CHAPTER ONE: ISLAM
FAITH AND PRACTICE1.1 Khārijism
When the Khārijites protested `Alī's agreeing to negotiate with Mu`āwiya, they shouted "No judgement but God's!" This meant that grave sinners (Mu`āwiya for rebelling, and `Alī for compromising with him) are apostates from the Islamic community; so it is the duty of Muslims to fight them. This Khārijite action raised a theological question: What is the definition of faith? Does it include practice, or obedience to Islamic law, or is practice something additional to faith?
The Khārijites were influenced in their position by the assumption that faith is not simply a matter of personal belief but is first of all membership in a believing community. Anyone who is unfaithful to that community cannot be a believer and cannot enter Paradise.
The Khārijites laid great stress on the Qur'ān. This led them to two conclusions: 1) Membership in the community depends upon following the laws of the Qur'ān, and anyone who violates these laws forfeits his membership. 2) An imām, or caliph, is not necessary from a theoretical standpoint. If one is chosen out of practical necessity he can be from any tribe or nation, "even an Ethiopian slave". This second conclusion touches issue of authority, and will be dealt with in chapter 3.
Like any of the movements under consideration in Islamic theology, Khārijism is a wide label applied to many individuals and sub-sects whose views differed greatly from one another. At least three groups went by the name of Khārijites. Only the first consistently follows the logic of Khārijism; the others are compromises or diluted versions. So, while we mention the three groups, only the first is important.
1.1.1 Azraqites
The first group is the Azraqites, names after Nāfi` ibn-al-Azraq, its leader, who was active in Basra at the time of Yazīd's death and the rebellion of Ibn-az-Zubayr in Mecca. This group pointed to Qur'ān 9:81 ff. that those able people who "sit still" and do not "go out" (kharaj) to fight for the sake of God are unbelievers. They interpreted this to mean that anyone who did not join the Khārijites was an unbeliever. Furthermore they pointed to Qur'ān 2:117 which teaches that such apostates are destined to hell fire for eternity, and concluded, according to the injunction of Qur'ān 9:29 to fight unbelievers, that they should attack non-members of their group, except Christians and Jews, whom the Qur'ān has declared protected.
Azraqite teaching reflected Arab nomadic custom whereby members of other tribes were all potential enemies and, unless there was an alliance, could be attacked whenever the chance came. The Azraqites not only maintained themselves by raiding, but reinforced their group solidarity by a test (miḥna) of those who would join their group. The candidate was given a prisoner go kill, preferably one of his own tribe. This act would make the new member a target for the revenge of the victim's family, and he would have to depend more solidly upon the Azraqites for protection. Thus religion became the sole bond uniting the members, and family ties and the authority of elders or chiefs meant nothing.
In 683 Ibn-al-Azraq went to Mecca to support Ibn-az-Zubayr, but the latter was interested in becoming caliph over a stable state and was not comfortable with Ibn-al-Azraq's anarchical outlook. Ibn-al-Azraq returned to Iraq and was pursued by Ibn-az-Zubayr's army and killed in 685, but the Azraqites continued as a terrorist band, robbing and killing whenever they saw the opportunity, until they were wiped out by the Umayyad governor al-Hajjāj in 698.
1.1.2 The Najdites
The Najdites, a less important group of Khārijites, are called after their leader Najda ibn-'Āmir who was also a supporter of Ibn-az-Zubayr's rebellion in 683. Najda did not stay with Ibn-az-Zubayr, but gained control of al-Yamāma in central Arabia and eventually most of eastern and southern Arabia, a more extensive area than the territory controlled by Ibn-az-Zubayr. Najda was deposed by his followers and died in 693, yet his party continued to rule until they were defeated by al-Hajjāj in 693.
Because the Najdites held political power, they were forced to modify the strict Khārijite teaching that any Muslim who commits a serious sin is an apostate and should be killed. Najda, therefore, distinguished between fundamentals and non-fundamentals in religion. People who sin by ignorance could be excused, as the leaders of one expedition who appropriated to themselves some captured women without following the rules for the distribution of booty, but in fundamental matters of faith and respect for the life and property of other Muslims there no excuse was accepted.
Another distinction was made between occasional sin and persistence in sin; thus God would punish those who sometimes commit theft or adultery or lesser sins, but only those who persist in such acts would be excluded from the community and destined to eternal punishment in hell.
Najda also held that Muslims who did not join his group by "going out" to fight had the status of hypocrites (munāfiqūn), not unbelievers, as the Azraqites said. Furthermore, Najda seems to have permitted his followers the practice of taqiyya (cf. Q 16:106), that is, they may conceal their beliefs if their lives are in danger because of their beliefs, for instance from non-Khārijite Muslims or from Azraqites.
1.1.3 Other Basra Khārijites
Besides the Azraqites and Najdites there were other Khārijites in Basra who held even more mitigated views. Forced to make a pragmatic adaptation to non-Khārijite rule, their theorists defended abstention from revolution, or "sitting still", saying that this did not make someone an unbeliever; likewise sins such as theft or adultery were not regarded as making someone an unbeliever. The test of accepting non-Khārijites as Muslims came when there was a question of giving them Khārijite women in marriage or selling them slave girls. There is the story of one Ibrāhīm who was annoyed with his slave girl and threatened to sell her to a bedouin. Some people challenged the legality of his action, but the majority supported him. One group which defended such dealings with non-Khārijites was the Wāqifites, whose name means to "stop" or "suspend" judgement regarding the ultimate fate of non-Khārijites or of sinners. The Wāqifites did advocate punishing sinners, but not excluding them from the community.
As Khārijism gradually disappeared from the heartlands of the caliphate, moderate Khārijites continued to govern some outlying states, as 'Umān, while a revolutionary form of Khārijism took root for a time among the Persians and among the Berbers of the Maghrib. Khārijism gave them justification for rebelling against the central government and also for protesting against the superior status of the Arabs. After the fall of the Umayyads in 750 Khārijism was insignificant for the development of Islamic theology; yet it is important for having been the first formulated theological movement in Islam and for having initiated future discussion of two major theological issues: that of faith and works, and that of the authority of the Qur'ān.
Khārijite thinking, however, has always resurfaced in the Islamic world as a rallying point for the oppressed and politically disaffected, because it justifies revolution against Muslim authority. We see this in Ḥanbalism, Ibn-Taymiyya, Wahhābism of Saudi Arabia, al-Mawdūdī, and the Muslim Brothers of Egypt and the movements they spawned. The assassins of President Sadat of Egypt were inspired by Khārijite principles, since they held that because he did not establish Sharī'a in full he forfeited his claim to be a Muslim. In Nigeria the Maitatsine movement acted in a similar way, although they never were able to articulate their principles. The Izala and other such movements which do not recognize a secular government in Nigeria all have a touch of Khārijism, even though they may not go as far as the Azraqites.
1.2 Murji'ism
The word "Murji'ism" comes from an Arabic word meaning to "postpone" or "defer", and was used to mean that the community should postpone judgement on whether a sinner is a Muslim or not until the next life when God will judge him. The word was adopted because of its use in Qur'ān 9:106, where the status of three men who stayed away from the battle of Tabūk was questioned: "[These] others are deferred (postponed) to the command of God; he will either punish them or forgive them." Later, verse 118 says they were forgiven.
The history of Murji'ism, like that of Qadarism, is complicated because later Sunnite writers listed it among the heresies; so ho respectable man could be included among the Murji'ites. For example, al-Ash`arī, writing first as a Mu`tazilite and then as a Ḥanbalite, condemned Abū-Hanīfa as a Murji'ite heretic because he was a member of a rival legal school; this was at a time when the various schools had not yet come together under the banner of Sunnism. Later al-Baghdādī (d. 1037) and ash-Shahrastānī (d. 1153) could not longer regard the founder of the Ḥanafite school as a heretic, yet they continued to list Murji'ism as a heresy in order to complete the list of seventy-two heresies foretold by Muḥammad in the hadīth: "The Jews are divided into seventy-one sects and the Christians into seventy-two, but my community will be divided into seventy-three sects, only one of which will be saved." In fact, no heretical sect of Murji'ites ever existed; on the contrary, men from the mainstream of Islam, led by Abū-Hanīfa, applied the term irjā' (to postpone) to several teachings which became part of later Sunnism.
1.2.1 Irjā' 1: Sinners are accepted as Muslims
The first application of irjā' was to judgement of the case of `Uthmān and `Alī. Judgement should be "postponed" whether they (and other sinners) are believers or unbelievers, and in this life both men should be accepted as believers and as rightful rulers.
This position was directed against the Khārijites' placing of `Uthmān, as well as Mu`āwiya and `Alī, among the unbelievers. It was also against the proto-Shī`ites who judged that `Alī was superior. Politically, therefore, the Murji'ites pragmatically accepted the Umayyads while they were in power, and the right of Hāshimite superiority. Murji'ism had an anti-Khārijite tone in Basra, where Khārijites were numerous, whereas in Kūfa, a stronghold of pro-'Alid sympathies, it was used to oppose Shī`ite attempts to revolt or condemn the `Uthmān (Umayyad) party. Murji'ism may even have been primarily directed against proto-Shī`ites, since a preponderant number of the Murji'ites listed by Ibn-Sa'd (d. 845) and Ibn-Qutayba (d. 889) are from Kūfa. By opposing the divisive tendencies of the Khārijites and Shī`ites and upholding the unity of the Islamic community, the Murji'ites are forerunners of the Sunnites.
1.2.2 Irjā' 2: Faith does not include works
The second application of irjā' was with regard to faith and practice; practice was postponed, or placed after, faith. This application of irjā' was demanded by the first. If judgement is to be deferred whether a grave sinner is a believer or not, he is really accepted as a believer, although lacking in the practice of faith. That is because the Arabs' communal way of thinking made them look upon a believer primarily as a "member of a believing community" rather than simply "one who has faith". If a grave sinner is accepted as a member of the Muslim community, then he must have faith, and faith (īmān) must be defined accordingly.
In the Qur'ān and the Ḥadīth a distinction is sometimes drawn between īmān and islām (and sometimes ihsān, doing good). Īmān is the profession of faith from the heart and mouth, while islām is serving God, especially through salāt and zakāt. Islamic theological literature gives various ways of distinguishing the two, mainly by saying that īmān is of a higher or lesser value than islām. Murji'ite theologians, as will be seen, gave īmān a meaning equivalent to "accepting the official religion".
Abū-Hanīfa, if we accept W. Montgomery Watt's historical investigation, was the chief theologian of Murji'ism and was not a heretic, but initiated the ideas that were to prevail in later Sunnism. The problem he faced was to find an intermediate position between rigorism and laxism. The Khārijite and Mu`tazilite rigorist position caused moral anxiety, because by sin a person would be deprived of īmān and membership in the community.
Anxiety was furthered by the Ḥanbalite practice of applying the phrase "in shā' Allāh" (If God wills) even to one's own belief by saying, "I am a believer, if God wills". They said this because they considered obedience to the laws of the Qur'ān part of faith, and they were not so self-confident to assert that they had fulfilled all the requirements of the law.
To correct the rigorist trend some people turned to a laxist position; for example Muqātil ibn-Sulaymān (d. 767) said, "Where there is īmān, sin does no harm". This statement of Muqātil (member of the Zaydite sect) is what later Sunnite writers wrongly considered central in Murji'ism, and is the reason why they considered Murji'ism a heresy.
Abū-Hanīfa's solution was to define īmān as "confession (iqrār) with the tongue and counting true (tasdīq) with the heart".[1] Īmān is thus an intellectual acceptance of the basic tenets of Islam, and does not include fulfilling the Law. It is moreover the distinguishing factor between belonging to the Muslim community or not; someone either has īmān or he does not. Therefore, Abū-Hanīfa concluded, it is equal among all Muslims and does not increase or decrease in degree. Faith stays the same, and only practice can increase or decrease.
The Ḥanbalites, including al-Ash`arī, opposed this definition of īmān, and asserted that faith includes practice and does increase or decrease. They cited in favour of their view Qur'ān verses such as 8:2: "Believers are only those whose hearts shake when God is mentioned; and when his signs are recited to them, it increases their faith." The Ḥanafite view, however, prevailed in later Sunnite orthodoxy.
The Ḥanafite position fostered the belief that every Muslim is assured of ultimately entering Paradise, provided he does not sin against faith by shirk (worshipping other beings in association with God), according to Qur'ān 4:48 (& 116): "God does not forgive the associating [of any being] with him, but he forgives what is less than that to whom he wishes." Even al-Ḥasan al-Basrī held that anyone who affirms the shahāda at his death will enter Paradise. The Ḥanafites evolved the teaching that a sinner who has not denied the faith will suffer Hell fire temporarily. According to at-Tahāwī, "If God wills, in his justice he punishes them in Hell to the measure of their offense, then in his mercy, at the intercession of intercessors from among the people obeying him, he removes them from Hell and raises them to his Paradise." There are many Qur'ānic references to God's forgiveness (e.g. 2:284; 3:129; 4:48,116; 5:18,40) and to intercession (e.g. 10:3; 19:87; 20:109; 34:23; 43:86). The Qur'ān does not explicitly mention Muḥammad as an intercessor, yet the idea became strongly rooted in Islam. The Wasiyya of Abū-Hanīfa seems to contain the earliest mention of it.
1.2.3 Irjā' 3: `Alī is last in merit
Finally, two other applications of the word irjā' can be mentioned to complete the discussion of Murji'ism. One of them was al-Ash`arī's transformation of the first application of the word to the case of `Uthmān and `Alī. For al-Ash`arī there was to be no deferment of judgement, but `Alī himself was to be deferred to the fourth place, so that the chronological order of the first four caliphs was also that of merit. This view (initiated, as we will see, by the `Uthmānites of the first `Abbāsid century) became the standard Sunnite view.
1.2.4 Irjā'4: Paradise is assured
The other application of irjā' was a later transformation of the second application to the question of faith and practice. Since the word irjā' can also mean "to give hope", ash-Shahrastānī gave the interpretation that anyone who preserves his faith, even without practice, is assured of entering Paradise.
1.3 The Mu`tazilite "intermediate position" of a sinner
Mu`tazilism as a movement will be discussed in chapter 3. Yet the fourth of their five principles, that of the "intermediate position" of a sinner, belongs to this chapter.
Politically, the Mu`tazilites tried to reduce tension between the constitutionalist and absolutist factions in the empire, represented by the proto-Sunnites and the proto-Shī`ites respectively. They did this by their compromise of recognizing the elections of all the first four caliphs, although the Basra and Baghdad schools differed concerning the superiority of `Alī. Abū-l-Hudhayl and most of his Basra followers held that the imām must be chosen by election and should always be the best man (afḍal). He also maintained that the first four caliphs were each the best men at the time of their election, yet he refused to pronounce whether `Uthmān was right or wrong during his last six years, and whether `Alī was right or wrong at the Battle of the Camel. Only al-Asamm varied from the general Basra view by holding that `Alī was never imām.
Bishr and the Baghdad school held that an inferior or less qualified man (mafḍūl) may become imām if there is some ground (`illa) for choosing him. although Bishr recognized the election of all the first four caliphs, he had a definite preference for `Alī, and judged that he was in the right in his disputes; this is because the Baghdad school favoured the tendency of the proto-Shī`ites and the `Abbāsids towards absolutism.
The meaning of the "intermediate position (al-manzila bayn al-manzilatayn) is that a sinner is neither a believer nor an unbeliever. In this life criminals should be punished, but nevertheless accepted as Muslims. This position is anti-Khārijite and differs from Murji'ism only by the fact that the Mu`tazilites taught that the sinner will be eternally in Hell in the next life if he dies unrepentant, whereas the Murji'ites held that for all Muslims eventual entrance to Paradise is assured.
1.4 Later developments
The influential al-Ash`arī, who broke away from Mu`tazilism, maintained the Khārijite position that faith includes practice and therefore admits of degrees. He thought that the intercession of Muḥammad may gain the release of some Muslims from Hell, but that God may decide to punish some Muslim sinners eternally in Hell. Nevertheless he did not go the whole way of the Khārijites regarding the treatment of sinners in this life.
Although Ash`arī is the father of Sunnī theology, he was not followed on these points by most Sunnī theologians. The view of al-Māturīdī (d. 944) overruled al-Ash`arī, so that pure Murji'ism is the common teaching: Faith does not include practice, and no Muslim will stay eternally in Hell.
[1]Cf. his Wasiyya and the Creed of at-Tahāwī.