مخاطبة الخوارج

[1] History corroborates that after Amīr al-mu’minīn, the Khārijites had to face all sorts of ignominy and disgrace and wherever they raised their heads for creating trouble they were met with swords and spears. Thus Ziyād ibn Abīh, ‘Ubaydullāh ibn Ziyād, al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yusuf, Mus‘ab ibn az-Zubayr and al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufrah left no stone unturned in annihilating them from the surface of the globe, particularly al-Muhallab chased them for nineteen years, routed them thoroughly and rested only after completing their destruction. at-Tabari writes that when ten thousand Khārijites collected in Sillā wa sillibrā (the name of a mountain in Ahwāz) then al-Muhallab faced them so steadfastly that he killed seven thousand Khārijites, while the remaining three thousand fled towards Kirman for life. But when the Governor of Persia noticed their rebellious activities he surrounded them in Sābur and killed a good number of them then and there. Those remained again fled to Isfahan and Kirman. From there they again formed a contingent and advanced towards Kūfah via Baṣrah. al-Harith ibn Abi Rabi‘ah al-Makhzumi and 'Abd ar-Raḥmān ibn Mikhnāf al-Azdī stood up with six thousand combatants to stop their advance, and turned them out of Iraq’s boundaries. In this way successive encounters completely trampled their military power and turning them out of cities compelled them to roam about in the deserts. Afterwards also, when they rose in the form of groups they were crushed. (at-Tārīkh, vol. 2, pp. 580—591; Ibn al-Athir, vol.4, pp.196—206).