preceded him in faith from among the generations of the Muslim community. Even if that person erred in an interpretation he adopted and thereby contradicted the Sunnah, or committed a sin, he is still one of his brothers who preceded him in faith and is therefore included in the verse’s general meaning. This remains true even if he belongs to one of the seventy-two sects, for every sect contains many people who are not unbelievers but believers, although they have misguidance and sin for which they deserve the threatened punishment, just as disobedient believers deserve it.
The Prophet—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—did not exclude them from Islam; rather, he counted them among his community, and he did not say that they would remain in the Fire forever. This is a momentous principle that must be observed, for many who identify with the Sunnah harbor an innovation of the same kind as the innovations of the Rāfidah and the Khawārij.
The Companions of the Messenger—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—including ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib and others, did not declare the Khawārij whom they fought to be unbelievers. Rather, when they first rebelled against ʿAlī, withdrew to Harūrā, and departed from obedience and the united community, ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—said to them: “Your rights over us are that we shall not bar you from our mosques (1) or deny you your share of the public revenues.”
He then sent Ibn ʿAbbās to debate them, whereupon about half of them returned. He subsequently fought and defeated those who remained. Despite this, he did not take their offspring captive, seize their property as spoils, or treat them as the Companions had treated apostates such as Musaylimah the Liar and others like him. Rather, the way ʿAlī and the Companions treated the Khawārij differed from the way the Companions treated the apostates. No one objected to ʿAlī’s conduct, so it is known that the Companions agreed that they had not apostatized from the religion of Islam (2).
Imam Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazī (3) said: “ʿAlī—may Allah be pleased with him—did indeed undertake