For this reason, when Sabīgh ibn ‘Isl al-Tamīmī came to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him) and questioned him about ambiguous passages, seeking discord and seeking their interpretation, ‘Umar beat him severely. He then uncovered his head and found that he had two braids. He said: “Had I found your head shaved, I would have struck the head that holds your eyes.” For had he found his head shaved, he would have taken that as a sign that he was one of the Kharijites who departed from the religion, and would have killed him in accordance with the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) command to fight them.

Describing them, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Any one of you would consider his prayer insignificant beside theirs, his fasting beside theirs, and his recitation beside theirs. They recite the Quran, but it does not go beyond their throats. They pass out of Islam as an arrow passes through its quarry.”

There is no doubt that the Kharijites possessed a degree of diligence in worship and scrupulousness that was not