Sermon 60

When Amir al-mu'minin was told that the Kharijites had been totally killed, he said:

وقال (عليه السلام)

لمّا قتل الخوارج

فقيل له: يا أميرالمؤمنين، هلك القوم بأجمعهم، فقال:

By Allah! No, not yet. They still exist in the loins of men and wombs of women. Whenever a chief would appear from among them, he would be cut down till the last of them would turn thieves and robbers.

كَلاَّ وَالله، إِنَّهُمْ نُطَفٌ فِي أَصْلاَبِ الرِّجَالِ، وَقَرَارَاتِ النِّسَاءِ، كُلَّمَا نَجَمَ مِنْهُمْ قَرْنٌ قُطِعَ، حَتَّى يَكُونَ آخِرُهُمْ لُصُوصاً سَلاَّبِينَ.

Alternative Sources for Sermon 60

(1) Al-Bayhaqi, al-Mahasin, 385;

(2) al-Mas'udi, Muruj, II, 416;

(3) al-Mubarrad, al-Kamil, II, 120.

• This prophecy of Amir al-mu'minin also proved true word by word. Every chief of Kharijites who rose was put to sword. A few of their chiefs who were badly put to death are mentioned here:\
  1. Nafi` ibn Azraq al-Hanafi: the largest group of the Kharijites namely al-Azariqah is named after him. He was killed by Salamah al-Bahili during encounter with the army of Muslim ibn `Ubays.\
  2. Najdah ibn `Amir: the an-Najadat al-`Adhiriyyah sect of Kharijites is named after him. Abu Fudayk al-Khariji got him killed.\
  3. `Abdullah ibn Ibad at-Tamimi: the sect Ibadite (Ibadiyyah) is named after him. He was killed during encounter with `Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn `Atiyyah.\
  4. Abu Bayhas Haysam ibn Jabir ad-Duba`i: the sect of al-Bayhasiyyah is named after him. `Uthman ibn Hayyan al-Murri the governor of Medina got his hands and feet severed and then killed him.\
  5. `Urwah ibn Udayyah at-Tamimi: Ziyad ibn Abih killed him during the reign of Mu`awiyah.\
  6. Qatari ibn al-Fuja'h al-Mazini at-Tamimi: when he encountered the army of Sufyan ibn al-Abrad al-Kalbi in Tabarastan then Sawrah ibn al-Hurr ad-Darimi killed him.\
  7. Abu Bilal Mirdas ibn Udayyah at-Tamimi: was killed in encounter with `Abbas ibn Akhdar al-Mazini.\
  8. Shawdhab al-Khariji al-Yashkuri: was killed during encounter with Sa`id ibn `Amr al-Harashi.\
  9. Hawtharah ibn Wada` al-Asadi: was killed at the hands of a man of Banu Tayyi'\
  10. al-Mustawrid ibn `Ullafah at-Taymi: was killed by Ma`qil ibn Qays ar-Riyahi in the reign of Mu`awiyah.\
  11. Shabib ibn Yazid ash-Shaybani: died by being drowned in river.\
  12. `Imran ibn al-Harith ar-Rasibi: was killed in the battle of Dulab.
      13, 14) Zahhaf at-Ta'i and Qurayb ibn Murrah al-Azdi: were killed in encounter with Banu Tahiyah.\
  13. az-Zubayr ibn `Ali as-Saliti at-Tamimi: was killed in encounter with `Attab ibn Warqa' ar-Riyahi.\
  14. `Ali ibn Bashir ibn al-Mahuz al-Yarbu`i: al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ath-Thaqafi got him killed.\
  15. `Ubaydullah ibn Bashir: was killed in encounter with al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufrah in the battle of Dulab.\
  16. Abu'l-Wazi` ar-Rasibi: a man in the graveyard of Banu Yashkur felled a wall on him and killed him.\
  17. `Abdu Rabbih as-Saghir: was killed in encounter with al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufrah.\
  18. Al-Walid ibn Tarif ash-Shaybani: was killed in encounter with Yazid ibn Mazyad ash-Shaybani.
      21-24) `Abdullah ibn Yahya al-Kindi, al-Mukhtar ibn `Awf al-Azdi (Abu Hamzah ash-Shari), Abrahah ibn as-Sabbah and Balj ibn `Uqbah al-Asadi: were killed by `Abd al-Malik ibn `Atiyyah as-Sa`di in the reign of Marwan ibn Muhammad (the last of the Umayyad caliphs).]