Under the Red Turban: The History and Inspiration of the Khawarij

I have been quiet for a few weeks due to some things coming up but now the Sword of Haqqislam is back with something that I promised back in the tactics of the Khawarij, the lore and history behind the Red Turbans of Haqqislam. This post took a little longer due to the extensive history behind the Khawarij, including the historical Khawarij, the history behind the Mu'tazilah movement (the sect of Islam that the Khawarij of Infinity follow) and the fact that who the Khawarij are in Haqqislam is tied to the background of the faction because of the reformation that Islam went through to become Haqqislam in the Infinity universe. Without further delay, let's dive into the rich history and lore of the Khawarij. 

The Historical Khawarij

I thought we would first start with the actual history because to understand who the Khawarij are now in Infinity, it's important to look back at who the Khawarij were in history and see how Corvus Belli took this concept and made it into the super soldier badasses of humanism we know. The origins of the Khawarij actually goes back to almost the beginnings of Islam. They formed after the death of the Prophet when it came to deciding who would lead Islam now that the Prophet had passed on. Those familiar with this time period will know that this is where the main divide of Sunni and Shi'ite happens within Islam which revolves around mainly about who was to succeed the Prophet as the leader of Islam. The Sunni believing that the Prophet never designated an actual successor and a successor should then be chosen by the people while the Shi'ite believing that the Prophet appointed his son-in-law to succeed him as Imam. The group that would become know as the Khawarij agreed with the Sunni but disagreed in the way that the leader should be chosen. 

The Sunni wanted to choose the successor through arbitration, a method that the Khawarij opposed and they opposed it violently because through arbitration its the people who decide the successor, a decision that the Khawarij believed only God could make. How did they think God chose a successor? Through the outcome of a battle since it was God who would choose the victor. They believed that anyone could be an Imam and lead a community as long as he stayed pious and infallible because if they sinned, it was the duty of the Muslims in the community to rise up and dispose of them in favor of a new Imam. These beliefs made them more violent than other sects which lead to assassination attempts in their history. They also invoked takfir, a form of excommunication where a Muslim declares another self-described Muslim as a non-believer. Some said that any sin made one a non-believer while others said that it had to be a major sin. 

As we can see the historical Khawarij practiced an extreme version of Islam that wasn't well received by the other sects at the time. Their willingness to invoke takfir has actually lead some modern radical elements to have some of these doctrines rise again. Any fan of Infinity lore will know that this vision of the Khawarij greatly contrasts not only the humanistic ideals of Haqqislam but also the brotherhood of the red turbans. The fictional reformation of Islam into Haqqislam is a big part of this but the Khawarij isn't just this historical Khawarij because Corvus Belli did a clever thing by taking this historical account and combining it with another piece of Islamic history: the Mu'tazilah movement. The Khawaij of Infinity are not just warriors but they are scholars as well. 

Mu'tazilah: Logic and Reasoning Become Moral Pillars

The Mu'tazilah is a Sunni school of theology in which those who ascribed to it gave more weight to philosophy allowing logic and reasoning to determine morality instead of the rigid Hadith and Shariah. This movement had its rise around the 8th century but then declined into obscurity around the 10th century due to its radical and what many conservative scholars saw as heretical, beliefs. 

The Mu'tazilites had a preoccupation with the concepts of divine justice and divine unity. Traditionally, Islam not only draws its morality from the Qu'ran but also from the Hadith and the Shariah, from which many of the concepts of divine justice and, thus divine unity derive themselves in Islamic society. The Mu'tazilites' outright rejected this thought process. They believed that good and evil were not to be determined through scripture or divine revelation. In Islam, knowledge is considered divine and this is where the Mu'tazilites drew their belief that morality, concepts of good and evil, divine justice, etc could be determined through unaided reason. Since knowledge is derived from reason itself, reasoning should be the final say when determining whether something is morally good or morally evil. Their school of Kalam (Islamic theological school) put forth that God's authority could be reached through rational thought alone and not the sacred scriptures of the Hadith and Shariah which, to the Mu'tazilites, were not verifiable as true hence why they were critical of them. The obligations and what is just in a religion should be determined through logic and reasoning because it is the most effective means to do so under this precedent. 

As you may see though, this is what drew anger from many of the conservative religious scholars and Imams of the time. Such thought threatened their power and they actively spoke out against it. This would eventually lead to the decline of the Mu'tazilah school of Kalam in the 10th century and many of their writings were destroyed to prevent any others from ever resurrecting the school. Many of the modern reformist movements occurring currently, however, draw from much of the same ideas that the Mu'tazilites put forward during this time, and so those thoughts are slowly coming back as modernist movements try to reform Islam. Many of them have not identified themselves as Mu'tazilite but their ideas no less align with this Kalam school. There are a few though who consider themselves neo-Mu'tazilite and are actively trying to use this reforming to resurrect the school. It is from here that we transition from our historical account to the lore of Infinity because it is these ideas of reformation and the resurrection of Mu'tazilah that lay the foundation of Haqqislam itself. 

Before we go on though, I would like to say that there is a rich history for both these subjects that I could in no way cover in a blog post. If these piqued your interest, I would suggest researching them. For me, it has lead down a rabbit hole of intrigue. For my Mu'tazilah studies, the book that has been most influential is: The Defenders of Reason in Islam which is a fascinating book that tells not only the history, core beliefs but also the modern movements surrounding the Mu'tazilah school of thought. Now after that little aside, on with Infinity. 

The Rise of Haqqislam

To understand who the Khawarij are in Infinity, we first have to understand the rise of Haqqislam because as our historical depiction suggests, the Khawarij in Infinity certainly are a long way from the Khawarij of history. This is because with the rise of Haqqislam came a fundamental shift in Islamic thinking. Taking a look at the entry within the Infinity N3 Corebook, we learn that Farhad Khadivar, the founder of Haqqislam, expressly rejected all the former foundations of Islamic law, the Hadith, the Shariah, etc,  
to create a form of Islam that focused more on Knowledge as the precedent for Islam. He thought that they did not fit with the Qu'ran's humanistic values and allowed for corrupt individuals to seize power by abusing these laws in order for them to take control for themselves.  

As we now know, this sparks a fire within the Islamic world and Khadivar's ideas take root as people start to champion his cause. Eventually a new movement under these new ideals emerges: HaqqMu'tazilah. The HaqqMu'tazilites speak out against the conservative ideas that have wrecked so much havoc putting forth their rationalist ideals are more suited for the modern times. Conservative regimes fight back against this rising tide and even succeed in eventually assassinating Khadivar but all this does is create a bigger push back until they are defeated and the Islamic world unites under the banner of Haqqislam to become a global power on Earth thus allowing for a new Golden Age of Islam to emerge again. This is the environment from which new Khawarij emerges and the ideals that these warrior scholars will champion. 

The New Khawarij

Instead of violent extremists fighting for their strict view of Islam, these neo, Haqq if you will, Khawarij were founded by HaqqMu'tazilite Sages who were looking for a protective force to protect Haqqislam from not only foreign powers trying to destabilize the budding nation but also from those within who wish to reverse the Haqqislam movement. These sages created warrior scholars who strictly adhere to the principles of the HaqqMu'tazilah to form the Khawarij. To be selected to become a Red Turban, one must show their dedication to Haqqislam and their willingness to defend it to the death, a feat that is not easily done because they are highly selective in who gets this honor. After selected, they go through the Runihura program to become super soldiers augmenting their already considerable combat training. These aren't merely front line soldiers though. They are some of the best versed scholars in Haqqislam who study as much as they fight making themselves valuable not only in combat operations but also as leaders and advisers. They have a strict honor code bound in the ideals of HaqqMu'tazilah and will not violate these under any circumstance because they believe that as long as one does not stray from the Word of Allah, Haqqislam can not fall. This is how people have come to look up to them in the highest regard for their scholarly insights as well as their formidable fighting prowess. 

This is how we see the merging of the historical Khawarij with the historical Mu'tazilah movement to create an awesome unit within Infinity. Corvus Belli took a sect of Islam that doesn't have the best past in Islamic history to make it into an honorable warrior who is a champion of humanistic ideals, an aggressor into a defender something that I extremely admire which makes delving into the historical inspiration for these units so fulfilling. The Khawarij are one of my favorite units when it comes to their lore and background which is why I wrote a post finding ways to use them in game. A unit that has an awesome background like this deserves to be used, and shown off, to show why Haqqislam is awesome and why you don't want to mess with it's defenders. Until next time, my friend, continue to seek knowledge.