Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 18, 2022
The Kharijites were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Muslim Civil War (656–661). The first Kharijites emerged from the supporters of Caliph Ali while protesting against his peace talks with Mu'awiya at the Battle of Siffin in 657. After Ali defeated the Kharijites, he was assassinated in 661 by a vengeful Kharijite. As caliph, Mu'awiya kept them in check until the power vacuum caused by the Second Muslim Civil War allowed them to seize large areas in Persia and Arabia. Weakened by internal disputes, they were defeated by subsequent governments, although their revolts lingered on into the Abbasid period. Ibadis are the sole surviving sect. Rejecting noble descent as a requirement for the caliphal office, the Kharijites held that any pious Muslim could become caliph. Most Kharijite groups branded other Muslims as unbelievers. Mainstream Muslims have viewed the Kharijites as religious extremists, although some modern Arab historians have stressed their egalitarian tendencies. (Full article...)