Al-Tabari, Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. Jarir, historian
Islam Politics and Diplomacy
Kharijites, Islamic sect
Middle East / Eastern Mediterranean Islam - historiography
Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan, caliph
Umayyads, Arab dynasty
Beschreibung:
Kharijite resistance to Umayyad authority during the caliphate of Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan (r. 661-680) is represented in detail in the works of the early Muslim scholars Ahmad b. Yahya al-Baladhuri (d. c. 892) and Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari (d. 923). While the Kharijites are overwhelmingly depicted by both authors as religious fanatics whose excessive piety caused widespread bloodshed and who thus should be condemned, a closer look reveals that Kharijites serve specific and distinct narrative purposes: al-Baladhuri uses them mainly to illustrate Umayyad tyranny, while al-Tabari addresses the consequences of Kharijite revolts for communal and imperial stability. The latter's work is also marked by a dichotomy between activist and quietist Kharijism, implying that al-Tabari is not so much opposed to Kharijism as a set of "heretic" religious ideas, but rather to its violent expression of politico-religious opposition.