Najdat

TheNajdatwere the sub-sect of theKharijitemovement that followedNajda ibn 'Amir al-Hanafi,and in 682 launched a revolt against theUmayyad Caliphatein the historical provinces ofYamamaandBahrain,in central and easternArabia.

Among the beliefs of the Najdat were:

• Allowing the concealment of their true beliefs, if they were in territories where theSunnisdominated.
• Sinning Muslims were notexcommunicatedas unbelievers. The Najdat believed that they could be forgiven by Allah - only he who persisted in his sin and repeatedly committed it, could be accused ofunbelief.

Background

After theassassinationof the third caliphUthmanin 656 by provincial rebels, the caliphatefell into civil warasMu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan,a relative of Uthman and the governor ofSyria,challenged the legitimacy of the new caliphAli.The indecisive battle between the two atSiffinended in an arbitration agreement in July 657. Asserting that human arbitration was invalid as God's command was clear that the rebels (in this case Mu'awiya) had to be fought and overcome, some of Ali's soldiers left the army. They were calledKharijitesfollowing this secession.They later fought against Ali in theBattle of Nahrawanin July 658 and were crushed by the Caliph. FollowingAli's assassinationin 661 by a Kharijite, Mu'awiya became the sole ruler, establishing theUmayyad Caliphate.During his reign, the Kharijites flourished in the southern Iraqi city ofBasra.Severely repressed by the Iraqi governorZiyad ibn Abihand laterUbayd Allah ibn Ziyad,the Kharijites fled to Arabia around 680.

History

After Mu'awiya's death in 680, the Muslim empire fell tocivil war.Denouncing the new caliphYazid,theQurayshileaderAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayrestablished himself in the sanctuary ofMecca.When Yazid sent an army to end the rebellion in 683 andMecca was besieged,Kharijites assistedAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayrin defending the city.However, Yazid died in November 683 and Ibn al-Zubayr proclaimed himself caliph. Kharijites, after discovering that Ibn al-Zubayr had proclaimed caliphate and did not share their view of Uthman and condemned his murder, abandoned him.Some of them went toYamama,in central Arabia, under the leadership of Abu Talut, whereas the majority went to Basra. In the meantime, Basran tribal chiefs expelled Ibn Ziyad and the city fell to tribal warfare. Kharijites, under the leadership ofNafi ibn al-Azraq,took over the city, killed the deputy appointed by Ibn Ziyad and broke 140 of their comrades free from Ibn Ziyad's prison.Soon afterwards, Basrans recognized Ibn al-Zubayr and he appointedUmar ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Ma'marhis governor there. Umar drove the Kharijites out of Basra and they escaped toAhwaz.Doctrinal differences between Nafi andNajda ibn Amir al-Hanafi,another of the leaders, led to a split within the group.

Najda, with his followers, returned to Yamama and the faction became known as Najdat.In 685, after some particular successes, the Kharijite faction of Abu Talut recognized Najda as their leader. Najda started raiding towns in Ibn al-Zuabyr's domains.In 687 a group led by Atiyya ibn al-Aswad split up and headed toSistanwhere they founded their own Kharijite branch. In the same year, Najda invadedYemenand seized it, includingSanaa,and his lieutenant Abu-Fudayk conquered theHadramaut.The Najdat now controlled the most peripheral areas of the caliphate and therefore most adequate to avoid the oppression of caliphate forces. The Najdat then began their conquest ofHejazwhere, after the defeat of Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, they suffered an attack fromMuhammad's cousin Abd Allah ibn Abbas. Here they blocked supplies toMeccaandMedinaand isolatedTaizz,but did not want to attack the holy villages.

At this point the Najdat dominated almost all of Arabia. However, an ideological split severed their ranks, between those who favored the continuation of the fight against the Umayyad "usurpers" and those who were in favor of a treaty withDamascus.Subsequently, some of Najda's supporters began to object to certain beliefs of his and rebelled against him. The intransigents, led by 'Atiya al-it Hanafī, took refuge in the Iranian region ofHelmand,assuming the title of Atawiyya, while some more radical Najdat, led by Abu Fudayk, murdered Najda himself in 691 and took his place. They later tried to fight against the Umayyad caliphAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan.In 692 Fudayk repelled a caliphate attack from Basra, but they were eventually defeated by the caliphate in 693, at the battle of Mushahhar.

Politically exterminated, Najdat retreated into obscurity and disappeared around tenth century.

Sources

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