“…in the Fire.”
The third category is the insurgents against the Muslim community. They are either:
• aggressors whose sole aim is wealth, like highway robbers and the like;
• those thirsting for authority, such as a person who slays the inhabitants of a town that lies under another ruler’s jurisdiction—absolutely so, even if those inhabitants are not combatants; or
• deviants who have abandoned the Sunnah and regard the blood of the People of the Qiblah as entirely lawful, like the Haruriyyah whom ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) fought and killed.
Furthermore, the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—called such a death “a death of the Age of Ignorance” and such a killing “a killing of the Age of Ignorance” as a way of condemning and forbidding them; otherwise he would not have rebuked them so severely.
(1) Muslim records this report in the Book of Tribulations and the Portents of the Hour, under the chapter “The Hour will not come until a man passes by another man’s grave…,” ḥadīth no. 2908, through two isnāds that differ slightly from the wording cited by the author.
The first version states: “By Him in whose hand is my soul, a time will surely come upon people when the killer will not know for what he killed, nor the slain for what he was killed.”
The second version states: “By Him in whose hand is my soul, the world will not end before a day comes upon people when the killer will not know why he killed, and the slain will not know why he was killed.” When it was asked, “How can that be?” he replied: “al-harj; both the killer and the slain will be in the Fire.” (4:2231–2232).
(2) Manuscripts J and D read: al-kharij ʿalā al-ummah (“one who rebels against the Muslim community”).
(3) In other words, it refers to anyone who rises up against the community for any reason; it is not confined to the Khawārij sect alone.
(4) The printed edition reads: Miṣr (Egypt).
(5) The word hum (“they”) is omitted in manuscripts B and T.
(6) al-Harūriyya is a designation for the Khawārij in the time of ʿAlī; it is derived from Ḥarūrā, a locality near Kūfa where they encamped after seceding from his army. See: Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāya wa-l-Nihāya, 7:278–280; Yāqūt, Muʿjam al-Buldan, 2:245.