Are the Terrorists of Today the Khawārij?
هؤالء املفجرين ال شك أنهم خوارج :Original Title
Author: Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān
Translated by: Abu az-Zubayr Harrison – authentic-translations.com
Question: The questioner asks about this group that has today left the Muslims and opposed them. They carry out bombings and terrorize people who once felt safe. Are these people truly part of the Khawārij or are they disbelievers?
Answer: This group that has left the Muslims, rebelling against them – this is the result of disassociating oneself from the scholars. I mentioned the consequences of this during the last part of the (previous) lecture. They broke away from the scholars, broke away from the Muslim leaders, and the disbelievers and hypocrites put these ideologies into their heads. So, they have become outcasts in Muslim societies.
They are Khawārij, no doubt. This act of theirs is the act of the Khawārij. Rather, they are even more violent and extreme than the (original) Khawārij. The (past) Khawārij did not use to destroy buildings and residents. The Khawārij used to show up face-to-face on the battlefield. They used to fight on the battlefield despite what they were upon of ignorance. But they did not used to collapse buildings on everyone inside them – women, children, the innocent, those at peace with Muslims, people with whom Muslims have a treaty, and other people guaranteed safety. The Khawārij used not to do this. This is worse and more violent than the actions of the (original) Khawārij.
This is more like the actions of the Qarāmiṭah (a severely violent, misguided sect). They are more like the Qarāmiṭah because the actions of the Qarāmiṭah are secret, based on secrecy and underhandedness and what these people today do is also based on secrecy. The (former) Khawārij – their actions were not kept hidden and secret; they would make themselves and their objectives known, publicly announcing them. So, these people are even worse than Khawārij.
This question was answered by Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān verbally and the audio clip can be found at: fatwa1.com/anti-erhab/Irhabion/Irhabion.html. (the site no longer available)This particular audio clip is no. 20 in the list and contains three questions answered by the Shaykh – this is the first one.
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Are the Terrorists of Today the Khawarij – Shaykh Saalih al Fawzaan [PDF]
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