Kharijites 423Hudson, 1987); Françoise Henry, The Book of Kells with a
Study of the Manuscript(London: Thames and Hudson,
1974); George Otto Simms, Exploring the Book of Kells
(Dublin: O’Brien Press, 1988).
Kempe, Margery (Burnham, Brunham)(ca. 1373–ca.
1439)subject of a 15th-century biography
Margery’s vernacular biography Book of Margery Kempe
provides remarkable documentation about an illiterate
Christian woman in 15th-century society and survives
in a single manuscript in the British Library. She was
born to an upper-middle-class family about 1373; her
father, John Burnham (d. 1413), was mayor
in King’s Lynn in Norfolk. Margery married, had 14
children, became a widow, and converted to a serious
religious life in 1413, modeling herself on BIRGITTAof
Sweden. She allegedly spoke with Christ; apparently did
make pilgrimages to CANTERBURY, JERUSALEM, ROME,
SANTIAGO DICOMPOSTELA, and SPAIN; and spoke in front
of crowds, dangerous to do in a period when LOLLARD
heretics were persecuted for taking on clerical roles.
Her activities provoked rumors of exhibitionism and
hysteria, but she was never convicted of Lollardism.
Her biography has been viewed as a source of great psy-
chological and sociological importance. She died about
1439.
See alsoCELIBACY;JULIAN OF NORWICH; MYSTICISM,
CHRISTIAN.
Further reading: Margery Kempe, The Book of
Margery Kempe,trans. B. A. Windeatt (New York: Pen-
guin, 1985); Clarissa W. Atkinson, Mystic and Pilgrim:
The “Book” and the World of Margery Kempe(Ithaca, N.Y.:
Cornell University Press, 1983); Karma Lochrie, Margery
Kempe and Translations of the Flesh(Philadelphia: Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania Press, 1991); Lynn Staley, Margery
Kempe’s Dissenting Fictions(University Park: Pennsylvania
State University Press, 1994).
Kempis, Thomas à SeeTHOMAS ÀKEMPIS.
Kenneth MacAlpin SeeMACALPIN,KENNETH.
Khaldun, Ibn SeeIBNKHALDUN,WALI AL-DINABD AL-
RAHMAN IBNMUHAMMAD.
Khalid ibn al-Walid (d. 641)Arab commander
From the clan of Makhzum in the tribe of QURAYSH,he
initially fought against MUHAMMADbut later converted
about 628 and received the nickname “the sword of GOD”
from Muhammad himself. Exploiting superior mobility,
made possible by forced camel marches through the
desert, he used an element of surprise in his attacks
against the BYZANTINEEMPIRE. This was demonstrated by
his sudden appearance in March 635 before DAMASCUS,
which fell after a brief siege. On August 20, 636, in the
valley of the Yarmuk River, the eastern tributary of the
Jordan River, Khalid won his most famous victory by
utterly destroying a Byzantine army. This victory assured
ARABdomination of SYRIAand PALESTINE. He died in par-
tial disgrace in 641.
See alsoIRAQ;ISLAMIC CONQUESTS AND EMPIRE;SYRIA.
Further reading: Patricia Crone, “Kha ̄lid ibn al-
Walı ̄d,” Encyclopedia of Islam 4.928–929; S. K. Malik,
Khalid bin Walid, the General of Islam: A Study in Khalid’s
Generalship(Karachi: Ferozsons, 1968); A. I. Akram, The
Sword of Allah, Khalid bin al-Waleed: His Life and Cam-
paigns (Karachi: National Publishing House, 1970);
Masudul Hasan, Khalid bin Walid: The Sword of God
(Lahore: Ferozsons, 1978).khalifa SeeCALIPH AND CALIPHATE.Kharijites (Khawarij, Seceders “those who went out”)
The Kharijites were a vigorously moral Muslim sect
whose origin occurred, as did that of SHIISM, during the
early period of ISLAM. After the murder of UTHMANin
656/657, the partisans of the caliph ALIibn Abi Talib and
those of the future caliph Muawiya (r. 661–680) met each
other at a potentially decisive battle at Siffin. After some
confrontation, the two sides decided to go to arbitration.
One group, which had so far supported Ali, strongly
rejected this procedure, claiming only GODcould decide
the succession of the caliph. Some secretly left the nearby
town of al-Kufa in February–March of 658, acquiring
their name of Kharijites or “those who went out.”
This conflict was about the nomination and role of
the caliph. The partisans of Ali (the later Shiites) believed
that the caliph could only be a descendant of Muham-
mad. Those of Muawiya supported the legitimacy of the
new UMAYYADdynasty. The Kharijites claimed that the
caliph had to be chosen on purely religious and moral
criteria—he should be the best Muslim believer—so in
effect they opposed both sides. This idea appealed to the
non-Arabic converted peoples. Moreover, for the Khari-
jites, since every Muslim was responsible for his or her
acts or justification by faith or works, any caliph who
committed sins against Islam had to be killed. It was a
religious duty to remove and murder him.
In IRAQ and IRAN, the Kharijites always fought
against the Umayyads and then against the ABBASIDS.
By the ninth century, the Abbasids had reduced them to
scattered minority sects throughout their empire. In the
AL-MAGHRIB, such ideas flourished for a long while
among the newly converted BERBERS. However, there,
too, the sect was eventually reduced to small scattered
communities.
Further reading: Sirat Salim ibn Dhakwan, The
Epistle of Salim ibn Dhakwan,ed. Patricia Crone and