(1) The Khawārij: the plural of khārijah, meaning a seceding faction. This designation became associated with a group who rebelled against ‘Alī (may Allah be pleased with him), having fought alongside him at Siffīn. The Khawārij split into several sects, united in declaring ‘Uthmān, ‘Alī, the participants in the Battle of the Camel, and anyone who accepted arbitration and deemed both arbitrators—or either one of them—correct to be unbelievers. They also declare anyone who commits a major sin to be an unbeliever. See al-Milal wa-l-nihal, 1:114; al-Farq bayna al-firaq, pp. 72–73; Maqālāt al-Islāmiyyīn, 1:167; and Majmū‘ al-fatāwā, 3:279.