal end, they were nevertheless a Persian sect at bottom; and it is precisely here that the difference most clearly showed itself between the Arab race, which loves liberty, and the Persian race, accustomed to slavish submission. For the Persians, the principle of electing the Prophet's successor was something unheard of and incomprehensible. The only principle which they recognised was that of inheritance, and since Muḥammad left no sons, they thought that his son-in-law ‘Al should have succeeded him, and that the sovereignty was hereditary in his family. Consequently, all the Caliphs except ‘Al—i.e., Ab Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthmn, as well as the Umayyads—were in their eyes usurpers to whom no obedience was due. The hatred which they felt for the Government and for Arab rule confirmed them in this opinion; at the same time they cast covetous looks on the wealth of their masters.
Habituated, moreover, to see in their kings the descendants of the inferior divinities, they transferred this idolatrous veneration to ‘Al and his posterity. Absolute obedience to the Imm of ‘Al's House was in their eyes the most important duty; if that were fulfilled all the rest might be interpreted allegorically and violated without scruple. For them the Imm was everything; he was God made man. A servile submission accompanied by immorality was the basis of their system."
[/FONT] [FONT=&]Now, the Sh‘ite theory of Divine Right certainly harmonised with Persian ideas, but was it also of Persian The Saba’ites. origin? [/FONT] [FONT=&]On the contrary, it seems first to have arisen among an obscure Arabian sect, the Saba’ites, whose founder, ‘Abdullh b. Sab (properly, Saba’), was a native of Ṣan‘ in Yemen, and is said to have been a Jew. In ‘Uthmn's time he turned Moslem and became, apparently, a travelling missionary. "He went from place to place," says the historian, "seeking to lead the Moslems into error." We hear of him in the Ḥijz, then in Baṣra and Kfa, then in Syria. Finally he settled in Egypt, where he preached the doctrine of palingenesis (raj‘a). "It is strange indeed," he exclaimed, "that any one should believe in the Doctrine of Ibn Sab. return of Jesus (as Messias), and deny the return of Muḥammad, which God has announced (Kor. xxviii, 85). Furthermore, [/FONT] [FONT=&]there are a thousand Prophets, every one of whom has an executor (waṣ), and the executor of Muḥammad is ‘Al. Muḥammad is the last of the Prophets, and ‘Al is the last of the executors." Ibn Sab, therefore, regarded Ab Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthmn as usurpers. He set on foot a widespread conspiracy in favour of ‘Al, and carried on a secret correspondence with the disaffected in various provinces of the Empire.
According to Shahrastn, he was banished by ‘Al for saying, "Thou art thou" (anta anta), i.e., "Thou art God." This refers to the doctrine taught by Ibn Sab and the extreme Sh‘ites (Ghult) who derive from him, that the Divine Spirit which dwells in every prophet and passes successively from one to another was transfused, at Muḥammad's death, into ‘Al, and from ‘Al into his descendants who succeeded him in the Immate. The Saba’ites also held that the Imm might suffer a temporary occultation (ghayba), but that one day he would return and fill the earth with justice. They believed the millennium to be near at hand, so that the number of Imms was at first limited to four. Thus the poet Kuthayyir († 723 a.d.) says:—[/FONT]
[FONT=&]"Four complete are the Imms of Quraysh,
the lords of Right: ‘Al and his three good sons,
each of them a shining light. One was faithful and devout;
Karbal hid one from sight;
One, until with waving flags his horsemen he shall lead to fight,
Dwells on Mount Raḍw, concealed:
honey he drinks and water bright."[/FONT] [FONT=&]
The Messianic idea is not peculiar to the Sh‘ites[/FONT][FONT=&], but was brought into Islam at an early period by Jewish and Christian converts, and soon established itself as a part of Muḥammadan belief. Traditions ascribed to the Prophet began to circulate, declaring that the approach of the Last Judgment would be heralded by a time of tumult and confusion, by the return of Jesus, who would slay the Antichrist (al-Dajjl), The Mahd or Messiah. and finally by the coming of the Mahd, i.e., 'the God-guided one,' who would fill the earth with justice even as it was then filled with violence and iniquity. This expectation of a Deliverer descended from the Prophet runs through the whole history of the Sh‘a. As we have seen, their supreme religious chiefs were the Imms of ‘Al's House, each of whom transmitted his authority to his successor.[/FONT] [FONT=&] In the course of time disputes arose as to the succession.
One sect acknowledged only seven legitimate Imms, while another carried the number to twelve. The last Imm of the 'Seveners' (al-Sab‘iyya), who are commonly called Ism‘ls, was Muḥammad b. Ism‘l, and of the 'Twelvers' (al-Ithn-‘ashariyya) Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan. Both those personages vanished mysteriously about 770 and 870 a.d., and their respective followers, refusing to believe that they were dead, asserted that their Imm had withdrawn himself for a season from mortal sight, but that he would surely return at last as the promised Mahd. It would take a long while to enumerate all the pretenders and fanatics who have claimed this title. [/FONT] [FONT=&]
Two of them founded the Fṭimid and Almohade dynasties, which we shall mention elsewhere, but they generally died on the gibbet or the battle-field. The ideal which they, so to speak, incarnated did not perish with them. Mahdiism, the faith in a divinely appointed revolution which will sweep away the powers of evil and usher in a Golden Age of justice and truth such as the world has never known, is a present and inspiring fact which deserves to be well weighed by those who doubt the possibility of an Islamic Reformation.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The Sh‘a began as a political faction, but it could not remain so for any length of time, because in Islam politics always tend to take religious ground, just as the successful religious reformer invariably becomes a ruler. T[/FONT][FONT=&]he Saba’ites furnished the Sh‘ite movement with a theological basis; and the massacre of Ḥusayn, followed by Mukhtr's rebellion, supplied the indispensable element of enthusiasm. Within a few years after the death of Ḥusayn his grave at Sh‘ite gatherings at Karbal. Karbal was already a place of pilgrimage for the Sh‘ites. When the 'Penitents' (al-Tawwbn) revolted in 684 they repaired thither and lifted their voices simultaneously in a loud wail, and wept, and prayed God that He would forgive them for having deserted the Prophet's grandson in his hour of need. "O God!" exclaimed their chief, "have mercy on Ḥusayn, the Martyr and the son of a Martyr, the Mahd and the son of a Mahd, the Ṣiddq and the son of a Ṣiddq! O God! we bear witness that we follow their religion and their path, and that we are the foes of their slayers and the friends of those who love them." Here is the germ of the ta‘ziyas, or Passion Plays, which are acted every year on the 10th of Muḥarram, wherever Sh‘ites are to be found.[/FONT] [FONT=&]
But the Moses of the Sh‘a, the man who showed them the way to victory although he did not lead them to it, is undoubtedly Mukhtr. He came forward in the name of ‘Al's son, Muḥammad, generally known as Ibnu ’l-Ḥanafiyya after his mother. Thus he gained the support of the Arabian Sh‘ites, properly so called, who were devoted to ‘Al and his House, and laid no stress upon the circumstance of descent from the Prophet, whereas the Persian adherents of the Sh‘a made it a vital matter, and held accordingly that only the sons of ‘Al by his wife Fṭima were fully qualified Imms. Raising the cry of vengeance for Ḥusayn, Mukhtr carried this party also along with him. In 686 he found himself master of Kfa. Neither the result of his triumph nor the rapid overthrow of his power concerns us here, but something must be said about the aims and character of the movement which he headed.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]"More than half the population of Kfa was composed of Mawl (Clients), who monopolised handicraft, trade, and commerce. They The Mawl of Kfa. were mostly Persians in race and language; they had come to Kfa as prisoners of war and had there passed over to Islam: then they were manumitted by their owners and received as clients into the Arab tribes, so that they now occupied an ambiguous position (Zwitterstellung), being no longer slaves, but still very dependent on their patrons; needing their protection, bound to their service, and forming their retinue in peace and war. In these Mawl, who were entitled by virtue of Islam to more than the 'dominant Arabism' allowed them, the hope now dawned of freeing themselves from clientship and of rising to full and direct participation in the Moslem state[/FONT][FONT=&]." [/FONT] [FONT=&]Mukhtr, though himself an Arab of noble family, trusted the Mawl and treated them as equals, a proceeding which Mukhtr and the Mawl. was bitterly resented by the privileged class. "You have taken away our clients who are the booty which God bestowed upon us together with this country. We emancipated them, hoping to receive the Divine recompense and reward, but you would not rest until you made them sharers in our booty." Mukhtr was only giving the Mawl their due—they were Moslems and had the right, as such, to a share in the revenues. To the haughty Arabs, however, it appeared a monstrous thing that the despised foreigners should be placed on the same level with themselves.
Thus Mukhtr was thrown into the arms of the Mawl, and the movement now became not so Persian influence on the Sh‘a. much anti-Umayyad as anti-Arabian. Here is the turning-point in the history of the Sh‘a. Its ranks were swelled by thousands of Persians imbued with the extreme doctrines of the Saba’ites which have been sketched above, and animated by the intense hatred of a downtrodden people towards their conquerors and oppressors. Consequently the Sh‘a assumed a religious and enthusiastic character, and struck out a new path which led it farther and farther from the orthodox creed. The doctrine of 'Interpretation' (Ta’wl) opened the door to all sorts of extravagant ideas. One of the principal Sh‘ite sects, the Hshimiyya, held that "there is an esoteric side to everything external, a spirit to every form, a hidden meaning (ta’wl) to every revelation, and to every similitude in this world a corresponding reality in the other world; that ‘Al united in his own person the knowledge of all mysteries and communicated it to his son Muḥammad Ibnu ’l-Ḥanafiyya, who passed it on to his son Ab Hshim; and that the possessor of this universal knowledge is the true Imm."[/FONT] [FONT=&] So, without ceasing to be Moslems in name, the Sh‘ites transmuted Islam into whatever shape they pleased by virtue of a mystical interpretation based on the infallible authority of the House of Muḥammad, and out of the ruins of a political party there gradually arose a great religious organisation in which men of the most diverse opinions could work together for deliverance from the Umayyad yoke. The first step towards this development was made by Mukhtr, a versatile genius who seems to have combined the parts of political adventurer, social reformer, prophet, and charlatan. He was crushed and his Persian allies were decimated, but the seed which he had sown bore an abundant harvest when, sixty years later, Ab Muslim unfurled the black standard of the ‘Abbsids in Khursn.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Concerning the origin of the oldest theological sects in Islam, the Murjites and the Mu‘tazilites, we possess too little contemporary evidence to make a positive statement. It is probable that the latter at any rate arose, as Von Kremer has suggested, under the influence of Greek theologians, especially John of Damascus and his pupil, Theodore Abucara (Ab Qurra), [/FONT] [FONT=&]the Bishop of Ḥarrn. Christians were freely admitted to the Umayyad court. The Christian The oldest theological sects. al-Akhṭal was poet-laureate, while many of his co-religionists held high offices in the Government. Moslems and Christians exchanged ideas in friendly discussion or controversially. Armed with the hair-splitting weapons of Byzantine theology, which they soon learned to use only too well, the Arabs proceeded to try their edge on the dogmas of Islam.[/FONT] [FONT=&]The leading article of the Murjite creed was this, that no one who professed to believe in the One God could be declared an infidel, whatever sins he might commit, until God Himself had given judgment against him. The Murjites were so called because they deferred (arja’a = to defer) their decision in such cases and left the sinner's fate in suspense, so long as it was doubtful.
This principle they applied in different ways. For example, they refused to condemn ‘Al and ‘Uthmn outright, as the Khrijites did. "Both ‘Al and ‘Uthmn," they said, "were servants of God, and by God alone must they be judged; it is not for us to pronounce either of them an infidel, notwithstanding that they rent the Moslem people asunder." On the other hand, the Murjites equally rejected the pretensions made by the Sh‘ites on behalf of ‘Al and by the Umayyads on behalf of Mu‘wiya. For the most part they maintained a neutral attitude towards the Umayyad Government: they were passive resisters, content, as Wellhausen puts it, "to stand up for the impersonal Law." Sometimes, however, they turned the principle of toleration against their rulers. Thus Ḥrith b. Surayj and other Arabian Murjites joined the oppressed Mawl of Khursn to whom the Government denied those rights which they had acquired by conversion.[/FONT] [FONT=&] According to the Murjite view, these Persians, having professed Islam, should no longer be treated as tax-paying infidels. The Murjites brought the same tolerant spirit into religion. They set faith above works, emphasised the love and goodness of God, and held that no Moslem would be damned everlastingly. Some, like Jahm b. Ṣafwn, went so far as to declare that faith (mn) was merely an inward conviction: a man might openly profess Christianity or Judaism or any form of unbelief without ceasing to be a good Moslem, provided only that he acknowledged Allah with his heart.[/FONT] [FONT=&] The moderate school found their most illustrious representative in Ab Ḥanfa († 767 a.d.), and through this great divine—whose followers to-day are counted by millions—their liberal doctrines were diffused and perpetuated.
source : www.gutenberg.org
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For comparison sake only allow me to set a link of a talk by late islamic scholar Dr.israr Ahmed (Medical doctor) on origin of shia , he has video on origin of others as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh0ynm5FeRY
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If found to be repugnant there is no harm if administrators remove it but for those who are interested in history and arepreapred to listen to mall views , it is good starting point to discover more about the subject of Kharajites and Shias .
Excerpts below from book
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[FONT=&]When ‘Al, on the field of Ṣiffin, consented that the claims of Mu‘wiya and himself to the Caliphate should be decided The Khrijites. by arbitration, a large section of his army accused him of having betrayed his trust. He, the duly elected Caliph—so they argued—should have maintained the dignity of his high office inviolate at all costs. [FONT=&]On the homeward march the malcontents, some twelve thousand in number, broke away and encamped by themselves at Ḥarr, a village near Kfa. Their cry was, "God alone can decide" (l ḥukma ill lillhi): in these terms they protested against the arbitration. ‘Al endeavoured to win them back, but without any lasting success. They elected a Caliph from among themselves, and gathered at Nahrawn, four thousand Battle of Nahrawn (658 a.d.). strong. On the appearance of ‘Al with a vastly superior force many of the rebels dispersed, but the remainder—about half—preferred to die for their faith. Nahrawn was to the Khrijites what Karbal afterwards became to the Sh‘ites, who from this day were regarded by the former as their chief enemies. [/FONT] [FONT=&]
Frequent Khrijite risings took place during the early Umayyad period, but Khrijite risings. the movement reached its zenith in the years of confusion which followed Yazd's death. The Azraqites, so called after their leader, Nfi‘ b. al-Azraq, overran ‘Irq and Southern Persia, while another sect, the Najdites, led by Najda b. ‘mir, reduced the greater part of Arabia to submission. The insurgents held their ground for a long time against ‘Abdu ’l-Malik, and did not cease from troubling until the rebellion headed by Shabb was at last stamped out by Ḥajjj in 697.[/FONT] [FONT=&]It has been suggested that the name Khrij (plural, Khawrij) refers to a passage in the Koran (iv, 101) where mention is made Meaning of 'Khrijite.' of "those who go forth (yakhruj) from their homes as emigrants (muhjir[SUP]an[/SUP]) to God and His Messenger"; so that 'Khrijite' means 'one who leaves his home among the unbelievers for God's sake,' and corresponds to the term Muhjir, which was applied to the Meccan converts who accompanied the Prophet in his migration to MednaAnother name by which they are often designated is likewise Koranic in origin, viz., Shurt (plural of Shr[SUP]in[/SUP]): literally 'Sellers'—that is to say, those who sell their lives and goods in return for Paradise.[/FONT] [FONT=&] The Khrijites were mostly drawn from the Bedouin soldiery who settled in Baṣra and Kfa after the Persian wars. Civil life wrought little change in their unruly temper. Far from Their political theories. acknowledging the peculiar sanctity of a Qurayshite, they desired a chief of their own blood whom they might obey, in Bedouin fashion, as long as he did not abuse or exceed the powers conferred upon him.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] The mainspring of the movement, however, was pietistic, and can be traced, as Wellhausen has shown, to the Koran-readers who made it a matter of conscience that ‘Al should avow his contrition for the fatal error which their own temporary and deeply regretted infatuation had forced him to commit. They cast off ‘Al for the same reason which led them to strike at ‘Uthman: in both cases they were maintaining the cause of God against an unjust Caliph.[/FONT] [FONT=&] It is important to remember these facts in view of the cardinal Khrijite doctrines (1) that every free Arab was eligible as Caliph, and (2) that an evil-doing Caliph must be deposed and, if necessary, put to death. [/FONT] [FONT=&]Mustawrid b. ‘Ullifa, the Khrijite 'Commander of the Faithful,' wrote to Simk b. ‘Ubayd, the governor of Ctesiphon, as follows: "We call you to the Book of God Almighty and Glorious, and to the Sunna (custom) of the Prophet—on whom be peace!—and to the administration of Ab Bakr and ‘Umar—may God be well pleased with them!—and to renounce ‘Uthmn and ‘Al because they corrupted the true religion and abandoned the authority of the Book."[/FONT] [FONT=&] From this it appears that the Khrijite programme was simply the old Islam of equality and fraternity, which had never been fully realised and was now irretrievably ruined. Theoretically, all devout Moslems shared in the desire for its restoration and condemned the existing Government no less cordially than did the Khrijites.
What distinguished the latter party was the remorseless severity with which they carried their principles into action. To them it was absolutely vital that the Imm, or head of the community should rule in the name and according to the will of God: those who followed any other sealed their doom in the next world: eternal salvation hung upon the choice of a successor to the Prophet. Moslems who refused to execrate ‘Uthmn and ‘Al were the worst of infidels; it was the duty of every true believer to take part in the Holy War against such, and to kill them, together with their wives and children.
[/FONT] [FONT=&]These atrocities recoiled upon the insurgents, who soon found themselves in danger of extermination. Milder counsels began to prevail. Thus the Ibḍites (followers of ‘Abdullh b. Ibḍ) held it lawful to live amongst the Moslems and mix with them on terms of mutual tolerance. But compromise was in truth incompatible with the raison d'tre of the Khrijites, namely, to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth. This meant virtual anarchy: "their unbending logic shattered every constitution which it set up." As ‘Al remarked, "they say, 'No government' (l imra), but there must be a government, good or bad."
Nevertheless, it was a noble ideal for which they fought in pure devotion, having, unlike the other political parties, no worldly interests to serve.[/FONT] [FONT=&]The same fierce spirit of fanaticism moulded their religious views, which were gloomy and austere, as befitted the chosen Their religion. few in an ungodly world. Shahrastn, speaking of the original twelve thousand who rebelled against ‘Al, describes them as 'people of fasting and prayer' (ahlu ṣiym[SUP]in[/SUP] wa-ṣalt[SUP]in[/SUP]). The Koran ruled their lives and possessed their imaginations, so that the history of the early Church, the persecutions, martyrdoms, and triumphs of the Faith became a veritable drama which was being enacted by themselves. The fear of hell kindled in them an inquisitorial zeal for righteousness. They scrupulously examined their own belief as well as that of their neighbours, and woe to him that was found wanting! A single false step involved excommunication from the pale of Islam, and though the slip might be condoned on proof of sincere repentance, any Moslem who had once committed a mortal sin (kabra) was held, by the stricter Khrijites at least, to be inevitably damned with the infidels in everlasting fire.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Much might be written, if space allowed, concerning the wars of the Khrijites, their most famous chiefs, the points on which they quarrelled, and the sects into which they split. Here we can only attempt to illustrate the general character of the movement. We have touched on its political and religious aspects, and shall now conclude with some reference to its literary side. The Khrijites did not produce a Milton or a Bunyan, but as Arabs of Bedouin stock they had a natural gift of song, from which they could not be Khrijite poetry. weaned; although, according to the strict letter of the Koran, poetry is a devilish invention improper for the pious Moslem to meddle with. But these are poems of a different order from the pagan odes, and breathe a stern religious enthusiasm that would have gladdened the Prophet's heart. Take, for example, the following verses, which were made by a Khrijite in prison:—
[/FONT] [FONT=&]"'Tis time, O ye Sellers, for one who hath sold himself To God,[/FONT]
[FONT=&] that he should arise and saddle amain.
Fools! in the land of miscreants will ye abide,
[/FONT] [FONT=&]To be hunted down, every man of you, and to be slain?[/FONT] [FONT=&] O would that I were among you, armd in mail,[/FONT]
[FONT=&] On the back of my stout-ribbed galloping war-horse again! And would that I were among you,
fighting your foes, [/FONT] [FONT=&]That me, first of all, they might give death's beaker to drain! It grieves me sore that ye are startled and chased Like beasts,
while I cannot draw on the wretches profane My sword, [/FONT] [FONT=&]nor see them scattered by noble knights Who never yield an inch of the ground they gain,
[/FONT] [FONT=&]But where the struggle is hottest, with keen blades hew Their strenuous way and deem 'twere base to refrain.
[/FONT] [FONT=&]Ay, it grieves me sore that ye are oppressed and wronged, [/FONT] [FONT=&]While I must drag in anguish a captive's chain."
[/FONT] [FONT=&]Qaṭar b. al-Fuj’a, the intrepid Khrijite leader who routed army after army sent against him by Ḥajjj, sang almost as Qaṭar b. al-Fuj’a. well as he fought. The verses rendered below are included in the Ḥamsaand cited by Ibn Khallikn, who declares that they would make a brave man of the greatest coward in the world. "I know of nothing on the subject to be compared with them; they could only have proceeded from a spirit that scorned disgrace and from a truly Arabian sentiment of valour." [/FONT] [FONT=&]
"I say to my soul dismayed— 'Courage!
[/FONT] [FONT=&]Thou canst not achieve, [/FONT] [FONT=&]With praying,
an hour of life Beyond the appointed term. [/FONT] [FONT=&]Then courage on death's dark field, Courage!
[/FONT] [FONT=&]Impossible 'tis To live for ever and aye.[/FONT] [FONT=&]
Life is no hero's robe Of honour: the dastard vile Also doffs it at last.'" [/FONT] [FONT=&]
The murder of ‘Uthmn broke the Moslem community, which had hitherto been undivided, into two sh‘as, or parties—one The Sh‘ites. for ‘Al and the other for Mu‘wiya. When the latter became Caliph he was no longer a party leader, but head of the State, and his sh‘a ceased to exist. Henceforth 'the Sh‘a' par excellence was the party of ‘Al, which regarded the House of the Prophet as the legitimate heirs to the succession. Not content, however, with upholding ‘Al, as the worthiest of the Prophet's Companions and the duly elected Caliph, against his rival, Mu‘wiya, the bolder spirits took up an idea, which emerged about The theory of Divine Right. this time, that the Caliphate belonged to ‘Al and his descendants by Divine right. Such is the distinctive doctrine of the Sh‘ites to the present day. It is generally thought to have originated in Persia, where the Ssnian kings used to assume the title of 'god' (Pahlav bagh) and were looked upon as successive incarnations of the Divine majesty.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]"Although the Sh‘ites," says Dozy, "often found themselves under the direction of Arab leaders, who utilised them in order Dozy's account of its origin. to gain some personal end, they were nevertheless a Persian sect at bottom; and it is precisely here that the difference most clearly showed itself between the Arab race, which loves liberty, and the Persian race, accustomed to slavish submission. For the Persians, the principle of electing the Prophet's successor was something unheard of and incomprehensible. The only principle which they recognised was that of inheritance, and since Muḥammad left no sons, they thought that his son-in-law ‘Al should have succeeded him, and that the sovereignty was hereditary in his family. Consequently, all the Caliphs except ‘Al—i.e., Ab Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthmn, as well as the Umayyads—were in their eyes usurpers to whom no obedience was due. The hatred which they felt for the Government and for Arab rule confirmed them in this opinion; at the same time they cast covetous looks on the wealth of their masters.
Habituated, moreover, to see in their kings the descendants of the inferior divinities, they transferred this idolatrous veneration to ‘Al and his posterity. Absolute obedience to the Imm of ‘Al's House was in their eyes the most important duty; if that were fulfilled all the rest might be interpreted allegorically and violated without scruple. For them the Imm was everything; he was God made man. A servile submission accompanied by immorality was the basis of their system."
[/FONT] [FONT=&]Now, the Sh‘ite theory of Divine Right certainly harmonised with Persian ideas, but was it also of Persian The Saba’ites. origin? [/FONT] [FONT=&]On the contrary, it seems first to have arisen among an obscure Arabian sect, the Saba’ites, whose founder, ‘Abdullh b. Sab (properly, Saba’), was a native of Ṣan‘ in Yemen, and is said to have been a Jew. In ‘Uthmn's time he turned Moslem and became, apparently, a travelling missionary. "He went from place to place," says the historian, "seeking to lead the Moslems into error." We hear of him in the Ḥijz, then in Baṣra and Kfa, then in Syria. Finally he settled in Egypt, where he preached the doctrine of palingenesis (raj‘a). "It is strange indeed," he exclaimed, "that any one should believe in the Doctrine of Ibn Sab. return of Jesus (as Messias), and deny the return of Muḥammad, which God has announced (Kor. xxviii, 85). Furthermore, [/FONT] [FONT=&]there are a thousand Prophets, every one of whom has an executor (waṣ), and the executor of Muḥammad is ‘Al. Muḥammad is the last of the Prophets, and ‘Al is the last of the executors." Ibn Sab, therefore, regarded Ab Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthmn as usurpers. He set on foot a widespread conspiracy in favour of ‘Al, and carried on a secret correspondence with the disaffected in various provinces of the Empire.
According to Shahrastn, he was banished by ‘Al for saying, "Thou art thou" (anta anta), i.e., "Thou art God." This refers to the doctrine taught by Ibn Sab and the extreme Sh‘ites (Ghult) who derive from him, that the Divine Spirit which dwells in every prophet and passes successively from one to another was transfused, at Muḥammad's death, into ‘Al, and from ‘Al into his descendants who succeeded him in the Immate. The Saba’ites also held that the Imm might suffer a temporary occultation (ghayba), but that one day he would return and fill the earth with justice. They believed the millennium to be near at hand, so that the number of Imms was at first limited to four. Thus the poet Kuthayyir († 723 a.d.) says:—[/FONT]
[FONT=&]"Four complete are the Imms of Quraysh,
the lords of Right: ‘Al and his three good sons,
each of them a shining light. One was faithful and devout;
Karbal hid one from sight;
One, until with waving flags his horsemen he shall lead to fight,
Dwells on Mount Raḍw, concealed:
honey he drinks and water bright."[/FONT] [FONT=&]
The Messianic idea is not peculiar to the Sh‘ites[/FONT][FONT=&], but was brought into Islam at an early period by Jewish and Christian converts, and soon established itself as a part of Muḥammadan belief. Traditions ascribed to the Prophet began to circulate, declaring that the approach of the Last Judgment would be heralded by a time of tumult and confusion, by the return of Jesus, who would slay the Antichrist (al-Dajjl), The Mahd or Messiah. and finally by the coming of the Mahd, i.e., 'the God-guided one,' who would fill the earth with justice even as it was then filled with violence and iniquity. This expectation of a Deliverer descended from the Prophet runs through the whole history of the Sh‘a. As we have seen, their supreme religious chiefs were the Imms of ‘Al's House, each of whom transmitted his authority to his successor.[/FONT] [FONT=&] In the course of time disputes arose as to the succession.
One sect acknowledged only seven legitimate Imms, while another carried the number to twelve. The last Imm of the 'Seveners' (al-Sab‘iyya), who are commonly called Ism‘ls, was Muḥammad b. Ism‘l, and of the 'Twelvers' (al-Ithn-‘ashariyya) Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan. Both those personages vanished mysteriously about 770 and 870 a.d., and their respective followers, refusing to believe that they were dead, asserted that their Imm had withdrawn himself for a season from mortal sight, but that he would surely return at last as the promised Mahd. It would take a long while to enumerate all the pretenders and fanatics who have claimed this title. [/FONT] [FONT=&]
Two of them founded the Fṭimid and Almohade dynasties, which we shall mention elsewhere, but they generally died on the gibbet or the battle-field. The ideal which they, so to speak, incarnated did not perish with them. Mahdiism, the faith in a divinely appointed revolution which will sweep away the powers of evil and usher in a Golden Age of justice and truth such as the world has never known, is a present and inspiring fact which deserves to be well weighed by those who doubt the possibility of an Islamic Reformation.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The Sh‘a began as a political faction, but it could not remain so for any length of time, because in Islam politics always tend to take religious ground, just as the successful religious reformer invariably becomes a ruler. T[/FONT][FONT=&]he Saba’ites furnished the Sh‘ite movement with a theological basis; and the massacre of Ḥusayn, followed by Mukhtr's rebellion, supplied the indispensable element of enthusiasm. Within a few years after the death of Ḥusayn his grave at Sh‘ite gatherings at Karbal. Karbal was already a place of pilgrimage for the Sh‘ites. When the 'Penitents' (al-Tawwbn) revolted in 684 they repaired thither and lifted their voices simultaneously in a loud wail, and wept, and prayed God that He would forgive them for having deserted the Prophet's grandson in his hour of need. "O God!" exclaimed their chief, "have mercy on Ḥusayn, the Martyr and the son of a Martyr, the Mahd and the son of a Mahd, the Ṣiddq and the son of a Ṣiddq! O God! we bear witness that we follow their religion and their path, and that we are the foes of their slayers and the friends of those who love them." Here is the germ of the ta‘ziyas, or Passion Plays, which are acted every year on the 10th of Muḥarram, wherever Sh‘ites are to be found.[/FONT] [FONT=&]
But the Moses of the Sh‘a, the man who showed them the way to victory although he did not lead them to it, is undoubtedly Mukhtr. He came forward in the name of ‘Al's son, Muḥammad, generally known as Ibnu ’l-Ḥanafiyya after his mother. Thus he gained the support of the Arabian Sh‘ites, properly so called, who were devoted to ‘Al and his House, and laid no stress upon the circumstance of descent from the Prophet, whereas the Persian adherents of the Sh‘a made it a vital matter, and held accordingly that only the sons of ‘Al by his wife Fṭima were fully qualified Imms. Raising the cry of vengeance for Ḥusayn, Mukhtr carried this party also along with him. In 686 he found himself master of Kfa. Neither the result of his triumph nor the rapid overthrow of his power concerns us here, but something must be said about the aims and character of the movement which he headed.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]"More than half the population of Kfa was composed of Mawl (Clients), who monopolised handicraft, trade, and commerce. They The Mawl of Kfa. were mostly Persians in race and language; they had come to Kfa as prisoners of war and had there passed over to Islam: then they were manumitted by their owners and received as clients into the Arab tribes, so that they now occupied an ambiguous position (Zwitterstellung), being no longer slaves, but still very dependent on their patrons; needing their protection, bound to their service, and forming their retinue in peace and war. In these Mawl, who were entitled by virtue of Islam to more than the 'dominant Arabism' allowed them, the hope now dawned of freeing themselves from clientship and of rising to full and direct participation in the Moslem state[/FONT][FONT=&]." [/FONT] [FONT=&]Mukhtr, though himself an Arab of noble family, trusted the Mawl and treated them as equals, a proceeding which Mukhtr and the Mawl. was bitterly resented by the privileged class. "You have taken away our clients who are the booty which God bestowed upon us together with this country. We emancipated them, hoping to receive the Divine recompense and reward, but you would not rest until you made them sharers in our booty." Mukhtr was only giving the Mawl their due—they were Moslems and had the right, as such, to a share in the revenues. To the haughty Arabs, however, it appeared a monstrous thing that the despised foreigners should be placed on the same level with themselves.
Thus Mukhtr was thrown into the arms of the Mawl, and the movement now became not so Persian influence on the Sh‘a. much anti-Umayyad as anti-Arabian. Here is the turning-point in the history of the Sh‘a. Its ranks were swelled by thousands of Persians imbued with the extreme doctrines of the Saba’ites which have been sketched above, and animated by the intense hatred of a downtrodden people towards their conquerors and oppressors. Consequently the Sh‘a assumed a religious and enthusiastic character, and struck out a new path which led it farther and farther from the orthodox creed. The doctrine of 'Interpretation' (Ta’wl) opened the door to all sorts of extravagant ideas. One of the principal Sh‘ite sects, the Hshimiyya, held that "there is an esoteric side to everything external, a spirit to every form, a hidden meaning (ta’wl) to every revelation, and to every similitude in this world a corresponding reality in the other world; that ‘Al united in his own person the knowledge of all mysteries and communicated it to his son Muḥammad Ibnu ’l-Ḥanafiyya, who passed it on to his son Ab Hshim; and that the possessor of this universal knowledge is the true Imm."[/FONT] [FONT=&] So, without ceasing to be Moslems in name, the Sh‘ites transmuted Islam into whatever shape they pleased by virtue of a mystical interpretation based on the infallible authority of the House of Muḥammad, and out of the ruins of a political party there gradually arose a great religious organisation in which men of the most diverse opinions could work together for deliverance from the Umayyad yoke. The first step towards this development was made by Mukhtr, a versatile genius who seems to have combined the parts of political adventurer, social reformer, prophet, and charlatan. He was crushed and his Persian allies were decimated, but the seed which he had sown bore an abundant harvest when, sixty years later, Ab Muslim unfurled the black standard of the ‘Abbsids in Khursn.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Concerning the origin of the oldest theological sects in Islam, the Murjites and the Mu‘tazilites, we possess too little contemporary evidence to make a positive statement. It is probable that the latter at any rate arose, as Von Kremer has suggested, under the influence of Greek theologians, especially John of Damascus and his pupil, Theodore Abucara (Ab Qurra), [/FONT] [FONT=&]the Bishop of Ḥarrn. Christians were freely admitted to the Umayyad court. The Christian The oldest theological sects. al-Akhṭal was poet-laureate, while many of his co-religionists held high offices in the Government. Moslems and Christians exchanged ideas in friendly discussion or controversially. Armed with the hair-splitting weapons of Byzantine theology, which they soon learned to use only too well, the Arabs proceeded to try their edge on the dogmas of Islam.[/FONT] [FONT=&]The leading article of the Murjite creed was this, that no one who professed to believe in the One God could be declared an infidel, whatever sins he might commit, until God Himself had given judgment against him. The Murjites were so called because they deferred (arja’a = to defer) their decision in such cases and left the sinner's fate in suspense, so long as it was doubtful.
This principle they applied in different ways. For example, they refused to condemn ‘Al and ‘Uthmn outright, as the Khrijites did. "Both ‘Al and ‘Uthmn," they said, "were servants of God, and by God alone must they be judged; it is not for us to pronounce either of them an infidel, notwithstanding that they rent the Moslem people asunder." On the other hand, the Murjites equally rejected the pretensions made by the Sh‘ites on behalf of ‘Al and by the Umayyads on behalf of Mu‘wiya. For the most part they maintained a neutral attitude towards the Umayyad Government: they were passive resisters, content, as Wellhausen puts it, "to stand up for the impersonal Law." Sometimes, however, they turned the principle of toleration against their rulers. Thus Ḥrith b. Surayj and other Arabian Murjites joined the oppressed Mawl of Khursn to whom the Government denied those rights which they had acquired by conversion.[/FONT] [FONT=&] According to the Murjite view, these Persians, having professed Islam, should no longer be treated as tax-paying infidels. The Murjites brought the same tolerant spirit into religion. They set faith above works, emphasised the love and goodness of God, and held that no Moslem would be damned everlastingly. Some, like Jahm b. Ṣafwn, went so far as to declare that faith (mn) was merely an inward conviction: a man might openly profess Christianity or Judaism or any form of unbelief without ceasing to be a good Moslem, provided only that he acknowledged Allah with his heart.[/FONT] [FONT=&] The moderate school found their most illustrious representative in Ab Ḥanfa († 767 a.d.), and through this great divine—whose followers to-day are counted by millions—their liberal doctrines were diffused and perpetuated.
source : www.gutenberg.org
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For comparison sake only allow me to set a link of a talk by late islamic scholar Dr.israr Ahmed (Medical doctor) on origin of shia , he has video on origin of others as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh0ynm5FeRY
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