Editing Political aspects of Islam (section)

===Kharijite tradition===
{{Main|Khawarij}}
{{Muhakkima Islam |expanded=History}}

[[Islamic extremism]] dates back to the [[early history of Islam]] with the emergence of the [[Kharijites]] in the 7th century CE.<ref name="Izutsu 2006"/> The original schism between [[Kharijites]], [[Sunni Islam|Sunnīs]], and [[Shia Islam|Shīʿas]] among [[Muslims]] was disputed over the [[Succession to Muhammad|political and religious succession]] to the guidance of the [[Ummah|Muslim community]] (''Ummah'') after the death of the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]].<ref name="Izutsu 2006"/> From their essentially political position, the Kharijites developed extreme doctrines that set them apart from both mainstream Sunnī and Shīʿa Muslims.<ref name="Izutsu 2006"/> Shīʿas believe [[Ali|ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib]] is the true successor to Muhammad, while Sunnīs consider [[Abu Bakr]] to hold that position. The Kharijites broke away from both the Shīʿas and the Sunnīs during the [[First Fitna]] (the first Islamic Civil War);<ref name="Izutsu 2006"/> they were particularly noted for adopting a radical approach to ''[[Takfir|takfīr]]'' (excommunication), whereby they declared both Sunnī and Shīʿa Muslims to be either [[Kafir|infidels]] (''kuffār'') or [[Munafiq|false Muslims]] (''munāfiḳūn''), and therefore deemed them [[Capital punishment in Islam|worthy of death]] for their perceived [[Apostasy in Islam|apostasy]] (''ridda'').<ref name="Izutsu 2006"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/another-battle-with-islams-true-believers/article20802390/|title=Another battle with Islam's 'true believers'|last=Khan|first=Sheema|date=12 May 2018|website=The Globe and Mail|publisher=The Globe and Mail Opinion|access-date=19 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/publications/free/the-balance-of-islam-in-challenging-extremism.pdf|title=The Balance of Islam in Challenging Extremism|last=Hasan|first=Usama|date=2012|website=Quiliam Foundation|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802045255/http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/publications/free/the-balance-of-islam-in-challenging-extremism.pdf|archive-date=2 August 2014|access-date=2015-11-17}}</ref>

The Islamic tradition traces the origin of the Kharijities to the [[Battle of Siffin|battle between ʿAlī and Mu'awiya at Siffin]] in 657 CE. When ʿAlī was faced with a military stalemate and agreed to submit the dispute to arbitration, some of his party withdrew their support from him. "Judgement belongs to God alone" (لاَ حُكْكْ إلَا لِلّهِ) became the slogan of these secessionists.<ref name="Izutsu 2006" /> They also called themselves ''al-Shurat'' ("the Vendors"), to reflect their willingness to sell their lives in [[Martyrdom in Islam|martyrdom]].<ref name="Brown 2017">{{Cite book|last=Brown|first=Daniel|title=A New Introduction to Islam|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd|year=2017|isbn=9781118953464|edition=3rd|location=Oxford|pages=163–169}}</ref>

These original Kharijites opposed both ʿAlī and Mu'awiya, and appointed their own leaders. They were decisively defeated by ʿAlī, who was in turn assassinated by a Kharijite. Kharijites engaged in guerilla warfare against the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyads]], but only became a movement to be reckoned with during the [[Second Fitna]] (the second Islamic Civil War) when they at one point controlled more territory than any of their rivals. The Kharijites were, in fact, one of the major threats to Ibn al-Zubayr's bid for the caliphate; during this time they controlled Yamama and most of southern Arabia, and captured the oasis town of al-Ta'if.<ref name="Brown 2017" />

The Azariqa, considered to be the extreme faction of the Kharijites, controlled parts of western Iran under the Umayyads until they were finally put down in 699 CE. The more moderate [[Ibadi Islam|Ibadi]] Kharijites were longer-lived, continuing to wield political power in North and East Africa and in eastern Arabia during the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid period]]. Because of their readiness to declare any opponent as apostate, the extreme Kharijites tended to fragment into small groups. One of the few points that the various Kharijite splinter groups held in common was their view of the caliphate, which differed from other Muslim theories on two points.

* First, they were principled egalitarians, holding that any pious Muslim ("even an [[History of slavery in the Muslim world|Ethiopian slave]]") can become Caliph and that family or tribal affiliation is inconsequential. The only requirements for leadership are piety and acceptance by the community. 
* Second, they agreed that it is the duty of the believers to depose any leader who falls into error. This second principle had profound implications for Kharijite theology. Applying these ideas to the early history of the caliphate, Kharijites only accept Abu Bakr and 'Umar as legitimate caliphs. Of 'Uthman's caliphate they recognize only the first six years as legitimate, and they reject 'Ali altogether.

By the time that Ibn al-Muqaffa' wrote his political treatise early in the 'Abbasid period, the Kharijites were no longer a significant political threat, at least in the [[Early Muslim conquests|Islamic heartlands]]. The memory of the menace they had posed to Muslim unity and of the moral challenge generated by their pious idealism still weighed heavily on Muslim political and religious thought, however. Even if the Kharijites could no longer threaten, their ghosts still had to be answered.<ref name="Brown 2017" /> The Ibadis are the only Kharijite group to survive into modern times.