Murji'ite Heretic and Fanatic al-Harith bin Surayj

 بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

‌قُدُّوسٌ ‌قُدُّوسٌ ‌قُدُّوسٌ

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Holy, Holy, Holy

I previously answered the charge against the Ahnaf that we are from the heretical Murji’ah, a sect which teaches that deeds have no bearing upon Faith. The Hanafis in particular and the Sunnis in general are often accused of harboring the heresy of Irja, an accusation usually levelled by the Khawarij and the Shi’ah. The neo-Kharijites of our time, Takfiris who declare the bulk of the Muslim rulers apostate for failing to fully govern according to the Shari’ah and on that basis incite armed insurrection against the so-called “apostate” rulers, accuse the mainstream Sunni Muslims and especially our Ulama of Irja. Yet in reality the original sects of the Murji’ah, who appeared in the early days of Islamic history, have gone extinct. While the heresy of Irja is undoubtedly calamitous, the Murji’ah and the Khawarij are essentially two sides of the same coin. Both have a history of fanaticism and violence. Al-Harith bin Surayj of the Tamim tribe was a Murji’ite rebel leader. Ibn Jarir al-Tabari confirms he was upon the doctrine of the Murji’ah:

‌وكان ‌الحارث ‌يرى ‌رأي ‌المرجِئة

(Tarikh al-Tabari; v.7, p.100)

This heretic led an armed insurrection against the Umayyad government in the land of Khorasan, and his secretary was another notorious heretic, Jahm bin Safwan: “the Tamimite Harith b. Suraij from Dabusia, whom we have already met with as a doughty warrior. In earlier times, as a pious revolutionary, he would have been called a Kharijite, but he was not pledged to the extreme consequences to which the Khawarij pinned their faith; he neither had homage paid to himself as Khalifa nor did he run any other for the office. He made his appearance as a Murjiite, his scribe, Jahm b. Safwan, being the best-known theologian of this sect, and he also took part himself in speeches and discussions concerning their principles.” (J. Wellhausen, The Arab Kingdom and its Fall; p.464)

Despite their stark difference on the issue of whether sin nullifies faith, the Khawarij and the Murji’ah both historically raised the sword against the established rulers of the Muslims. While the Murji’ah have vanished into the pages of history, the Khawarij persist and continue to spread their mischief and discord. The terrorism and violent fanaticism of the neo-Kharijites (AQ and ISIL) has served to blacken the good name of Islam in the sight of the world. So we see the interplay between heresy (deviation from the established doctrine of mainstream, Sunni Islam) and violent extremism or armed insurrection against the State in early Islamic history. The Murji’ite insurrection of al-Harith bin Surayj coincided roughly with other insurrections of heretical sects and individuals of that period, such as ad-Dahhak bin Qays (Kharijite) and Abdullah bin Mu’awiyah, a Talibid revolutionary.