How to Pronounce Kharijite

Meaning and Context

The Kharijites (الخوارج, al-Khawārij, meaning "the seceders") emerged as a distinct and radical Islamic sect during the First Fitna, the civil war following the assassination of the third caliph Uthman ibn Affan in 656 CE. Originating from the army of Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, they initially supported him but famously seceded after he agreed to arbitration with his rival Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan following the Battle of Siffin in 657, declaring that "judgment belongs to God alone" (لا حكم إلا لله). This schism was foundational in Islamic history, marking one of the earliest and most consequential divisions between Sunni and Shia Islam. The Kharijites are historically significant for their extremist theological doctrine of takfir—excommunicating and declaring as unbelievers (kafir) fellow Muslims who committed major sins—and for their puritanical, egalitarian ethos that held any pious Muslim, regardless of lineage, could be caliph. Their most infamous act was the assassination of Caliph Ali in 661 by a Kharijite named Ibn Muljam, an event that profoundly altered the political trajectory of the early caliphate. While their militant factions were largely suppressed by the Umayyad Caliphate, their ideological legacy on Islamic extremism, sectarian conflict, and revivalist movements continues to be a subject of theological and historical analysis.

Common Mistakes and Alternative Spellings

The standard English transliteration is "Kharijite," derived from the Arabic singular "Khariji" (خارجي). Common alternative spellings include "Khawarij" (used for the plural group) and "Khariji." The "kh" represents the voiceless velar fricative (like the ch in Scottish "loch"), which leads to frequent misspellings such as "Karijite" (dropping the 'h') or "Kharajite" (substituting a 'j' sound). The plural in Arabic is "al-Khawārij," often Anglicized as "Khawarij" or "Kharijites." A frequent error is the conflation or misspelling as "Kharajites," which is incorrect but phonetically similar; this error might stem from confusion with the unrelated historical tax term "kharaj." In academic and historical texts, consistency in using either "Kharijite(s)" or "Khawarij" is important for clarity.

Example Sentences

The radical doctrine of takfir espoused by the Kharijites held that any Muslim committing a major sin was effectively an apostate deserving of death.

Historians note that the assassination of Caliph Ali by a Kharijite extremist irrevocably deepened the sectarian divides in early Islam.

While the militant Kharijite sects were eventually crushed, their ideological insistence on the purity of the community influenced later Islamic revivalist movements.

Modern scholars often analyze the Kharijite phenomenon as a case study in how political dissent can morph into religious extremism within a nascent tradition.

The term "Kharijite" is sometimes used polemically in contemporary discourse to label Muslim groups perceived as excessively rigid or excommunicatory.

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