26. A Medieval Terrorism Campaign
The Khawarij’s democratic and egalitarian principles were more than counterbalanced by a fierce fanaticism that turned off many. They contended that backsliding or sinning, such as drinking alcohol, fornication, missing the daily prayers, failing to fast on Ramadan, or even idle gossip, rendered the sinner an apostate deserving of death. The Khawarij launched a terror campaign against the Caliph’s supporters, as well as those who did not meet their purity standards.
As the struggle intensified, the Khawarij grew in viciousness, and eventually viewed even neutral Muslims as enemies. They reasoned that failure to support the Khawarij, despite the glaringly obvious righteousness of their position, was proof of apostasy. That rendered the laggards kafirs, not fellow Muslims whose blood the Khawarij were prohibited from shedding.
