The ruling on the claim that the early Khawarij were upon the creed of the Salaf

Question:
May Allah bless you, Your Eminence the Shaykh. One of the brothers is asking. He says: There are those who say that the early Khawarij were upon the creed of the Salaf, and that they had no deviation in the matter of the names and attributes, nor worship of graves, but only a political deviation. What is the truth of this claim?

Answer:
The Khawarij are Khawarij, as they are named, in their creeds. They are Khawarij because they rebelled against the obedience of the one in authority, and because they isolated themselves from the scholars of the Muslims. So they departed from the scholars of the Muslims and adopted their own opinions and the opinions of those like them. They are Khawarij by every measure. So why do we say that they are from the Salaf? They are not from the Salaf. They are opposed to the Salaf, and the Salaf disavow them. Therefore, they fought them by the command of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) until they put an end to their fitnah (trial, discord or temptation).
But this apparent point is that he wants to say that the fighting of the Companions against them was a matter of politics. Because there is a group now that says that killing sorcerers, killing apostates, and killing… that this is a matter of politics, not a matter of religion. There is a group now that says this.
Otherwise, it is not permissible to kill a zindiq (heretic), nor to kill a misguiding one, nor to kill a sorcerer. Rather, those who killed them among the rulers only killed them out of fear for their kingdom, they say. And Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.