It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): When the Haruriyyah (Khawarij) rebelled, they gathered in a house, and they numbered six thousand. I came to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: "O Commander of the Believers, delay the Zuhr prayer until it is cooler, so that I may go to these people and speak with them." He said: "I fear for you from them." I said: "Kalla (not at all, do not worry)." Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I went out to them wearing the finest garments of Yemen. Abu Zumayl said: Ibn Abbas was an extremely handsome man with a strong voice. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I reached them while they were resting at midday in their house. I greeted them with salam, and they said: "Welcome, O Ibn Abbas! What is this garment?" I said: "What fault do you find with me? I have seen the finest garments on the blessed body of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and this verse was revealed in the Qur'an: 'Say: Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has brought forth for His servants, and the good things of provision?' [Surah Al-A'raf: 32] ." They asked: "What brings you here?" I said: "I have come to you from the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), from the Muhajirun and the Ansar, to convey to you what they say and so that you may tell me what you say. The Qur'an was revealed to these Companions, and they know the meaning of the revelation better than you, while not a single one of them is among you." Some of them said: "Do not argue with Quraysh, for Allah says: 'Rather, they are a quarrelsome people' [Surah Al-Zukhruf: 58] ." Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I had come to a people more diligent in worship than any I had ever seen; their faces were drawn from staying awake at night, their hands and knees had become hard like a camel's knee-pads from much prostration, and they were wearing washed shirts. Some of them said: "We will certainly speak with him and see what he says." I said: "Tell me, what grievance do you hold against the cousin and son-in-law of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and against the Muhajirun and the Ansar?" They said: "Three things." I asked: "What are they?" They said: "The first is that he has made men hakam (arbiters) in the religion of Allah, while Allah says: 'Judgment belongs only to Allah' [Surah Yusuf: 40] . So what do men have to do with judgment?" I said: "That is one. What is the second?" They said: "He fought, but took neither captives nor spoils. If those whom he fought were disbelievers, then their captives and spoils were lawful; and if they were believers, then fighting them was not lawful at all." I said: "That makes two. What is the third?" They said: "He erased the title Commander of the Believers from his name, so (if he is no longer commander of the believers) he is the commander of the disbelievers." I asked: "Is there anything besides this?" They said: "This is enough for us." I said to them: "If I recite to you from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) what refutes your claim, will you be satisfied?" They said: "Yes." I said to them: "As for making men arbiters, I will recite to you the verse in which Allah has given men the authority to judge in the matter of a rabbit, and similar game, worth a quarter of a dirham. Allah says: 'O you who believe, do not kill game while you are in the state of ihram' up to: 'two just men among you shall judge it' [Surah Al-Ma'idah: 95] . I ask you by Allah: is men's judging in the matter of game more important, or their judging in protecting the blood of the Muslims and reconciling between them? And you know that had Allah willed, He would have judged Himself, but He entrusted it to men. Likewise, concerning a husband and wife, Allah said: 'And if you fear a breach between the two, then send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family; if they both desire reconciliation, Allah will bring about harmony between them' [Surah Al-Nisa: 35] . Thus Allah has made the judgment of men an established practice. Have I come out of this objection?" They said: "Yes." I said: "As for not taking captives in battle, would you take your mother Aishah captive and then regard as lawful from her what is regarded as lawful from others? If you did that, you would certainly become disbelievers; and if you said that she is not our mother, you would also become disbelievers, for Allah says: 'The Prophet has a greater claim on the believers than they have on themselves, and his wives are their mothers' [Surah Al-Ahzab: 6] . So you are wandering between two misguidances; whichever way you go, you will find only misguidance." On hearing this, they began looking at one another. I asked: "Have I come out of this objection too?" They said: "Yes." I said: "As for erasing the title Commander of the Believers, I will present to you an example with which you will be satisfied. You must have heard that on the day of Hudaybiyah the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wrote a peace treaty with Suhayl bin Amr and Abu Sufyan bin Harb, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the Commander of the Believers (Ali): 'Write, O Ali: This is what Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, has agreed upon.' The polytheists said: 'By Allah, we do not know that you are the Messenger of Allah; had we known it, we would not have fought you.' Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'O Allah, You know that I am Your Messenger. Write, O Ali: This is the peace made by Muhammad bin Abdullah.' By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is far better than Ali, and by erasing the words 'Messenger of Allah' from his name he did not remove himself from prophethood." Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: So two thousand of them repented and returned, and the rest remained upon their misguidance until they were killed. This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Muslim, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.