Ibn Abbas' debate with the Khawarij
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas (d. 68h):
When the Hururiyah rebelled, they isolated themselves in a place. There were 6,000 of them and they were united in rebelling against Ali. Continuously people would come to Ali and say, “O Leader of the Believers, verily these people are rebelling against you!” He would say, “Leave them, verily I will not fight them until they fight me and that’s what they will eventually do.”
So when it came to that day, I came to Ali before the Dhuhr prayer and I said to him, “O Leader of the Believers, delay the prayer until it is cooler perhaps I will speak to these people.” He said: “Verily, I fear for you.” I said: “Never! I used to be known as a man of good manners, I never harmed anyone.” He gave me permission to go. So, I put on a very nice garment, the best of what one could get from Yemen and I combed my hair. Then, I visited them at midday whilst they were eating.
I had entered upon a people, the likes of whom I had never seen with regards to their exertion in worship. Their foreheads were wounded due to Sujood (prostration) and their hands had become rough like camels’ feet, wearing recently washed, untidy shirts with very high, raised clothing with tired and worn out faces [due to not caring for themselves].
So, I greeted them and they said, “Welcome O Son of Abbas! And what is this (nice) cloak you are wearing?” I said, “What deficiency do you see from me? Indeed, I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ dressed in the best of what you can find in Yemeni clothing, then I recited this verse..”
❝Say, who has forbidden the adornment given by Allaah, which He has produced for His slaves, and the good things He has provided.❞ [Surat al-Araf, 7:32]
Then they said, ‘What has brought you here?’ I said to them, ‘I have come to you from amongst the Companions of the
Prophet ﷺ, the Muhajirun and the Ansar, and from the son of the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ (Ali), who is his son-in-law, and upon them descended the Quran; and they are more knowledgeable about it than you and there is not one of them amongst you. I have come to convey to you what they say, and to convey to them, what you say. A group amongst them said, “Do not debate with the Quraysh because verily Allah says..”
❝Nay! But they are a quarrelsome people.❞ [Surat al-Zukhruf, 43:58]
Then a group of them turned towards me and two or three of them said, “Verily, (but) we will speak to him.” So I said, “Come forward, what is the grudge you have against the Companions of the Messenger of Allah – and the son of his uncle (Ali)?” They said, “three points.” I said, “And what are they?” They said, “One of the points is that he (Ali) had men judge in a matter of Allah whilst Allah said..”
❝The judgement is for none but Allah.❞ [Surat al-Anam, 6:57]
I said, “This is one point.” They said, “As for the second point; then he fought and he did not take captives nor did he take the war booty, if they were Kuffaar, then their captives are permissible for us and if they were believers then their captives are not permissible to take nor was it allowed to fight them.”
I said, “This is the second point, and what is the third point?” They said, “He should remove the title of Leader of the Believers and if he is not the Leader of the Believers then he is the Leader of the Disbelievers.”
I said, “Do you have any points other than this?” They said, “This is sufficient for us.” I said to them, “Do you understand, that if I read to you from the Book of Allah ﷻ and from the Sunnah of His Prophet ﷺ that which refutes what you say; will you return (back)?” They said, “Yes.”
I said: “As for your statement That Ali had men judge in a matter that was for Allah; then I will read to you from the Book of Allah, where Allah has delegated His Hukm (judgment) to men regarding the eighth of a quarter of a dirham. Allah commanded the people to judge in this matter. Do you not understand the saying of Allah,
❝O you who believe, do not kill the game while you are in a state of ihram, and whosoever of you kills it intentionally, then the penalty is an offering equivalent to the one he killed, as adjudged by two just men among you.❞ [Surat al-Maidah, 5:95]
And it is from the Hukm of Allah that He delegated men to judge in this matter, if Allah willed, He could have judged in this matter, but He allowed men to judge. I ask you, for the sake of Allah! Are men judging in reconciling in disputes and in preventing bloodshed or judging regarding hunting a rabbit better?” They said, “Of course, this is better.” I continued, “And regarding a woman and her husband,
❝If you fear a breach between the husband and wife, appoint two arbitrators, one from his family and the other from hers.❞ [Surat an-Nisa, 4:35]
Is not men judging in reconciling disputes and in the prevention of bloodshed better than men judging regarding the private parts of a woman?” They said, “Of course, this is better.” I said, “Have we resolved this point?” They said, “Yes.”
I said, “As for your statement, He fought but did not take captives and did not take war booty, then would you take your mother, Aisha, as a captive, making her permissible for yourselves for that which you make permissible from other than her whilst she is your mother? If you say: ‘We make halal from her that which we make halal from other than her,’ then you have committed kufr (disbelief). And if you say that, ‘she is not our mother,’ then you have also made kufr. Allah says,
❝The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves, and his wives are their mothers.❞ [Surat al-Ahzab, 33:6]
So you are between the two deviant judgments. So, which of them do you want to take? Have we finished with this point?” They said, “Yes.”
I said, “As for Ali removing the title of Leader of the Believers, then I will give you something that will please you. Verily, the Prophet of Allah ﷺ made a treaty with the Mushrikeen on the Day of Hudaybiah, and the Prophet ﷺ said to Ali, ‘Write, O Ali, this is what Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, agrees with.’ The Mushrikeen said, ‘If we knew you to be the Messenger of Allah we would not have fought you.’ So, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Erase it, O Ali! O Allah, Indeed You know that I am the Messenger of Allah. Erase it O Ali, and write this, ‘This is what Muhammad ibn Abdullah agrees with.’ I swear by Allah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is better than Ali and even he erased his own title and erasing his title does not erase his prophethood. Have we finished with this point?” They said: “Yes.”
Then 2,000 of them came back (with me) while the rest of them rebelled and fought, based upon their misguidance, and the Muhajirun and Ansar fought them.
[Narrated by Abdur-Razzaq in his book ‘al-Musannaf’(18678), Ahmad (1/243), al-Haakim (2/150-152), Ibn Abdul Barr in his Jama’ Bayaan Uloom (2/962-964/ 1834) and others]http://alicamarata.com/ibn-abbas-debate-with-the-khawarij
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