Most of the focus on the Second Fitna – the second civil war that engulfed the Arab caliphate upon the accession of Yazid I, son of Mu’awiyah I, in April 680 and lasted until late 692 – usually falls on the tripartite war between the Umayyads in Syria, the Zubayrids in Arabia and the Alids in Iraq and Iran.
The main thrust of the source material falls first on the battles between the Umayyads and the various Alid groups - Karbala (680), Ayn al-Warda (685), Khazir (686) - only for the Zubayrids to interrupt this by defeating the Alids decisively at Madhar and Harura in late 686.
This switched the focus to the contest between the Umayyads and Zubayrids, with the former winning a significant victory at Maskin in March 691, undermining Zubayrid control of virtually all of their territory outside the Arabian Peninsula.
But as the Zubayrids would seem to have been in firm control of the Islamic heartland for a decade by this point, having successfully resisted an Umayyad invasion in 683, it would be expected that they would meet a second Umayyad invasion in the aftermath of Maskin with a similar resolve.
However, when the Umayyad army of al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf arrived in western Arabia in late 691/early 692, it found Zubayrid opposition to be lacking. This was because the forces of caliph Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr had their hands very much full with a fourth contender in the Second Fitna – the Kharijites.
These Kharijites – from the Arab root ‘to go out’ (they called themselves al-Shurat – the ‘Exchangers’ in the Qu’ranic context of trading mortal life for life with God – were what are usually considered the first sect within Islam, emerging during the First Fitna (656-661). Care must be taken in outlining who the Kharijites were and their actions as we are reliant on non-Kharijite sources due to the lack of survival of their own writings.
What became the Kharijites had initially been supporters of Ali against the Umayyad Mu’awiyah, only to rebel against his acceptance of arbitration at the Battle of Siffin in 657, claiming that battle was the only way to deal with rebels like Mu’awiyah and that
‘judgment belongs to God alone’.
When Ali later refused to go back on the arbitration, the proto-Kharijites elected their own caliph, only to be defeated by Ali at Nahrawan in 658. This shedding of blood sealed what was increasingly to be seen as a schism between the Alids and the surviving Kharijites. Indeed, the ire of the Kharijites turned away from Mu’awiyah and towards Ali, with them calling for his assassination, which was achieved by one of their number in 661.
They continued to pose a threat to the authorities, mostly focusing in and around Kufa and Basra. Mu’awiyah and his governors kept them in check for the most part, although some of their more fervent persecution may have exacerbated Kharijite militance rather than quell it.
The outbreak of the Second Fitna in 680 offered the Kharijites another opportunity to take their fight to the authorities their considered ‘unfaithful’, although circumstances would soon see them separate into two sub-factions. The catalyst for this separation was, somewhat surprisingly, Kharijite support for the the Zubayrids in Mecca. The increasingly violent suppression meted out by the Umayyad governor, Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad, helped the Kharijites of Basra remember their initial anti-Umayyad mission.
Indeed, so harsh was Ubayd Allah’s treatment that even men such as Nafi b. al-Azraq, the son of a Greek freedman (or an Arab of the Banu Hanifa), and a quietest – the religiously-motivated withdrawal from political affairs or skepticism that mere mortals can establish a true Islamic government – was encouraged to be more active in defending Islam and the Kharijite movement. This saw him, and a significant number of Kharijites from around Basra, aid al-Zubayr in defending Mecca from the Umayyads in 683.
While this Zubayrid-Kharijite was successful in keeping Mecca out of Umayyad hands (for now), it was an alliance that could not last as they held diametrically opposed beliefs, particularly over al-Zubayr proclaiming himself caliph and condemning the murder of Uthman. Upon their retreat back east from Mecca, the Kharijites split. The majority under Nafi b. al-Azraq returned to Basra, while the remainder under Abu Talut Salim b. Matar removed themselves to central Arabia, taking up around Yamama.
Arriving back at Basra, al-Azraq and his followers found that inter-tribal strife had seen to the ousting of Ubayd Allah, which allowed al-Azraq to briefly takeover the city, freeing other imprisoned Kharijites. However, rather than be ruled by radicals, the Basrans submitted to al-Zubayr and soon al-Azraq and his followers were removed from the city by the new Zubayrid governor.
They did not go far. Settling in Ahwaz and now calling themselves the Azariqa after their leader, these Kharijites launched a series of raids on the suburbs of Basra. The admittedly biased sources categorise al-Azraq’s group as one of the most fanatic Kharijite factions, claiming that they followed the doctrine of isti'rad, which allowed for the indiscriminate killing of non-Kharijite Muslims, men, women and children. For a former quietest, it would seem rather strange for al-Azraq to have made such a drastic volte face with regard to violence; that said, this could be an example of the ‘zeal of the convert’.
Whatever the extent of their violence, the Zubayrids of Basra could not allow these raids to go unchallenged and in early 685, they attacked and defeated the Azariqa, with al-Azraq himself dying in the process. However, rather than capitulate, the Azariqa regrouped, elected a new leader – Ubayd Allah b. Mahuz – and then succeeded in forcing the Zubayrids back, resuming their Basran raids.
This forced al-Zubayr to send his most capable general, al-Muhallab b. Abi Sufra, to take command at Basra against the Azariqa. He succeeded in defeating and killed Ubayd Allah b. Mahuz at Sillabra in May 686, which forced the Azariqa out of Ahwaz and into Fars.
When al-Muhallab did not chase after them, the Azariqa again regrouped under the leadership of Zubayr b. Mahuz, brother of the fallen Ubayd Allah, and launched audacious strikes against al-Mada’in, successor city of the Persian capital of Ctesiphon, and Isfahan, sacking the former but being repelled from the latter. In the process of the latter defeat, Zubayr b. Mahuz was killed and the Azariqa were forced to flee again, this time from Fars to Kirman.
However, in 687, their next new leader, Qatari b. al-Fuja’a, restored the Azariqa presence in Fars and Ahwaz, resuming the raids on Basra. Al-Muhallab was able to prevent their advance into Iraq, but could not dislodge them from Fars and Kirman. From this secure position, Qatari began to put down roots of statehood, minting his own coins – the first known Kharijite issues – and assuming the caliphal title of amir al-mu'minin – ‘commander of the faithful’. He also had other names, being known as Na'ama – ‘ostrich’ – and Abu al-Mawt – ‘father of death’, the latter of which may be connected to his poetry, which glorifies courage, death and war in the name of Allah. Indeed, he is considered by some to be the first Kharijite leader to promote jihad.
Qatari and the Azariqa remained a problem after the Umayyads reconquered Iraq in 691, with al-Muhallab retained in the Basra command but unable to make any headway. It was only in 694, when al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf was appointed governor of Iraq and began working alongside al-Muhallab that Umayyad forces began to make some headway. The Azariqa were driven out of Ahwaz and Fars once more and confined to Kirman.
The pressure of military defeat seems to have sparked division amongst the Azariqa. In 698/699, al-Hajjaj sent al-Muhallab and Sufyan b. al-Abrad to finish off the divided Kharijites. Qatari’s loyal core was confronted by al-Muhallab while on a far-reaching raid in Tabaristan in northern Iran. Qatari was able to flee towards Semnan, only to march headlong into the forces of Sufyan. Qatari’s loyalists were defeated and he was beheaded. The victorious Umayyad commanders then marched south and destroyed the remaining Kharijite forces in Kirman, destroying the Azariqa once and for all.
The Azariqa was not the only Kharijite statelet to emerge during the Second Fitna and while the other major one would not last as long as the Azariqa, it would come closer to truly upsetting the usual order of things at the heart of the caliphate...
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