In the Name of God: The Infinitely Merciful and Compassionate Beloved Lord

Now that airstrikes against ISIS positions in both Iraq and Syria have begun, it seems that the United States has entered into a long war against the barbarians who call themselves the “Islamic State.” Now, I have a real problem with this name, because what they are doing is hardly Islamic, even though they have “Islamic” in their name. In fact, some have noted the deliberate effort on the part of Administration and other officials to call this group by another name: ISIL, i.e., “The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.”

Yet, they should not be called ISIS or ISIL at all. I have a different name for them: KIL, or the “Kharijites of Iraq and the Levant.”

Who were the Kharijites?

The Kharijites (lit., “those who went out”) go back to the very beginnings of Islamic history. During the reign of the fourth caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib — the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, and the first Imam in Shia theology — a dispute raged over leadership, and it ended up causing civil war. The governor of Damascus, Mu’awiyah, was one of Ali’s principal opponents, and their forces met during the Battle of Siffin in 658. After this battle, both Ali and Mu’awiyah agreed to arbitration.

The Kharijites rejected this arbitration and rebelled against them both. Their theology was extreme, believing that anyone who commits a grave sin is no longer a Muslim and is to be killed unless they repent. They wreaked havoc on Muslim societies for decades, initiating many rebellions against Muslim authorities. In fact, caliph Ali himself was assassinated by the Kharijites.

The barbarians of ISIS, like Al Qaeda and other extremists, are the Kharijites of our time. If you are not a Muslim like them, then you are an “apostate” who should be killed. The barbarians of ISIS – just as the Kharijites – divide the world into the dar al Islam (“realm of Islam”) and dar al harb (“realm of war,” i.e., nonbelievers). The barbarians of ISIS – just as the Kharijites – believe that a perpetual war must be fought to turn all areas into dar al Islam, and this can include murder against innocents.

The term khawarij, Arabic for Kharijite, has a particularly negative connotation among Muslims across the world, as this history is well-known and well understood. If the prevailing perception of ISIS can be changed from “jihadi” to “khariji,” i.e., Kharijite, it would go a long way to poison their image and expose them for who they really are: violent extremists.

Thus, rather than calling them ISIS, I will call them KIL.

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) predicted the coming of the Kharijites:

There would arise from my Ummah (i.e., followers) a people who would recite the Qur’an, and your recital would seem insignificant as compared with their recital, your prayer as compared with their prayer, and your fast, as compared with their fast. They would recite the Qur’an thinking that it supports them, whereas it is an evidence against them. Their prayer does not get beyond their collar bone; they would swerve through Islam just as the arrow passes through the prey.

What’s more, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, Ali, talked about the Kharijites as well:

When you see the black flags, remain where you are and do not move your hands or your feet. Thereafter there shall appear a feeble, insignificant folk. Their hearts will be like fragments of iron. They will have the state. They will fulfill neither covenant nor agreement. They will call to the truth, but they will not be people of the truth. Their names will be parental attributions, and their aliases will be derived from towns. Their hair will be free-flowing, like that of women. This situation will remain until they differ among themselves. Thereafter, God will bring forth the Truth through whomever He wills.

The barbarians of KIL are exactly as Caliph Ali described:

1. Their flags are black.
2. They will be ruthless, with hearts like “fragments of iron.”
3. They will claim a state.
4. They will have long hair (look at pictures of many of their fighters).
5. “Their names will be parental attributions, and their aliases will be derived from towns,” i.e. “Abu Bakr al Baghadadi,” which means “Abu Bakr from Baghdad”; or “Abu Abdallah al Beljiki,” which means “Abu Abdallah the Belgian.”

I have been writing since at least 2008 that terrorists such as Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and now ISIS, should be called Kharijites. All Muslims should heed the advice of Imam and Caliph Ali: “Remain where you are and do not move your hands or your feet,” which means do not join them or support them.

No one should be fooled by these religious charlatans. They are barbaric killers, and they must be opposed by every means necessary.  And part of that effort should be calling them who they really are: Kharijites. Thus, from now on, at least to me, ISIS will be now known as KIL, “The Kharijites of Iraq and the Levant.” May the Lord of Hosts destroy them and their evil actions.