Erasing the Accusation of Shirk

Khwaarij then began to kill many of the sahabah because they thought they were
committing shirk. After consulting with the other companions, Sayyidina ‘Ali decided to
wage war with them. Many of the companions fought alongside Sayyidina ‘Ali ( may
Allah be pleased with him) during this war and they were victorious against them. The
name of this war was Nehrwaan and the classical scholars of Islam such as Imam Tabari,
Ibn al-Jawzi, Ibn Kathir and Allamah Dhahabi and Ibn Athir have written about the above
events in their respective Tarikhs (History books) under the chapter of ‘Khilaafa of
Sayyidina ‘Ali’ and Hafidh bn Taymiyyah has also written of these events in detail in his
fatawa Volume 11.
The trial of the Sahabah
When Sayyidina ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and his followers left for the war
at Nehrwaan, they found the Khwaarij deep in worship and supplication, whilst some
were beautifully reciting the Qur’an others were in prostration. Upon seeing this, the
Sahabah were uneasy about fighting against this sect. How can we fight against such
pious men they thought to themselves; it was these thoughts that provoked the following
two events:
Hafidh Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani and Qadi Shawkani write:
The Famous Sahabi, Sayyidina Jundub (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “When we
went to fight against the Khawarij at Nehrwaan, once I saw their piety, doubts filled my
heart, how could I possibly fight these people, the beards upon their faces their heads
touching the ground, their recitation of the Qur’an echoing around me. I had to find a way
not to fight against these people. I then made the excuse of an extended prayer and placed
my spear in the ground. I asked Sayyidina ‘Ali (may Allah be please with him) to go on
without me as I wanted to pray. Sayyidina ‘Ali left me to pray. During my Salaah I was
still pondering on whether to fight against these people; after I completed my salaah I
raised my hands to Allah and asked him ‘Oh Allah if to fight these people is wrong then
do not give me the strength to fight’. As I finished my supplication I saw Sayyidina ‘Ali
running towards me at an extreme speed, he came to me and hit his hand against my chest
and said ‘remove the doubts from your heart’. My prayer had been answered: it was from
here my heart acknowledged that I must support Sayyidina ‘Ali and to fight against the
Khwaarij sect was indeed correct. I then went and joined the army and killed many of the
Khawarij.’” 8
We can see the trials that the Khawarij caused the sahabah, both physically and mentally,
and if it was difficult for them to endure this trial then surely for us this is a huge
struggle. I understand it may be hard to acknowledge that the Khawarij sect are wrong,
but it is indeed a great blessing to have the wisdom to understand this as this even the
8 Fath al-Bari chapter on “Khawarij,” By Hafidh Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani, Nayn al-Awtar, chapter of
“Khawarij” by Qadi Shawkaani and Tibrani chapter on “Khawarij” by Imam Tibrani.
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