The Rightly Guided Ones 133was to be considered a kafir, or unbeliever, and immediately expelled
from the Ummah.
Small as this group may have been, they made a lasting contribu-
tion to Muslim thought by arguing that salvation comes solely
through membership in the Ummah, which they considered to be the
charismatic and divine community of God. They divided all Muslims
into two camps: the “People of Heaven,” as the Kharijites referred to
themselves, and the “People of Hell,” by whom they meant everyone
else. In this respect, the Kharijites can be considered the first Muslim
extremists, and although the group itself lasted only a couple of cen-
turies, its austere doctrines were adopted by succeeding generations
of extremists to give religious sanction to their political rebellions
against both Muslim and non-Muslim governments.
Finally, it is important to recognize that regardless of their views
on the nature and function of the Caliphate, no Muslim in seventh-
century Arabia would have recognized the distinction our modern
societies make between the secular and religious. The primary philo-
sophical difference between the Shi‘atu Uthman and the Kharijites,
for instance, was not whether but to what extent religion should play
a role in the governing of the state. Thus, while the Shi‘atu Ali, the
Shi‘atu Uthman, the Shi‘atu Mu‘awiyah, and the Kharijites were
above all else political factions, all four of these groups were also
described in more religiously oriented terms through the use of the
word din, or “religion” (as in din Ali, din Uthman, etc.).
It is difficult to discern where Ali fit into this debate over the
nature and function of the Caliphate because, as will shortly become
apparent, he never had a chance to fully embrace the position. It
seems clear from the decisions he made upon succeeding Uthman that
Ali agreed with the Kharijite position that the Ummah was a divinely
inspired community that could no longer abide either by the imperial
ideals of the Shi‘atu Mu‘awiyah or by the neo-tribal precedents of Abu
Bakr and Umar as envisioned by the Shi‘atu Uthman. Whether Ali
thought the Caliphate should fully encompass Muhammad’s religious
authority is another matter.
Ali was certainly no Kharijite. But he felt deeply his connection to
the Prophet, whom he had known his entire life. The two men grew