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A Statement by the Najdiyya Khrijites on the Dispensability of the Imamate


Author(s): Patricia Crone
Source: Studia Islamica, No. 88 (1998), pp. 55-76
Published by: Maisonneuve & Larose
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1595697
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StudiaIslamica,
1998

A Statementby the NajdiyyaKhirijites


on

the dispensability
ofthe imamate*

Untilrecently,
doctrine
was knownonlyfromnon-Kharijite
Khdrijite
and a fewIbadiworks,mostly
literature
difficult
of access.The systematicpublication
oftheliterary
ofthe
of
heritage
bytheMinistry
Cultureand NationalHeritagein Oman has Ib.dis
drastically
changedthe
situation
as faras theIbadcis
are concerned,
butno suchdramatic
turn
is to be expectedfortheextinct
offortune
whose
literature
must
sects,
countas irretrievably
inotherpeople's
lostexceptinso faras itsurvives
works.Otherpeople did nottendto quote themmuch,however,
as
summarize
theirviews.The onlyworkby a nonopposedto briefly
knownto be extantis a longcreedcomposed
currently
Ibadci
Kharijite
and218/833
between215/830
oftheSist~ini
sectwhichthe
bya follower
knew
as
the
we
owe
its
to the
heresiographers
Hamziyya;
preservation
but
Ibadis.(') Maybeotherpieceswillturnup in theIbadciliterature,
meanwhile
itmaybe reported
thatone is tobe foundnearerathand:alShahrastini's
derivedfroma workby,or
Iqdamcontainsa statement
the
(2)
about, Najdiyya.
* I should liketo thankMichaelCook,
Josephvan Ess, Etan Kohlbergand, lastbut not least,Fritz
forhelpfulcommentson thisarticle.
Zimmermann
(1) The creedwas composedby one Abi 'l-Fadlb. Firak al-Khirijiand is presentedwithcomments
by theOmani scholarsMuhammadb. Mahbib (d. 260/873f)and AbuSa'id al-Kudami(fl. fourth/tenth
al-shar, iii,Oman 1988,277-94;also
century)in Ab 'AbdallihMuhammadb. Ibrihimal-Kindi,Baykn
b. Khamisal-Sa'di,Qanfs al-shari'a, Zanzibar1297-99,viii,285-95,citingal-Kindi.A new
inJumayyil
has been promisedby A. Paketchy;meanwhile,see P. Crone and F. Zimmereditionand translation
ch. 8, where thecreed is
mann(ed. and tr.),TheEpistleofSiim b. DbakuvMz,
Oxford,forthcoming,
discussed.
briefly
(2) Al-Shahrastini,
Kitib Nibiyatal-iqdnim(or aqdin) P 'tlmal-kal&,n,ed. and tr.A. Guillaume,
London 1934,481ff- 152f.

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PATRICIA CRONE

The Najdiyya
The Najdiyyaor Najaddtemerged along with the Azdriqa in the
second civil war and retreatedinto obscurityaftertheir defeat in
It has been proposedthattheydisappearedsoon thereafter,
but
73/692f.
and
theyseem to have survivedat theveryleastintothe ninthcentury,
to Silim b. Dhakwdn(properhapsbeyond.The Ibddiepistleattributed
bablyput togetherc. 750-800)impliesthattheylived in quiescence for
long enough to modifytheirviews on theirrelationshipwithnon-Najdite Muslims;al-Mubarrad(d. 286/900)observes that "manyof them
surviveto thisday",and al-Baghdadi(d. 429/1037),perhapsechoingan
earliersource,claimsthattheywere dividedintofourgroups,ofwhich
one "arethe Najadfit
today".(3)
The Najdiyyaare notoriousforhavingdeniedtheobligatory
natureof
to whatis sometimesstatedin latesourcesand
theimamate.(4) Contrary
the secondaryliterature,
(5) this was not a doctrinecommon to all
The
of the Ibcdis did apparentlyadopt it at
subsect
Khdrijites. NukkAri
some point,(6) but the Ibddis at large affirmed
thatthe imamatewas
prescribedby the law, (7) and otherKhdrijites
reportedlyagreed with
them.(8) A fairnumberof earlyMu'tazilites,
however,also rejectedthe
nature
of
the
institution,
obligatory
notablyal-Asamm(d. 200/816or
201/817),Hishdmal-Fuwati(fl.c. 210/825),al-Nazzam(d. 220-30/835al45), 'Abbad b. Sulaymn (d. c. 260/874)and the so-called sqftyyat
mu'tazila,Mu'taziliteascetics.(9) The sources oftenreportthe Najdite
and the Mu'tazilitepositionstogether,
usuallyin a couple of lines. AlShahrastanialso reportsthem togetherin his Iqdam, but he allows
unnamed adherentsof the doctrineto expound theirviews at length,
(3) Croneand Zimmermann,
al-Kdmil,ed. Z. Mubirakand A. M. Shfikir,
Epistle,ch. 5; al-Mubarrad,
Cairo 1936-7,iii,913.7; al-Baghddidi,
al-Farq bayna '-firaq,ed. M. Badr,Cairo 1328,69.-2.
is givenbelow, notes24-26.
(4) The documentation
Cairo 1907, viii, 348.ult.,392.-6; al-Sanandaji, Taqrib al-mardmft
(5) E.g al-Iji, al-MawLrqiqf

and Institutions
Bulaq1319,ii,322;E. A.Salem,PoliticalTheory
oftheKhawtri/j,
tabhdbdb
al-kalatm,

Baltimore1956,51f(withreferenceto thesetwo sources);H. Laoust,Essatsur les doctrinessociales et


politiquesde Taki-d-DinAhmad b. Taimiyya,Cairo 1939,282; A. K. S. Lambton,Stateand Governmentin MedievalIslam,Oxford1981,23 (withreferenceto Laoust).
Kitdb
ed. AbOIshiq IbrtahmAtfayyish,
sixthprinting,
Oman (Maktabat
(6) Al-Janndwuni,
al-wad,
al-istiqima)n.d., 23 and note 1 thereto;R. Rubinacci,"La professionedie fede di al-6anndiwuni",
Annali dell'Istituto
Orientaledi NapollNS 14, 1964,588.
in S. I. Kashif
in the precedingnote; Abo 'Ammir,below, note 26; al-Bisyfini
(7) Cf.Janndiwuni
(ed.), al-Slyarwa'l-jawabat li-'ulamd'wa-a immat'Umdn,Cairo 1986,i, 77.6, ii, 175.
Cairo 1948,
(8) Cf.Shahrastdni,
Iqdam, 478.6; Nashwin al-Himyari,
al-tirral-inh,ed. K. Mustafdi,
b. Muhammadb. Mansir,Da'd'im al-isldm,ed. A. 'A. A. Faydi,Cairo 1969,i, 39.6.
150.2; al-Nu'mdin
im 2. und 3. Jahrhundert
(9) Cf.J.van Ess, Theologieund Gesellschaft
Hidschra,Berlinand New
York 1990-97(hereafterTG),ii, 408ff(al-Asamm);iii,132 (sig#yyat
al-mu'tazila), iii,416 (al-Nazzlm);
iv, 14f,44; vi,234, 269f,no. 39, 102, 106-8(Hishim al-Fuwati,'Abbid b. Sulaymin);cf.also id., 'Une
du Mu'tazilisme',
Revuedes EtudesIslamiques47, 1979,21ff(al-Asamm);
lecture~ireboursde l'histoire
id., 'al-Asamm',in EI2, Supplement.

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A STATEMENTBY THE NAJDIYYAKHARIJITES

and itsoon becomesclearthattheadherents


in questionare Najadat.
Whatfollowsis a translation
ofal-Shahrastdni's
(10)an attempt
account,
to separateitsNajditeand Mu'tazilite
and a generaldiscomponents,
cussionofthedoctrines
itcontains.
Translation
fromamongtheKhdrijites
and numberofthe
[481](a) "TheNajaddt
suchas AbfiBakral-Asamm
and Hishdmal-Fuwati
Qadariyya
say that
theimamatedoes nothave theobligatory
thatwould
legalcharacter
makethecommunity
liabletocensureandpunishment
ifitchosetolive
without
it.Rather,
itis basedon themanner
inwhichpeopledealwith
one another(mu'amalWt
al-nis). If theyactedjustlyand cooperated
and helpedone another
in pietyand fearofGod,(") and ifall legally
withtheirdutiesand obligaobligatedpersonsoccupiedthemselves
theimam,[482]andwithout
foltions,thentheycouldmanagewithout
lowinghim.
is likethenextinrespectofreli(b) Foreveryone ofthemujtahids
and ijtihcd.
gion,Islam,knowledge
Peopleareliketheteethofa comb,
or likea hundredcamelsin whichthereis nota singlefemaleriding
camel.(12) Whyshouldtheybe obligedto obey someonelikethemselves?
(c) To thistheyaddedbywayofaffirmation
(taqriran)thattheysaid:
The obligatory
natureofobedienceto a singlemember
ofthecommuin one of two ways,thatis
nity(umma)could onlybe established
through
designation
(nass) by the Prophet- but you have already
shownthathe didnotdesignate
choicebythemujanyone- orthrough
tabids.
in termsof bothreasonand fact(la
(d) Now it is inconceivable
thatthereshouldbe a unanimous
yutasawwaru
'aqlan wa-lawuqfs'an)
choiceby everysinglememberof thecommunity
withoutany disaat
all.
As
since
choice
is
based
on ijtihadand
reason,
greement
regards
is
based
on
the
individual
with
which
judgements
everyperson
ijtihad
ofsoundmindresolveshisvacillations
in matters
ofreasonand authoritative
information
and since
al-'aqliyyawa'l-sam'iyya),
(fi 'l-wujfth
further
thisis something
variedby (people's) natures(mukhtaliffi
followsthattherewillbe variation
in theruling
'l-tib'),itnecessarily
at) as well.
(theyarrive
(10) Guillaume'sabbreviatedtranslation
well,butomits
conveysthegistof theargumentextremely
too muchto be usable forthe presentpurpose.
(11) Cf.Qur. 5:2.
(12) Fortheseexpressions,see L. Marlow,Hierarchyand Egalitarianismin Islamic Tboughbt,
Cambridge1997,18, 21.

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PATRICIA
CRONE

(e) [Asregardsfact]Is itnotthecase thattherulingwhichmorethan


anyothershouldhave elicitedagreementis thefirst
caliphate?The most
authoritative
timeforpurposesof the law is the earliesttime;the foremost persons in respectof truthfulness
and sincerityare the Compaand
the
most
nions;
Companions
deservingof trustwithoutsuspicionor
are theMuhijiranand theAnsdr,while the persons
(fearsof) treachery
closestto theMessengerof God are Abo Bakrand 'Umar.
(/)Butconsiderhow theAnsirnonethelesswentto the Saqifa,saying
"(Lettherebe) a commanderfromus and one fromyou",and how they
agreedon Sa'd b. 'Ubida (and would have electedhim)if'Umarhad not
obviatedit by payingallegiance(to Abo Bakr) himselfso thatpeople
followed him. (13)

(g) Laterhe said, "Verily,the allegiance to AbfiBakr was a coup


(falta); God preserved(the community)fromthe evil it mighthave
like thatagain [4831you
givenriseto, butifanyoneever does anything
should killhim. So any man who gives allegianceto anotherwithout
theMuslimsrisksthatbothofthemwillbe killed";i.e. "I gave
consulting
allegianceto AbfiBakrwithoutconsultingthecommunity(jamd'a) and
God preserved(it) fromitsevil,butdo notdo itagain".(14)
(h) So therewas no agreementof the community
(ittifaqal-jamd'a)
when (the
at thetimeoftheallegiance(to Abo Bakr).The nextmorning,
rest of the Muslims)gave allegiance to him, the Umayyadsand the
Hdshimites
wentaside and Abo Sufyinsaid to 'Ali,mayGod be pleased
withhim,"Whyare you lettingthisofficego to theworst(sub-) tribeof
to which'Alireplied,"You temptedus as an infideland now
Quraysh?",
want
to
temptus again as a Muslim".(15)Al-'Abbdssaid something
you
similar,forhe had heardtheProphet,mayGod bless himand granthim
peace, [say],"You are myfatherand thefatherof therestof the umma;
the caliphatewill be in yourdescendantsforas long as nightand day
followone another".(6) 'Ali,mayGod be pleased withhim,did notgo
out to give allegiance(to AbfiBakr)so that(when he finallydid) itwas
rumouredthathe had (given) one oath of allegiancein secretand anotherin public.(17) MeanwhileUsdimab. Zayd had gone offas comman(13) Cf.W. Madelung,TheSuccessiontoMuhammad,Cambridge1997,ch. 1.
(14) Cf. al-Tabari,Ta tfkhal-rusul wa
'l-mulrtk,ed. M. J. de Goeje and others,Leiden 1879-1901
(hereafter
Tab.), i, 1822;Madelung,Succession,30.
(15) CompareTab. i, 1827f.
in whichtheProphetsays of al-'Abblisthathe "is myfather,
(16) Comparethetraditions
myuncle,
Dir al-fikr
1403,ii,31; al-Shawkini,al-Fawitidalmylegateeand myheir"(Ibn al-Jawzi,
al-Mawdiffit,
Matba'atal-sunnaal-muhammamajmfafi 1'-abhidith
al-mawdtla,ed. (A.-R.Y. al-Mu'allial-Yam~ini,
to AmikamElad.
diyya1398,402). I owe thesereferences
(17) Manyearlysourcessay that'Aliwithheldallegianceforsix months,untilFitimadied, or until
he was shunnedor forcedto pay allegiance(e.g. Tab. i, 1820, 1825f;cf. Madelung,Succession,43f).
Otherssaid thathe paid allegiancestraightaway
(e.g. Tab. i, 1825). LaterSunnisdisposed of theformer

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A STATEMENTBY THE NAJDIYYAKHARIJITES

der of thearmy,a positionto whichhe had been appointedby theProphet.


(i) Ifcommunalconsensus(ijm& al-umma) is inconceivablein what
is mostimportant
and mostworthyof consideration,
thenwe mayinfer
thatconsensus can never be realized and thatit does not constitute
proof(dalil) in law.
the imamateby electionis self-contra(j) Theycontinue:establishing
is imposingan
dictoryin two ways. First,theelector
al-ikhtiyifr)
(si.ib
obligationon the imamwhilesettinghim
up, untilhe actuallybecomes
imam;yettheelectoris obligedto obey himas soon as he takesup the
imamate.How can he claima rightto obedience by virtueof his imamate when he owes it to him?Secondly,everyone of the mujtahids
who elevate(candidates)to the imamatewould be entitledto disagree
with the imam in questionsof ijtihWd
by exercisinghis own ijtihcd.
There is not a singleissue on whichyou have prescribedobedience to
the imamwhichsuch a man could not lawfullydisagreewithhimover
[4841on the basis of ijtihcd.How can we make himan imamwhom it
is obligatory
to obey ifat the same timewe stipulatethatthe mujtahid
maydisagreewithhimwheneverijtihadleads himto do so?
(k) Theycontinue:all thisshows thatthe imamateis not a legal duty.
To be sure,iftheyneed a chief(ra'is) to defendthe territory
of Islam
and maintainthe unityof the community
(lit. mankind),and iffurther
theirijtihadleads to conclusionthattheyshould set up such a person
to be in chargeof them,thenthatis perfectly
lawfulon conditionthat
he abides by justiceand equityin his transactions,
so thattheyare obliged to depose himand resisthimifhe makeswrongfuldecisionsagainst
and 'Ali,mayGod be pleaanyone.Thisis likewhattheydid to 'Uthmdn
sed withthem,(18)forwhen 'Uthmdn
made thoseinnovationsof histhey
declared himdeposed, and when he refusedto step down of his own
accordtheykilledhim;and when 'Aliacceptedthe arbitration,
doubting
his own imamate,theydeposed himtoo and foughthim".
leaves the subject to set out the position of the
[Al-Shahrastani
Shi'ites,thenmoveson to refutation].
[4871 (1) "The Sunnis respond as follows to the doctrineof the
nature,in termsof
non-obligatory
Najadit regardingthe fundamentally
reasonand law,oftheimamate:in ourview obligationsreston law, and

ofthefirst
thedelayedbaya as a mererenewal
(cf.IbnKathir,
al-Bidayawa '1bypresenting
reports
andthethought
thatgoeswithittoHossein
286.1oweboththereference
v,Cairo1351,249f,
Nibhya, Thatthefirst
not
was takeninsecretwas a natural
oathofallegiance
Modarressi).
inference,
though
seemsto havemade.
one thatIbnKathir
areclearly
lateradditions.
(18) Theblessings

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PATRICIA CRONE

the evidence (madrak) forthisdutyis theconsensusof the community


you mentionregardingthe choice
(ijmi' al-umma). The disagreement
of a particular
manfortheroleofimamis one ofthestrongest
('") proofs
thatthe imamateas such is fundamentally
obligatory;forif it had not
been obligatory,
theywould not have takenitupon themselvesto find
a particular
to it".
person,norwould theyhave devotedall thisattention
refutation
continues.His last pointbeforehe turns
[Al-Shahrastani's
to theShiitesis]
[4901(s) "Asfortheirdoctrinethatpeople could do withoutan imam
ifpeople behavedwithjusticeand equity,we say thatthisis possibleas
faras reason is concerned,in theway thattheoreticians
can get things
(about things)beforethe comingof the law. In
rightin theirtheorizing
the normalcourse of eventsand customaryway of things,however,
people do notsettledown on the pathsof justiceand law of theirown
accord,but onlywhen someone forcesthemto do so by makingthem
afraidand being sternwiththem.That only comes about throughthe
governanceof the imam,who is harshwiththe evil-doerand induces
fearin himwiththesword."

The componentparts
accountcontainstwo quitedifferent
The
arguments.
Al-Shahrastini's
whichis set out in a and refutedin s, denies the obligatorynature
first,
of the imamatewith referenceto a hypotheticalsituation:ifpeople
actedjustlyand cooperatedand helpedone anotherin pietyand fearof
God, and ifalllegallyobligatedpersonsoccupied themselveswiththeir
dutiesand obligations,thentheycould manage withoutan imam.The
rest,thatis b and the long taqrirwhich follows,rejectsthe obligatory
natureof the imamatein a non-hypothetical
vein. Its gist is not that
could
with
the
that
but
imam,
people
dispense
they can do so, and
indeed that they must do so since the institution
is fundamentally
impossible.
The first
argumentis al-Asamm's.He is widelyreportedto have held
that4ifpeople desistedfromwrongdoing(law takdffa'l-nis/lawkaffaf
'an al-tazalum/mazdlim),theywould not need an imam),(2") or
,if
people actedjustly(law ansafa 'l-nis)to one anotherand stoppedharwere necessary,thenthey
mingone anotherand no hadd punishments
could do withoutan
whathe meantby thisis deba(21) Precisely
imam,.
(19) Readingadalli (cf. 154,note2) or awla with487, note 5) al-dalftilfor adhalla al-dalil.
ed. H. Ritter,
Instanbul1929-33,460.10;al-Baghdcdi,Usildal(20) Al-Ash'ari,
Maqilt al-islamtyyin,
din, Istanbul1928,271.
and S. D)unyd,Cairo n.d.,48.4.
(21) 'Abd al-Jabbdr,
xx/1,ed. 'A.-H.Mahmfxd
Mughnil,

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A STATEMENTBY THE NAJDIYYAKHARIJITES

table.Though
someaccounts
that
replacelawbyinoridba,suggesting
heenvisaged
thehypothetical
stateas realizable,
voi(22)hewashardly
of manand future
of
cingbeliefin theperfectibility
dispensability
hispointseemstohavebeenthatsinceonecould
Rather,
government.
inwhichtheimamate
a situation
wassuperfluous,
onecould
envisage
notshowittobe obligatory
onthebasisofreason;
andsincefurther
it
intheQur'fn
was notenjoined
(as he musthavetakenforgranted),
wasnoreason
tothink
that
theimamate
wasprescribed
there
bythelaw
atall:rather,
itarosefrom
al-nds
a
(cf.a), i.e.itwasmerely
mu'amalat
in response
convention
evolvedby humans
to needsperceived
by
themselves.
Thesources
thatpeopledo notbehaveas
respond
usually
ownaccord,
i.e.reasondoesshowtheimamate
to
theyshouldoftheir
be obligatory
after
seemstoargue,
thelaw
all,(23)or,as al-Shahrastini
ofhowpeopleactually
overrules
reason
account
behave(s).
bytaking
Therewas muchmoreto al-Asamm's
viewson theimamate,
butaldoesnotgointothem,
nordoeshesayanything
that
reflects
Shahrastini
theviewsofHishim
al-Fuwati.
that
is bandthelongaffirmation,
Therestoftheaccount,
reproduces
oftheNajdiyya.
Unlike
theNajdiyya
theargument
arereporal-Asamm,
oftheimamate
theobligatory
nature
tedtohaverejected
without
refeconditions:
"theNajdiyya
fromamongthe
renceto hypothetical
Khdrijites
saythattheummadoesnotneedan imamoranyoneelse,
andthattheyandpeople(ingeneral)
areonlyobliged
to upholdthe
withone another";
bookofGodintheir
relates
(24) "Zurqdn
dealings
from
theNajadit
thattheysaythattheydo notneedan imamandthat
toactbythebookofGodintheir
with
theyareonlyobliged
dealings
for
one another";
"as
what
from
the
the
among Khdrijites
(25)
Najadit
holdregarding
an imamandonlybeingobliged
to
peoplenotneeding
thebookofGodintheir
withoneanother,
that
doctrine
uphold
dealings
oftheirs
is worthless".
describes
and
al-Asamm
(26)Whenal-Bazdawi
as denying
"someKhdrijites"
theobligatory
natureof theimamate,
thatintheir
view"itis onlynecessary
forpeopletoactbythe
adding
bothancientand recentones...saythatifthe community
is just (in 'adalat
(22) "Some Mu'tazilites,
al-umma) and thereis no sinnerin it,thenitdoes not need an imam"(al-Mas'adi,Mur4j al-dbahab,
ed. C. Barbierde Meynardand A. J. B. Pavetde Courteille,Paris 1861-77,vi, 25; ed. C. Pellat,Beirut
fromal-Asamm....that
it (the imamate)is not obligatorywhen the
1966-7,par. 2258); "itis transmitted
membersof the community
act justlyto one another dhdba
al-umma) and don't do each
M. A.-F.Ibrahim,Cairo 1965-67,ii, 308f
otherany harm"(Ibn Abi '1-Hadid,Sharb nahj al-balibgha,ed.tanitsafat
- van Ess, TG,v, 207f,no. 33, withfurther
references).
(23) Al-Jdhiz,
fi'l-imima'in his RasYil,ed. 'A.-S.M. Hirfin,Cairo 1965-79,iv, 287ff;
'Fi 'l-jawdbdt
'Abdal-Jabbdr,
xx/1,48.
al-Mughni,
Istanbul1931, 10 (an nuqTmakitiaballabhetc).
(24) Al-Nawbakhti,
Firaq al-sbh'a,ed. H. Ritter,
(25) Ash'ari,125.11,readingya'malRibi-kitaballaihwiththe note.Cf.also al-Ka'bibelow, note 29.
(26) Aba'Ammdr,
Algiers1978,
al-kbawarijal-kalamfyya,
al-Mfijaz,ed. 'A.T5libiunderthetitle4Ara
ii, 233.3.

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PATRICIACRONE

book...thebook ofGod (exaltedis He) suffices


and makestheimam
is clearly
notal-Asamm's.
theargument
theNajdiyya's,
(27)
dispensable",
accountthesameistrueofbandthelongaffirmation
In al-ShahrastIni's
thatfollowsit.
considerations.
Thisconclusion
is reinforced
First,
by threefurther
in b-kdiffers
from
affirmations
of
the
theargument
dispensaMu'tazilite
in theimamas a
oftheimamate
in thatitdisplaysmoreinterest
bility
is deemedto be
leader.The imamate
sourceoflaw thanas a political
all
are
on
that
the
grounds
impossible
mujtahids equallyauthoritathanthe rest;people
tive:(28) theimamwould be no moreauthoritative

fromthemselves
haveno reasonto deferto someoneno different
(b),
andonecouldnotaskthemtoobeytheimamwiththeprovisothatthey
theirijtihidcausedthemto
wouldbe freeto disobeyhimwhenever
is deemedto be wrongwith
disagreewithhim(j). Bycontrast,
nothing
a
leader
should
the
(ra'is),
having political
regardthisas
mujtahids
from
is
that
must
him
if
the
he strays
desirable; onlyproviso
they
depose
in
no particular
thepathsofjustice(k).(29) Butthetextdisplays
interest
on
thisleader:itdoes notexplainhow ijtihadcan lead to agreement
ofobediencewouldbe solved;noristhereany
himorhowtheproblem
in the questionhow one mightmaintain
orderand
signof interest
shouldthe mujtahids
decideagainsta ra'fs,or how
conductdefence,
the law in generaland the budfdin particular
mightbe dispensed
an imamor quasi-imam
itwould
without
suchas thera'zs,orwhether
to haveseveralimams/political
be better
leaders.Allthesewerequestionswhichpreoccupied
al-Asamm
who heldthe
and otherMu'tazilites
imamate
to be optional.
b-kis structured
as a defenceof ijtihJd
Secondly,
againstijmd:ifthe
itwouldbe on thebasisofijmd,butitis not,
imamate
wereobligatory,
forijtih~dcan neverlead to consensus(c-i);iftheimamate
existed,it
wouldbe incompatible
withijtihid,forpeoplecannotexerciseijtihad
andsubmit
tootherpeople'sreasoning
at thesametime(b,j). Consen(27) Al-Bazdawi,Usfdal-din,ed. H. P. Linss,Cairo 1963,186 = 7TG,
v, 207. Van Ess takesthe argumentto be al-Asamm's(TG, ii,410 and note 15 thereto).
b. Jariral-Raqqi
(28) For ijtihdin connectionwithcaliphalelection,comparetheZaydiSulaymi1n
(fl. 160s/780s):the Companionselected AbOiBakron the basis of ijtitbd,forone has to use ftihid
wheneverthereis no nass the mistaketheyhad made in not electing'All was accordinglyminor
(Pseudo-Nishi'in J. van Ess (ed.), Frhae Mu'tazilitischeHaresiographie,Beirut1971, par. 69; cf.van
Ess, TG,ii,478f).
(29) It is presumablythisoptional ra'is thatNawbakhtihas in mind withhis statementthatthe
Najdiyyadenythe need foran imam"oranyoneelse" (above, note 24). Cf.also al-Ka'bi'sreportin alShahrastini,Kitaibal-milal wa'l-nihal,ed. W. Cureton,London 1846, i, 92 (almost identicallyin Iji,
Maw2qif,viii,3930: "The Najadiltagreethatpeople have no need of an imamat all,theyare onlyobliged to act justlyto one another.But shouldtheyfindthatthiscannotbe achievedwithoutan imamto
forcethemso thattheyset one up, thenthatis allowed".Here the imamtheymayset up is presumablythe man elsewherelabelleda ra-1s.

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A STATEMENTBY THE NAJDIYYAKHARIJITES

on a parwiththeimamate,
and
sus is equatedwithrestrictive
authority
is an impossible
outofhand:theimamate
institution
botharerejected
whileconsensusis nota sourceoflaw (i). Thisis in keepingwiththe
thattheNajdiyya
information
permitted
ijtihidfi furinal-sharf'aand
side itonlyfitstheinforrejectedhujiatal-ijm-. (") On theMu'tazilite
mationon al-Nazzatm;
andsincehe deniedtheobligatory
natureofthe
imamatewithreference
to the same hypothetical
as alargument
thatal-Shahrastdini
is reproducing
Asamm,it cannotbe his argument
mentionhim.(3')
here,nordoes al-Shahrastini

the taqrirunambiguously
revealsitselfas Khrijitein k,
Thirdly,
where'Uthmnand 'Allare adducedas examplesof how one should
dealwithleaderswhogo astray.
SeveralMu'tazilites
sharedtheKhdrijite
conviction
thatan erring
imamshouldbe deposedandthat
had
'Uthm.n
been justlykilledforhis innovations,
butonlyKhdrijites
held
that'All
hadbeenjustly
killedforfalling
intoerrorbyaccepting
thecallto arbiatSiffin.
tration
sourceexplainsthat'Ali'sacceptance
of
Al-Shahrastdni's
thearbitration
showedhimto havedoubtedhisownimamate:
thiswas
it.The
ofthecall
whyhe forfeited
usuallysaythathisacceptance
toarbitration
constituted
ofthe
tofight
Ib.dis
transgression
injunction
Qur'.nic (Q.49:9). (3") But
an unrighteous
party"tillitrevertsto God's command"
whatever
sin'Allwas heldto havecommitted
whenhe agreedto the
the
to theKhdrijites.
In short,
tahkim, viewthatsinhe didwas specific
fromb to kal-Shahrastini's
accountreproduces
a Najditeargument,
as
himself
seemsto takeforgranted
whenhe he turns
to its
al-ShahrastIni
"The Sunnisrespondas followsto the doctrineof the
refutation:
as
Najadit", he observesin 1.
source
Al-Shahrastani's
is so coherent
intermsofthought
Fromb to ktheargument
andteralikethatitmustbe theworkofa singleauthor.
Itseemsunliminology
however,
kelythatit shouldhave been composedby al-Shahrastini,
with
thoughthewordingis likelyto be his in places; (33) foritis written
a passionand eloquencethatcouldhardlyhave been mustered
by a
witha viewto refuintotheshoesofhisopponents
polemicist
stepping
(30) Baghdfdi,
19.6,11.
Usdi,
(31) VanEss,TG,iii,385,416;cf.vi,195(- Nawbakhti,
Firaq,10f).
ch.4.
(32) CroneandZimmermann,
Epistle,
declarethat"youhavealready
shownthathe did notdesignate
(33) Whenhe hastheNajdiyya
to lqdam,480,on al-qawlftta'yinal-imlm,
anyone"(c), one wouldassumethemto be referring
whentheyspeakof issues"onwhichyouhave
no specific
reference
seemsto be intended
though
obedience"
prescribed
6().

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PATRICIA
CRONE

twiceintroduces
statements
with
al-Shahrastdni
tingthem.Moreover,
thatthepieceis madeup ofquotations
suggesting
(j, k);andseveqe.i/
ral
arevisibleing,wheretheNajdiyya
citea stalayersoftransmission
tement
and
then
much
the
same
statement
by'Umar,
addingya'ni
again.
The pointless
wouldnothavebeen madein a freshly
comrepetition
and itsuggests
thatsomewhere
posedaccount,
alongthelinea Persian
sourcewas involved:
a Persiansourcewouldhavegiven'Umar'sstatementinArabicfollowed
and whoevertranslabya Persianparaphrase
tedthepassageintoArabic(possiblyal-Shahrastdni
willhave
himself)
translated
thePersianrendition
of 'Umar'swordsback intoArabicinstead of droppingit. In short,al-Shahrastini
musthave foundthe
accountinanother
work.
Thisis also suggested
theextracts
as an
bythefactthathe presents
affirmation.
theNajdite-Qadarite
case forthedisJustas he summarizes
oftheimamate
withthecomment
thatto thisthey"addby
pensability
so
on
theShi'iteshe setsout
wayofaffirmation
reaching
(taqrfranY',
theircase fortheobligatory
natureoftheinstitution
withthecomment
thatthey"affirm
this(qarrart~
way",in bothcases
dblika) in another
sometwopagesofsustained
appending
polemicsin whichthesectariansaddresstheiropponents
in thesecondpersonplural.(34) In other
seemstobe thetermhe usedtointroduce
sections
words,taqrfrwould
inwhichsectarians
wereallowedtopresent
their
viewsinwordsoftheir
own.
Wherever
al-Shahrastani
mayhavefoundit,itwouldappeartobe the
sameaccountthatliesbehindal-Iji'ssummary
ofthereasonswhythe
the
nature
of
the
forthoughthe
deny obligatory
imamate,
"Kharijites"
sectarians
herestart
that
the
institution
an
of
imamleadsto
byclaiming
civilwar thanksto people'sdifferent
whichis closerto
inclinations,
what they say in Nashwin al-Himyari'saccount than in al"Tobe sure,ifthecommunity
chooses
(13)theycontinue,
Shahrastini's,
to setup a commander
or chief(amiraw ra'ds)to takechargeoftheir
affairs,
organizetheirarmiesanddefendtheirland,thenthatis permittedto them,
without
thembeingguilty
ofanysinunderthelaw ifthey
(34) Iqdam,485.8.
to Nashwan,
and someMurji'a
(35) According
150,theNajdiyya,
rejecttheobligatory
nature
oftheimamate
onthegrounds
thatitisonlyallowed
tosetup an imamifitcanbe donewithout
.Hashwiyya
ifnot,itis better
thebudcd,amonghis
warandbloodshed;
forevery
mantoapplythelaw,including
andneighbours.
kinsmen
alsoSanandaji,
al-maram,
ii,322:theKhirijites
saythatthe
Compare
Taqr~b
topeople'sdifferent
viewsandthatitis only
establishment
ofan imamleadstofitnaandwarsthanks
to thisaccountappearsto
TheNajdite
contribution
allowedto setup an imamincaseofagreement.
natures
lead to disagreement
or whollylimited
to theobservation
thatpeople'sdifferent
be largely
andneigh(cf.aboved,below,note47).Thateverymancouldapplythebudwd
amonghiskinsmen
imamate
intheoptional
disbutprobably
believers
boursistheargument
oftheunnamed,
Mutazilite,
inhis'Jawabit
fi'l-imdma'
cussedbyJfShiz,
and
Therestmaybe Sunni(Murji'ite
(Rasail,iv,286.5-9).
cf.below,notes42,47.
Hashwite),

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A STATEMENT
BY THENAJDIYYA
KHARIJITES

reminiscent
of k.Butal-Iji'saccountmay
do not".(36) Thisis strikingly
wellbe a distant
ofal-Shahrastdni's
descendant
own,muchmodified
by
use in madrasateaching.
constant
sourcecomesacrossas quitelate.Itwas obviously
Al-Shahrastdni's
sinceitrefers
as the
written
afterthe'Abbisidrevolution,
to al-'Abbds
ituses expressions
suchas mukhofthecaliphs(h). Further,
ancestor
al'aqlan wa-l wuqfianand al-wujifh
talif
fi 'l-tibai,ldyutasawwaru
whichcan hardly
havebeencurrent
beforethe
'aqliyyawa'l-sam'iyya,
and are suggestive
of an evenlaterdate;butifthe
mid-ninth
century
couldhavebeen updated
sourcewas once in Persian,
itsterminology
into
the
it
back
mostobviouscandidate
whoever
translated
Arabic,
by
thathe was not itsauthor,it
himself.
Assuming
beingal-Shahrastdni
suchas Zurqdin
couldstillhavebeencomposedbya heresiographer
(d.
alias al-Ka'bi(d. 319/93,bothof
or Abfi'l-Qdsimal-Balkhi,
278/891),
whomwere Mu'tazilites,
(3") or Abti'l-Husaynal-Karibisi,a Sunnimutaof the
(3) or Yaminb. Ribdb,a Kharijite
kallimwho died in 245/859,

in the
who flourished
(first
Tha'labi,thenBayhasi)variety,
non-Najdite

late eighthor earlyninthcentury.


(39) But thesemen onlysuggestthem-

selvesbecausemostofwhatthesourceshavetosayabouttheKhIrijites
in al-Shahrastini's
accountpoints
appearsto go backto them.Nothing
if
and
the
to anyoftheminpositive
(40)
terms,
passionate
eloquenceof
thatal-Shahrastini
thepiece makesit unlikely
composedit,it makes
as well.One wouldassumethepiece to
theirauthorship
implausible
Attheveryleastitcanbe saidthatwhohavebeenwritten
bya Najdite.
to arguewith
evertheauthormayhavebeen,he allowedtheNajdiyya
it is the
thatdirectly
or indirectly
suchcoherenceand persuasiveness
in
his
that
we
hear
work.
themselves
Najdiyya
The argumentconcerningthe imamate
was an institution
to theSunnis,theimamate
According
enjoinedby
information
thelaw and thiswas knownon thebasisof authoritative
(36) iji,Maw&iqtf
viii,348f.

(37) Van Ess, TG,iv, 119ff;cf.above, note 25, whereAsh'arfcites Zurqan on the Najadcit;Sezgin,
622f.WhetherZurqandenied the necessityof the imamatealong withthe Najdiyyawe do
Geschichte,
on thebasis of reanotknow,but Ka'bi did not,cf.fji,
viii,345.9 (he held itto be obligatory
Mawtqif,
information
son and authoritative
alike).
(38) F. Sezgin,Geschichtedes arabischenSchrifttums,
i, Leiden 1967,599f.
(39) H. Ritter,
'PhilologicaIII. MuhammedanischeHaresiographen',Der Islam 17, 1929, 35; W.
to Pre-Ash'arite
Madelung,'The ShViteand KhirijiteContribution
Kaliim; in P. Morewedge(ed.), Islamic Philosophical7Theology,
Albany1979,127; M. Cook, EarlyMuslimDogma, Cambridge1981,98f.
(40) Al-Ka'bi,whose date,Mu'tazilitepersuasionand Iranianwhereabouts(towardstheend of his
ruledout on the
life)combineto make himthemostobviouscandidateat first
sight,can be practically
with algrounds that Nashwin al-Himyariused his work without displaying any familiarity
Shahrastani'sfragment,
cf.above, note 35.

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PATRICIA
CRONE

text
(sam'),noton thatofreason(aql), thoughtherewas no explicit
in itsfavour:
theinstitition
didnotrest
(nasg)fromGod ortheProphet
on consensus(ijmd):theCompaon theQur'Tnor Hadith,butrather
nionshad agreedto establish
suchan officeand subsequentgenerait.Thisis theposition
thatal-Shahrastdni's
tionsagreedtomaintain
Najare
to
refute.
The
Sunnis
further
held
thattheproperwayof
diyya out
theoffice
was byelection(ikhtiyar),
notby nassin thesenseof
filling
imamof hisson),fortheProphethad
designation
(by theincumbent
notdesignated
free
anyone(i.e. 'Ali),andhe hadthusleftthebelievers
to chooseforthemselves.
The Najdiyya
also heldtheproperway of
theoffice
tobe byelection,
so onewouldnothaveexpectedthem
filling
to raisethisquestionin polemicsagainstSunnis,especially
as itseems
to haveno bearingon thatofthelegalstatusoftheinstitution.
ButalShahrastini's
raisebothquestions
and indeedconflate
them.
Najdiyya
The Najdiyya
start
thattheobligatory
natureoftheimabydeclaring
matewould have to reston eitherdesignation
or election(nass,
on explicit
textsor consennot,as onewouldhaveexpected,
ikhtiycr),
sus (nags,ijmd),or on authoritative
information
versusreason(sam',
'aql). In otherwords,theytiethelegalstatusoftheofficeto thedifferentmethods
itsincumbent
thanthe
whereby
maybe singledoutrather
different
sourcesfromwhichknowledge
maybe derived.Butthen,as
one soon realizes,theyare onlytalking
abouttheincumbent,
notan
him."Theobligatory
office
distinct
from
natureofobedienceto a single
member
of thecommunity
couldonlybe established
in one of two
thaninstitutional
formulaways",theysay (c), and thepersonalrather
tionshouldclearly
be takenseriously,
fortheyproceedtoinfer
from
the
over
the
election
of
Abii
Bakr
as
the
imam
that
disagreement
Companionsdisagreed
overthenecessity
oftheimamate
itself.
Al-Shahrastdini
retorts
thatdisagreement
abouttheright
manfortheoffice
reasonably
in no way pointsto disagreement
over the officeitself(1),(41) but the

didnotagree.
clearly
Najdiyya
The Najdiyya
was based on an
disagreedbecausetheirargument
archaicpointofview.Initially,
all Muslims
identified
theofficeand its
fortheimamate
was by definition
incumbent,
rightleadership
by the
an office
to be filledbywhoevercame
right
person,notsimply
waiting
of therightpersonbutwas
along.It had no existence
independently
an attribute
rather
ofhis.Ifthewrongmanseizedpower,he was notan
imamatall,merely
a tyrant
orkingor imamal-dalala,whileconversely
theright
theimamevenifpowerescapedhim.Thisis
personremained

notspecifically
(41) fjimakesthesamepoint
viii,346.6),though
againsttheNajdiyya.
(Maw&iif,

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A STATEMENTBY THE NAJDIYYAKHARIJITES

the assumptionon which the Najdiyya'sargumentrests.They make it


clearthatin theirview an imamwas a man on whom therewas unanimous agreement(d): withoutsuch agreement,
thecandidatewas justan
ordinaryruler.IfAbfiBakr'selectionwas contested,itwould followthat
theCompanionsdid notestablishan imamateat all. The Najdiyyaargue
thathis electionwas in factcontested:the Sunni contentionthatthe
false.
Companionsagreed to establishthe imamateis therefore
Thoughthe Najdiyyadeny thatAbiiBakrwas an imam,theydo not
or kingor imamal-dalala. Theyplainlyapprove
saythathe was a tyrant
of him: he and 'Umarwere "the persons closest to the Messengerof
God" (e). What theysay is thatAbfiBakr was only a quasi-imamor
ra 's such as thepoliticalleaderthatone is freeto electforpurposesof
orderand defence:'Uthmdnand 'Aliwere also such quasi-imamsuntil
theywentastray(cf. k). Buta real imamis muchmorethanthat:he is a
religiousteacher,a linkbetweenman and God, a personof such manifestsuperiority
thateveryonecan agree on him and accept his decisions. Had Ab~iBakrbeen chosen by unanimousagreement,he would
have been such a man; but he was not and could not have been, for
unanimousagreementin mattersof leadershipcan never in fact be
achieved (d). An imamin thefullsense of theword is an impossibility.
All thisis documentedin thesectionon the contestednatureof Abfi
Bakr'selection.The Najdiyyapointout thatthe Ansarwantedan amir
forthemselvesand anotherforthe Muhjirfin,or in otherwords the
Anssrdid notwantan imamat all - and in view of theirreligiouseminence theycannothave wantedsomethingunlawful(e-J).'Umarhimself admittedthatthe election of AbfiBakr had been a coup which
should not be repeated,i.e. AbfiBakr had been elected withoutany
kind of consultation(g). AbfiSufyin,the ancestorof the Umayyad
triedto incite'Ali,of all people, againstAbf Bakr; 'Aliwas in
dynasty,
factreluctant
to pay allegianceto AbfiBakr,whileal-'Abbiswas nursing
hopes forhis descendants;and Ustmab. Zayd leftforSyria,i.e. without
payingallegianceto AbfiBakr,whichshows thathe was not aware of a
dutyto pay allegianceto anyone at all (b). Where,the Najdiyyaare
so
asking,does one findthe unanimousagreementthatan institution
exaltedas thereligio-political
leadershipof all Muslimsrequired?Where
is the evidencethateveryonewanteda whollynew typeof leadership
unique to Islam?All thatthe evidenceshowed was politicaldisputesof
the normalkind.
seeminglyreasonable objectionthat
Al-Shahrast.ni's
the officeshould be distinguishedfromdisagreedisagreementover
would have struckthe Najdiyyaas absurd:the
mentover itsincumbent
alleged agreementon the officestood and fellwiththe alleged agreementon AbfiBakrhimself.
withthatofunnato comparetheNajdiyya'sargument
It is instructive
med, but undoubtedlyMu'tazilite,adherentsof the optional imamate
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PATRICIACRONE

familiar
to al-Jdhiz.
theytie the obligatory
(42)Unlikethe Najdiyya,
natureoftheinstitution
to sourcesofknowledge
rather
thanmodesof
in thesense of
succession,i.e. to 'aql, khabar(thelatterapparently
ofthelatter;
sam) andunambiguous
interpretation
they
(43)andthough
tooarguethatAbfi
Bakr'ssuccession
was contested,
theydo notthereby
meanto castdoubton Abi Bakr'scapacityto elicitconsensus.What
interests
themis thealtogether
different
theCompaquestionwhether
nionscouldbe construed
as actingin theknowledge
thattheProphet
had prescribed
theimamate.
Thistheydenyon thegroundsthatthe
behaviour
oftheAnsirrulesitout,fortheAnsdr
wouldhavebeenthe
first
toknowifsuchan orderhadexisted,
yettheysaid minnaamirwaminkum
amirwhileSa'db. 'Ubida(rather
thanUsimab. Zayd)leftfor
havingpaid allegianceto AbfiBakr.(41)UnliketheNajdSyriawithout
havetroublewithHadith.Theystress
theMu'tazilites
iyya,moreover,
thatwhentheAnsdrabandonedtheirplansfora leaderof theirown,
ofthe
theydidnotdo so in responseto AbfiBakrand 'Umar'scitation
tradition
"theimamsareofQuraysh"
ortotheclaimthat"we
Prophetic
are theimamsand youare thewazirs",fortheAnsdrdid notsee any
as is clearfrom
thefactthatSa'db. 'Ubddagot
hujjainthesestatements,
angryandleft.(15)
and al-Shahrastini's
are thusfielding
Najdiyya
Mu'tazilites
different
the
obvious
similarities
Both
Al-J.hiz'
arguments,
notwithstanding.
focuson the behaviourof theCompanions,
but the former
wishto
knowwhatittellsus abouttheProphet
andworry
aboutHadith;thelatterwishto knowwhatit tellsus aboutAbfiBakrand worryabout
betweentheinstitution
and itsfirst
incumdistinguish
ijm& theformer
that
is
the
institution
the
latter
conflate
the
bent,arguing
two,
optional;
is impossible.
thattheinstitution
Bothare nonetheless
toldby
arguing
theiropponents
thatthesuccession
failto disprove
theobligadisputes
inaltorynatureoftheinstitution.
(46)Sincethisis nota goodargument
cf.vanEss,TG,ii,410andnote16thereto,
wheretheyarealsotaken
(42) Al-Jihiz,
Rasiil,iv,290ff;
to be Mu'tazilites,
indeedpupilsofal-Asamm.
Thereis a problem
hereinthatNashwanpresents
the
andsomeMurji'a
as rejecting
oftheimamate
thenecessity
on grounds
thatseem
Najdiyya,
Hashwiyya
to comepartly
from
Jihiz'account(cf.above,note35; comparealsoJfhiz,Rasil, iv,285,and
Thissuggests
thathetookJ5hiz
tobe talking
ofMurji'ites,
orevenHashwiyya,
rather
151.10).
Nashwin,
thanMu'tazilites.
It is also possiblethathe knewofSunnis(Murji'ites
andl-hshwiyya)
whoheldthe
ofbloodshed
to be moreimportant
oftheimamate
avoidance
thantheestablishment
and conflated
theirviewswiththoseofJdhiz's
Buteither
people,whomhe tookto be Najdiyya.
wayhe mustbe
wrong.
(43)Jihiz,Rasdil,iv,290.9-11.
(44)
par.82 (- TG,v,329),wheresomeMu'tazilites
deny
Ps.-N.shi',
Rasdil,iv,290f;compare
theobligatory
on thegrounds
nature
oftheimamate
thatifithadbeena religious
theProphet
duty,
Jdh.iz,
it(nassa'alaybh)byappointing
wouldhaveinstituted
someone,
justas he instituted
'ala) the
andalms.
qibla,prayer
(na..a
(45)
Rasril,iv,293.
makesthispointat Rasail,iv,306.
(46)Jhiz,
Jdlhiz

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A STATEMENTBY THE NAJDIYYAKHARIJITES

ofroutine,
the
Jdhiz'case,one assumesthathe adduceditas a matter
it
retort
havingbecomeconventional
alreadybyhistime.Sincefurther
in al-Shahrastdni's
the
is an excellentargument
case, it corroborates
was rootedinearlydiscussions.
thattheNajdiyya's
argument
impression
had notrespondedby abandoning
UnliketheMu'tazilites,
theyclearly
of
On the contrary,
the conflation.
theyconveya strongimpression
for
of
it
as
the
degree unanimity
required
playing up,just theyplayup
to exist,becausethismadeiteasierto rejecttheinstitution:
theimamate
so elevatedand restedon consensusin a
itwas a formof leadership
as utopianalong
thatitwouldhaveto be dismissed
senseso stringent
withijmditself.
theimamate
theNajdiyya
becausethey
Originally,
probably
rejected
fromtheobligation
wishedto freethemselves
to rebel:ifthetrueimamatehad neverexistedand nevercould,therewas no reasonwhythe
shouldrisktheirlivesbytrying
to setone up. Buttheoriginal
Najdiyya
ifsuchitwas, is notapparentin al-Shahrastdini's
account.
motivation,
to be thattheydidnotwantanypoliHeretheirmessageseemsrather
ticalorreligious
betweenthemselves
and God,be itin a state
authority
of quiescenceor otherwise.
Theygrantthatone maywishto electa
ofrevoltorindependence,
butthis
leader,i.e.underconditions
political
humanleaderanswerableto thebelievers
ra'iswouldbe an ordinary
He wouldnotbe an imam,forone cannotelectsucha perthemselves.
son (j): the electionwould have to be unanimous,
whichis impossible(d); (47)andtheimamwouldnothaveanyreligious
over
authority
else (b,j). The Shi'ites
andabovethatpossessedbyeveryone
agreed:it
wouldindeedbe nonsensical
tohavean electedimam;thiswas whythe
imamhadto be someonesingledoutbyGod Himself.
(48)ButtheNajnot
think
that
God
with
human
in thisresdid
wishes
complied
diyya
pectandso theyconcludedthatno suchthingas an imamexisted.
The argumentforitibdd overijmd'
The key idea in al-Shahrastdni's
accountis thatall mujtahids
are
thateveryNajditewas a mujtahid.
equal, witha strongsuggestion
(47) Sanandaji,TaqrTbal-maram,ii, 322, nonethelesshas the "Kharijites"
permitthe establishment
referenceto theirviewson the
of an imamwhen agreementprevails.This maybe a badlyformulated
itcould echo Nashwin'sclaimthat
rals (above, k cf.also Shahrastiniand Ij? in note29). Alternatively,
of an imam if it can be done
the Najdiyya,Hashwiyyaand some Muji'a permitthe establishment
withoutbloodshed(cf.above, note 35). But ifthisis a genuinedoctrineratherthana heresiographical
or Murji'ites
(in
mess,one would assume itto have been thedoctrineof thetraditionalists
(Hlashwiyya)
whateversense) ratherthanthe Najdiyya.
(48) Al-Qadial-NuL'mneven adduces thesame argumentas theNajdiyyain his Da'(tim,i, 39f:how
could people agreeon one man,giventheirdifferent
dispositionsand persuasions?
They did notin fact
agree on AbOBakr.

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PATRICIA
CRONE

Thereisno difference
betweenone mujtabid
andthenext,thetextsays
in b,forpeople(al-nits)areliketheteethofa comband likea hundred
a singleriding
camelswithout
camel;and in d itequatesthemujtabids
who electthe imamwith"everymemberof the community"
(kullu
wabid minal-umma)and "peopleof sound mind"(al-'uqalia. All
then:no imamcouldcompelthem
wereequallyauthoritative,
Najdites
norcouldthecollective
to deferto hisauthority,
bodycompelthemto
forijmiwas nota source
defertoan allegedconsensus,
pastorpresent,
forhis
of law at all (i). EveryNajditeof soundmindwas responsible
ownreligion.
of ijtibdM
in a radically
veinis
ThattheNajdiyya
thought
egalitarian
of excusethrough
corroborated
by theirfamousdoctrine
ignorance.
dividedthereligion
intothingsthatone was obligedto
The Najdiyya
whichitwas excusabletobe ignorant,
a disknowandthings
regarding
to
it
oblitinction
alsomadebytheIbcldis.
the
was
According
Najdiyya,
of
to
know
His
the
Muslim
(i.e.
God,
messengers, sanctity
Najgatory
in itsentirety.
All
and to affirm
therevelation
dite)livesand property,
aboutitwas perthiswas essential,
buttherestwas not,and ignorance
ofthenon-essenIfone mistakenly
declareda forbidden
matter
mitted.
on thebasisof ijtibaid
becauseone did notknow
tialkindto be lawful
thenone was excused,forGod wouldnotpunisha mujtaanybetter,
bid fora mistaken
conclusionreachedin ignorance.Anyonewho
was an infidel.
otherwise
thought
(49)
Allone neededto be a Najdite,
oftheessenthen,was knowledge
was knowledge
ofthesame.
tials,andallone neededto be a mujtabid
The mistaken
conclusions
thatsuchminimally
qualifiedpersonsmight
ifthey
reachwereforgivable,
thoughtheyhad to abandontheirerrors
tothem.(10)No wonderthattheepistleofSilim
couldbe demonstrated
b. Dhakwdin
as a sectwithin
whicheverykindof
depictstheNajdiyya
heinoussin was tolerated.
is quitedifferent
(51) The Najditedoctrine
fromthatexpressedin thefamousdictumthat"everyone
who exceris
cisesindependent
(kullu
reasoning right"
mujtabidmusb); forthis
dictumpresupposes
thatijtibaid
is appliedto questionson whichcercannotbe,oratleasthasnotyetbeen,reached,
andthatthemujtainty
tabidis a qualified
whereasNajditeijtibidwas thesortofreascholar,
willengageinwhenno answeris readily
available
soningthateveryone
or not.The Najdiyya
whether
theansweris knownto theexperts
were
ofreligious
was preferable
toauthority
and
sayingthatfreedom
thought
was protected,
As longas theessential
it
bodyofdoctrines
conformity.
(49) Ash'ar,90f;Baghdadi,
Milal,i,91.
170;ShahrastAni,
Farq,67f;Nashwan,
hadnotseenthebufjaagainsthim.
(50) Theexcusewasonlyvalidas longas themujtabid
thereto
andthediscus(51) SAlim,
III,82,inCroneandZimmermann,
Epistle;
cf.thecommentary
sioninch.5.

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A STATEMENT BY THE NAJDIYYA KHARIJITES

or even iftheywerewrong.Anyifpeopledisagreed,
did notmatter
to decideforthemselves,
freedom
bodywho rejectedthe mujtabids'
in matters
howevermistakenly,
notcoveredbytheessentials
ipsofacto
ofthecommunity.
ceasedto be a member
interaction
Najdite-Mu'tazilite
VanEss has suggested
thattheMu'tazilite
believersin theoptional
and
his
al-Asamm
school,developedtheirviews
imamate,notably
influence.
There
is
a
underKhdrijite
good case forthisview.More
(52)
theMu'tazilite
and theKhdrijite
of theimamate
precisely,
conceptions
ofthesamebasicstockofideas,
comeacrossas different
developments
availablein Basra.Therewere notonly
whichwillhave been freely
adherents
oftheviewsthattheimamowed
butalsoMu'tazilite
Khhrijite,
to communal
indeed
hisposition
(") thathe had
agreement,
unanimity,
but
not
a
to be the mostpious and meritorious
person
necessarily
Qurashi,(54)thathe had to be deposed ifhe strayed,(1) thatitwould be

devoidoftribal
easiertodeposehimifhe werea non-Arab
support,
(I6)
had been rightly
that'Uthmdn
deposed and killedforhis innovawas freeto dispensewiththe imamate
tions,(57) thatthecommunity
a
of
and
that
be acceptabletoo.(18)On
altogether
plurality imamsmight
theKhArijite
sideonlytheNajdiyya
believedinthedispensability
ofthe
severalimams,
andboth
imamate,
permitted
(59)whileonlytheIbidiyya
(52) TG,ii,411f(wherethe influenceis envisagedas Ibidi ratherthanNajditeor mixed).
(53) The Mu'tazilitessaid thatthe imamatewas establishedby reflexion,electionand Ijma alsee Ash'ar,460.6;
umma(Nawbakhti,10); foral-Asamm'sinsistenceon consensus,or even unanimity,
Baghdcdi,Farq, 150.4;Shahrastini,i, Milal, 19; van Ess, TG,ii, 408ff.
(54) Thus Dirirand Hafsal-Fard(Ps.-NMishi',
par.93 - TG,v, 248; Nawbakhti,10; Baghdadi, Usid,
275); al-Nazzftm
(Nawbakhti,10f),some Mu'tazilites,
includingal-Nazzam(Nashwin, 152); the presumed Mu'tazilitesin Jdhiz(Rasiil, iv, 258), most Mu'tazilites(Bazdawi, U.id, 187), the Mu'tazilites
in theirentirety
withoutfurther
(sic, Mas'Cdi,Murfj,
qualification(Nawbakhti,10); or the Mu'tazilites
vi, 24; ed. Pellat,iv,par. 2257; cf.also iii,107; ed. Pellat,ii, par.955 - TG,v, 248).
(55) Thus Dirirand Hafsal-Fard,who would prefera non-Arabbecause he would be easier to
the Mu'taziliteascetics(Ps.-Nashi',
depose (Nawbakhti,10; Ps.-Ndshi',par.93 - TG,v, 248). Similarly
par.82 - TG,v, 329f).
(56) Cf.the previousnote.On the Ibidi side theargumentturnsup in the deliberationsleadingto
b. Rustumin NorthAfricain 161/778(reportedby lbn Saghiron lbfdi
theelectionof 'Abd al-Rahmlin
in A. de Motylinski
(ed.), 'Chroniqued'Ibn Saghirsur les imamsRostemidesde Tahert',Actes
authority

des Orientalistes,
du XIV CongrisInternational
Alger1905,Paris1908,9). Itseemsto be bymere

confusionthatit is reportedas an Ibldi doctrinein Bazdawi, Usid,187.


a Kufanrather
(van Ess, TG,iii,57, 130), both reflecting
(57) Thus Dirtirand Bishrb. al-Mu'tamir
For a passionateIbddi defenceof thisview,see the second partof Silim's
thanBasranenvironment.
Fpistle.
epistlein Croneand Zimmermann,
(58) Cf.above, note9.
as van Ess
Ibddis
never
The
(59)
thoughtthathumansmightbe able to live withoutauthority,
impliesin connectionwithal-Nazzsm (TG, iii,416); cf. note9.

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PATRICIACRONE

veinfromtheMu'tazilites.
hard
did so in a different
(60)But itis certainly
to avoid theimpressionthatthetwo sides developedtheirideas in inter-

action.
on theNajditeside.
ofinteraction
Therearethreefurther
suggestions
boththeNajaditand
Mu'tazias seenalready,
First,
presumed
amirand otherdisalitesadducedtheAnskiri
minnaamirwa-minkum
al-J.hiz'
overthesuccessionto Muhammad
in supportoftheirdenial
greement
was prescribed
thattheimamate
boththeNajdbythelaw. Secondly,
in
and
the
Mu'tazilite
believers
the
imamate
arrived
attheir
iyya
optional
thattheimamate
conclusion
viaa conviction
was a uniqueand exalted
institution.
forexample,arguedthatgovernThe sv.fiyyat
al-mu'tazila,
mentin Islamwas quitedifferent
fromthatofothernations,
forother
nationshadkingswho enslavedtheirsubjects
whereastheMuslims
did
now tendedto developinto
not;butsincetheimamsof theMuslims
to depose,and sincefurther
one could
kings,whomone was obliged,
destructive
civilwar,itwas nowbetter
notto
notdeposethemwithout
havean imamat all.(61) UnliketheNajdiyya,
all theMu'tazilites
acceptedthattheinstitution
hadbeenrealinthepast;theymerely
saidthatit
couldno longerbe maintained
becauseitkeptturning
intokingship,
(62)
hadgrowntoolargeforagreement
orbecausethecommunity
on itsleaforagreement
on thetruth.
der(63)ortoosinful
theimamate
(61)Inshort,
oftheNajdiyya,
iftheinterpretation
had becomeutopian.Theposition
ofal-Shahrastni's
was thattheimafragment
proposedhereis correct,
matehad alwaysbeen utopian:agreement
had neverprevailed,
even
ra'is.
AbfiBakrhadonlybeena righteous
thatitwouldbe positively
to havea plurality
ofimamsin his
(60) Al-Asamm
thought
preferable
owntime(Ps.-NTishi,
severalor
pars.103f- TG,v,208),andhispresumed
pupilsspeakofone imam,
the
noneas equallygoodsolutions
(Jdhiz,
Rasiil,iv,285).ButtotheIbidis,a singleimamremained
ina spirit
ofregret:
ideal.Muhammad
b. Mahb6b(d. 260/873t)
therecannot
acceptsa plurality
though
inone misr,
be twoimams
therecanbe one ineachas longas their
suchan
areseparate;
jurisdictions
forthistitleis reserved
fora manwhorulesall theahl alimamis notamiral-mu'minln,
however,
thefashion
ofAbfBakrand'Umar(in Kshif,Siyar,ii,265ff;
citedbyBisydlni,
ibid.,186,
qiblaafter
cf.also191;cf.alsoJ.C. Wilkinson,
Itwas
Tradition
1987,163-69).
ofOman,Cambridge
7heImamate
AbiSufyin
whofirst
Mahbibb. al-Rahil
formulated
thisview(ibid.,268;cf.
(fl.c. 200/815
apparently
CroneandZimmermann,
1,forhisdate).
Epistle,
appendix
(61) Ps.-Nfishi',
par.83 - TG,v,329f.
ascetics
note).
(62) ThustheMu'tazilite
(cf.thepreceding
was
to him,thelastcaliphto elicitconsensus
seemsto haveargued.
(63) As al-Asamm
According
further
there
couldbe norealagreement
456- TG,v,204,withnumerous
references);
Mu'awiya
(Ash'ar,
orcooperate
withunknown
indistant
hissubjects
ontheimam
now,norcouldhecontrol
peopleofmerit
ofimams
so itwouldbe better
tohavea federation
par.104- TG,v,208).
provinces,
(Ps.-Ndishi',
thecommunity
whichwasnotofonewillandwhichsinnedandkilled
(64)ThusHisham
al-Fuwati:
itsruler
hadno needofan imam(HishiminBaghdddi,
271.15- TG,vi,234,with
Farq,149f;id.,Usid,
of'Abbad,cf.IbnHazmin TG,vi,269).The lastlegitimate
further
also putinthemouth
references;
to havean imamcametoan endwhenhedied;
thatitwaspossible
caliphwas'All,fortheagreement
Muslims
shouldnowrebelwhentheycouldinordertodo whattheimamusedtodo,ortheyshould
ownhands('AbbidinAsh'ari,
takethelawintotheir
459,465,467- TG,vi,269f).

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A STATEMENTBY THE NAJDIYYAKHARIJITES

suchas Dirdr,
al-Fardand
are
Mu'tazilites
Finally,
'l-Hudhayl
IHafs
Abti
to have acceptedAboiBakr'ssuperiormerit
on the basis of
reported
independent
reasoning(here qiyas) and historical
reports(khabar)
aboutthegeneralagreement
on hisimamate
al-ndis
'alaybiwa(ijtimad
wouldneveragree
rid"iumbi-imamatihi),
addingthatthecommunity
on an error.
meanto assertthattheimamate
(65)Theydid notthereby
was prescribed
bythelaw(though
theywouldallappeartohaveacceptedthis),onlythatAbfiBakrhad beena validimaminhistime.Butthe
and it
Najaditwillnot have accepted,or even seen,the distinction,
couldbe thisverydoctrine,
rather
thanSunniequivalents,
thattheyare
out to squashin al-Shahrastain's
It wouldexplainwhythey
fragment.
base theirposition
on historical
and independent
reasoentirely
reports
wordson SunniHadith.
ning,andrailagainstijmdwithout
wasting
The Najdiyya
and theMu'tazilites
developedtheircommonideas in
different
because
lived
in
different
worlds.Bothstarted
from
ways
they
a conviction
thattheimamate
hadceasedtobe practicable,
butthiswas
an easierconclusion
fortheMu'tazilites
to reachthanfortheNajdites.
The Mu'tazilites
movedin circlesin whichitwas widelyacceptedthat
thetrueimamate
hadonlylastedfora shorttimeand couldnotbe restored:theProphet
himself
hadpredicted
thatitwouldonlylastforthirty
years,as Sunni
says.The normalresponsewas to clingto the
forminwhichitsurvived,
butitis hardlysurprising
HI.adith
'Abbsid
imperfect
thatthereweresomewholookedforalternatives:
whystickwithan institution
thatcouldneverbe morethana quasi-imamate?
Shi'ismapart,
theonlyalternative
was todo without
an imamortohaveseveral,either
ofwhichpresupposed
thattheoriginal
imamate
was nota God-given
institution.
SincetheMu'tazilites
who consideredtheseoptionswere
animated
to thecaliph,theycould
by a concernto findan alternative
notignorethequestionhow one mightenforcethelaw,dispensethe
maintain
orderifone chosetodo without
him,andtheyduly
budfidand
discussedthesequestions.Theymustalso have been asked how the
wouldmanageinreligious
formanyMu'tazilites
terms,
community
persistedinseeingthecaliphas a sourceofreligious
instruction,
including
ifPseudo-Nishi'
is tobe trusted;
al-Nazz2m
(66)buton thisquestiontheir
answersdo notseemto survive,
possiblybecausetheyweredeemed
thattheimamhadno sayinthedefinition
ofthereligion
unremarkable:
was after
all becoming
generally
accepted.
11(- TG,vi,195f,
withdiscussion);
(65) Nawbakhti,
52,par.87(= TG,v,249).
similarly
Ps.-Ndshi',
VanEssis surely
citation
ofal-Nazzim's
viewscomesto an endwiththepasthatNawbakhti's
right
is notamongthosewhoheldthatthecommunity
wouldnever
sagelabelleddin TG,so thatal-Nazzim
agreeon an error.
whoheldthattheimammustbe al-afdal
(66) Ps.-Nishi',
par.85,whereheisamongtheMutazilites
of
becausehe is theone whoyu'addibu'I-umma
Buttheadherents
ma'limdTnihb.
wa-yu'arrifubii
intheobligatory
thisviewaredescribed
as believers
nature
oftheimamate
intheprevious
paragraph,

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PATRICIA CRONE

The Najdiyya,
on the otherhand,were members
of a widersect
whichhadneverrecognized
the'Abbisidsandwhichdeemedtheestaofa trueimamate
to be a primedutyofthebelievers:
blishment
to the
the
the
fact
that
institution
hadgonewrongunder'Uthmin
and
Ibidis,
his successorsmerelyshowed thatone shouldtryagain. But the
hadtriedand failedinthesecondcivilwarand theyno longer
Najaddit
In principle
wishedto persevere.
theinstitheycouldhavehistoricized
on a parwiththeMu'tazilites,
tution
thatithadbeenrealinthe
arguing
pastbutthatnowithadbecomeutopianso thattherewas no longerany
it.Butin practice
dutyto rebelin orderto establish
theyare likelyto
havefeltthatso fundamental
a dutyneededa moreradicaldenialto be
as theIbddisand Sufrisweresuccessfully
safelyabolished,especially
in NorthAfrica
and Oman.Consequently,
imamates
establishing
they
hadeverexisted.All
tookthedrastic
thattheinstitution
stepofdenying
thathad existedwas a quasi-imamate
thatone was freeto haveor not
said aboutthe
to have as one wished,verymuchas theMu'tazilites
In
the
thequasiof
the
'Abbisids.
case,
however,
quasi-imamate
Najdite
in thathe was theleaderof a Najdite
imamwas a hypothetical
figure
thatdidnotexistandneverwould.TheNajdiyya
thushadno reapolity
howthelawmight
sontospeculate
be applied,thehudiiddispensedor
in hisabsence,or to considerwhether
ordermaintained
a plurality
of
leaderswouldbe a betteridea.Allthatinterested
themwas religious
authority.
LikeotherMuslims,
theearlyKhirijites
acceptedtheimamas a relileader.TheIbdis evencontinued
to callhim
giousas wellas political
to thefactthathe
(67) He owedhisauthoritative
alla-h.
khalifat
position
was generally
to be morelearnedand pious,and thus
acknowledged
morelikely
thaneveryone
tobe right,
else,and he hadto be obeyedin
all respects
as longas hissuperiority
held;theNajaditare depictedas
and eventually
obeying,
disobeying,
alongsuchlinesat
Najdahimself
thetimeoftheiremergence.
theimamate
(16)Theycouldhaveretained
(suitede la note66)
and al-Nazzdmheld itto be optional.Perhapshis presencehere is mistaken,but itcertainly
seems to
have been possibleto combinebeliefin theoptionalnatureof the imamatewiththeconvictionthatif
one were to have an imam,he had to be a superiorpersoncapable of teachingthe community.
Alas local imams:each one had executedthe
Asammsaid thatthe Prophet'sgovernorshad functioned
normalfunctions
of government
and taughtpeople thelaws ofIslam; thiswas whyitwould be lawful
to have severalimamsnow (Ps.-Ndishi',
who
par. 103). And a fairnumberof theBaghdadiMu'tazilites
held the imamateto be optionalwere Zaydi sympathizers,
includingthe famousSahl b. Salima alAnsilr (W. Madelung,'The VigilanteMovementof Sahl b. Salfma al-Khur.isiniand the Originsof
Reconsidered',
Journalof TurkishStudies14, 1990 (Festschrift
Fahir Iz), 335; van Ess, TG,
tHanbalism
seen as violatingtheconvictionsof al-Asamm
iii,174,whereSahl is reasonably,butprobablywrongly,
and theMu'tazilite
the caliphateto a Hasanid).
asceticsby offering
b. Ayyybin Kdshif,
(67) WVa'il
ibid.,i, 157.8;unknownto P. Croneand
Siyar,ii,57.11;Abi 'l-Mu'thir,
M. Hinds,God's Caliph,Cambridge1986, 12, 57.
(68) Ash'afi,89f,91f.

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A STATEMENT
BY THENAJDIYYA
KHARIJITES

in Basra, or wherevertheylived; but


as a purelyreligiousinstitution
not
want
did
it.
Nor did theywant ijm&. It maywell
theyemphatically
have been ijmW.ratherthan the imamatethattheysaw as the main
threatby thetimeof al-Shahrastini's
source,buttheycontrivedto reject
themtogether.
Thereis no parallelto theirconcatenationof the dispenof ijm' on theMu'taziliteside,
sabilityof theimamateand theinvalidity
nor would the Mu'taziliteshave approved of the spiritin which it is
made, foranti-authoritarian
thoughsome Mu'tazilites
mayhave been in
an intellectual
elite.
politicalmatters,
theyall saw themselvesas forming
But the Najdiyyaformeda sect ratherthanan elite,and what theirjoint
rejectionof the imamateand ijmJ amountedto was an assertionof
intellectual
equalitywithinit.

Conclusion
The Najditedoctrineis themostradicalaffirmation
of intellectual
and
in
freedom
encountered
the
formative
centuries
of
Islam.
The
political
need forpoliticalauthority
was acknowledged,but the quasi-imamthat
one mightor mightnotelectforpurposesof internalorderand defence
owed his positionto the community,
maintainedit by deferenceto his
electors'notionsof justiceand lost it when theyceased to approve of
him.He was theiragentand had no source of legitimatepower other
thantheiragreementon him.As faras government
was concerned,the
did notrejectconsensus;on the contrary,
certainly
Najaddit
theyinsisted
on it as a safeguardagainst tyranny,the subjectionof humans to
humans.
The need forreligiousauthority
was emphatically
denied. Neitherthe
ruler(imam or quasi-imam)nor the communitycould impose their
views on anyone who knew the essentialsand thoughtfor himself.
There did of coursehave to be agreementon the essentials:otherwise
the communitywould not exist. It was also clear thatsome people
would reach conclusions which were demonstrablywrong: others
would have to show themwhere theirerrorlay. But anyone could do
this,and no penaltyattachedto such mistakes,which were the ineviof reasoningby fallibleand sometimespoorlyeducatable by-product
ted humanbeings.It was not desirablethatsuch reasoningshould be
As faras intellectual
replacedby unquestionedobedience to authority.
lifewas concerned,the Najdiyyaemphaticallyrejectedconsensus,for
here it was on a par with imams:both stood for the subjectionof
humansto humans.Politicallyand intellectually,
everyNajditewas an
autonomouspersonsubjectonlyto God.
The Najditedoctrineowed itsviability
amongitsadherentsto thefact
was verysmall,and probablyalso homogethatthe Najditecommunity
75

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PATRICIA
CRONE

neous. The obverseof the libertarian


principleswhichprevailedwithin
the community
was extremeintoleranceof outsiders.All non-Najdites
were classifiedas idolatrousinfidelswho did not in principleenjoyany
whatever,so thattheycould be indiscriminately
legal protection
slaughtered,despoliatedand enslaved.In practicethe Najdiyyalosttheirurge
to fighttheirqawm (as non-Khirijite
Muslimswere known) aftertheir
greatrevoltin thesecond civilwar,and liketheSufristheyseem to have
adopted a double set of ruleswherebyitwas lawfulto have legal relationswiththeallegedinfidelsin theabode of taqiyya,meaningthatone
whereas it
could intermarry
withthem,inheritfromthemand so forth,
was unlawfulto have such relationsin the abode of 'alaniya: all ties
would have to be cut ifthe believersmade a hijra to establisha polity
oftheirown. (69) The Najdiyyaseem to have livedamicablyenoughwith
theirMu'taziliteand otherneighbours,but theirnarrowdefinitionof
who was and was not a Muslimspared themthe painfultaskof consiwere
ideas mightworkifthe community
deringhow fartheirlibertarian
of Muhammad'sfollowers.It was
redefinedto includethevastmajority
the Sunniswho undertookthistask,and what theylost in the way of
libertarianism
theygained in communalsolidarityover geographical
and social distancesthatthe Najdiyyacould barelyhave dreamed of.
The Najditeideal mustbe seen as an Islamicrestatement
of the small
face-to-face
societyof the tribalpast in which no freeman had been
subjectedto anotherin eitherpoliticalor religiousterms.Extraordinarily
modernthoughtheirvisionsounds,itwas too conservativeto survive.
PatriciaCRIONF
(Princeton,N. J.)

(69) Forall this,see Croneand Zimmermann,


Epistle,ch. 5.

76

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