Who are those who emerge from Islam as an arrow emerges from its target, and what are their characteristics?
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The questioner : Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The questioner : Your Eminence, it is mentioned in the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih Muslim 1064a. We ask you to clarify their characteristics for us, and what is the nature of this emergence?
The Shaykh : These are the Khawarij whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) described as people of obedience and worship, such that one of the Companions would consider his own prayer insignificant compared to theirs, and his recitation insignificant compared to theirs. But this work does not go beyond their necks, meaning: it does not descend to the heart, may Allah protect us. So they emerge from Islam as an arrow emerges from its target. When an arrow strikes a target, it passes through quickly and exits from the other side. They are like that; they pass through Islam quickly, like the speed of this arrow, and then they exit from it. We ask Allah for safety. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered fighting them, because even though they are strict in religion, they are those who have emerged from it. If you searched their hearts, you would find them black and deaf, with no good reaching them, may Allah protect us. Because their faith is only on the surface. This is something that is obligatory for us to hold ourselves accountable for, because some of you will find that he hates sins in people and is repelled by them, and he condemns them and curses them, but faith has not reached his heart. So you find him neglectful in his worship, his heart is not present for his prayer, he does not turn to his Lord, and he does not feel that he is a sinner when he sins. And this is one of the characteristics of the Khawarij. For this reason, some of the Salaf said: "Whoever says that the people have perished, he is the most perished of them, and whoever says that they have gone astray, he is the most astray of them".
And their meaning by this is the one who is occupied with the faults of others rather than his own faults. These Khawarij are of this type. They condemn in people what they condemn, and they are strict with them, and they make the doer of a major sin a disbeliever, while they are more disbelieving than him, because their faith has not reached the heart. They only condemn on the surface. And this matter is serious, by Allah, serious, serious, serious. It is obligatory for a person to treat himself from this so that he is safe from this evil. And these are not only in the last times. Yes, they are in the last times relative to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), but they preceded that. Since the time of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, they have existed. In fact, some of them were in the time of the Messenger, but they did not carry weapons. The one who said to the Messenger:, this is a type of emergence.
And the one who said to the Messenger when he distributed the war spoils: "Be just!" And another said: "This is a distribution not intended for the face of Allah." This is also a type of emergence.
The questioner : Meaning: they follow the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
The Shaykh : They follow it on the surface, but the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) says: or he said: .
The questioner : So how do we judge them by that? How do we know them?
The Shaykh : This is where a person must pause. Signs were reported about them in the time of the Messenger. The Messenger informed of signs for them, some of which occurred in the time of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), such as: the man with the breasts, about whom the Prophet informed and who was found among the men of Mu'awiyah, and others. But we now cannot judge these people as Khawarij unless we know their opinion. If their opinion is the opinion of the Khawarij, we know that they are among them. An example of that is: the one who sees the permissibility of rising against the imams of the Muslims, the one who sees the permissibility of rising against the imams of the Muslims who are Muslims. This is the opinion of the Khawarij. We know that these people are strict in the religion of Allah, but their religion has not passed their throats. Their hearts are empty and void of faith.
The questioner : Many people, such as those who shave their beards and let their garments hang below the ankles, accuse the committed of emerging from Islam as the arrow emerges. What is your opinion?
The Shaykh : This is incorrect. The open sinner is known; he considers the just one a disbeliever! Their testimony is not accepted, and their judgment is not accepted. The open sinners are open sinners,[Al-Hujurat 49:6].
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The questioner : Your Eminence, it is mentioned in the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him):
people who would recite the Qur'an, but it would not go beyond their throat; they would kill the followers of Islam and would spare the idol-worshippers. They would glance through the teachings of Islam so hurriedly just as the arrow passes through the pray
يأتي أقوام آخر الزمان يمرقون من الإسلام كما يمرق السهمThe Shaykh : These are the Khawarij whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) described as people of obedience and worship, such that one of the Companions would consider his own prayer insignificant compared to theirs, and his recitation insignificant compared to theirs. But this work does not go beyond their necks, meaning: it does not descend to the heart, may Allah protect us. So they emerge from Islam as an arrow emerges from its target. When an arrow strikes a target, it passes through quickly and exits from the other side. They are like that; they pass through Islam quickly, like the speed of this arrow, and then they exit from it. We ask Allah for safety. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered fighting them, because even though they are strict in religion, they are those who have emerged from it. If you searched their hearts, you would find them black and deaf, with no good reaching them, may Allah protect us. Because their faith is only on the surface. This is something that is obligatory for us to hold ourselves accountable for, because some of you will find that he hates sins in people and is repelled by them, and he condemns them and curses them, but faith has not reached his heart. So you find him neglectful in his worship, his heart is not present for his prayer, he does not turn to his Lord, and he does not feel that he is a sinner when he sins. And this is one of the characteristics of the Khawarij. For this reason, some of the Salaf said: "Whoever says that the people have perished, he is the most perished of them, and whoever says that they have gone astray, he is the most astray of them".
And their meaning by this is the one who is occupied with the faults of others rather than his own faults. These Khawarij are of this type. They condemn in people what they condemn, and they are strict with them, and they make the doer of a major sin a disbeliever, while they are more disbelieving than him, because their faith has not reached the heart. They only condemn on the surface. And this matter is serious, by Allah, serious, serious, serious. It is obligatory for a person to treat himself from this so that he is safe from this evil. And these are not only in the last times. Yes, they are in the last times relative to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), but they preceded that. Since the time of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, they have existed. In fact, some of them were in the time of the Messenger, but they did not carry weapons. The one who said to the Messenger:
"Is he your cousin, O Messenger of Allah!" when he judged in favor of al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam
أن كان ابن عمتك يا رسول الله! لما حكم للزبير بن العوامAnd the one who said to the Messenger when he distributed the war spoils: "Be just!" And another said: "This is a distribution not intended for the face of Allah." This is also a type of emergence.
The questioner : Meaning: they follow the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
The Shaykh : They follow it on the surface, but the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) says:
it does not go beyond their throats.
لا يجاوز تراقيهمtheir throats
حناجرهمThe questioner : So how do we judge them by that? How do we know them?
The Shaykh : This is where a person must pause. Signs were reported about them in the time of the Messenger. The Messenger informed of signs for them, some of which occurred in the time of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), such as: the man with the breasts, about whom the Prophet informed and who was found among the men of Mu'awiyah, and others. But we now cannot judge these people as Khawarij unless we know their opinion. If their opinion is the opinion of the Khawarij, we know that they are among them. An example of that is: the one who sees the permissibility of rising against the imams of the Muslims, the one who sees the permissibility of rising against the imams of the Muslims who are Muslims. This is the opinion of the Khawarij. We know that these people are strict in the religion of Allah, but their religion has not passed their throats. Their hearts are empty and void of faith.
The questioner : Many people, such as those who shave their beards and let their garments hang below the ankles, accuse the committed of emerging from Islam as the arrow emerges. What is your opinion?
The Shaykh : This is incorrect. The open sinner is known; he considers the just one a disbeliever! Their testimony is not accepted, and their judgment is not accepted. The open sinners are open sinners,