It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) mentioned some people from his Ummah who will appear at the time of division and discord in the Ummah. Their sign will be that they will shave their heads. They are the worst of creation. The group that is closer to the truth will kill them. On this occasion, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) presented an example: a man shoots an arrow at game (the arrow passes through the blood and dung of the prey), but he sees nothing on the tip of the arrow. He sees no effect on its shaft. There is no mark on its feathers. (In the same way, reciting the Noble Qur'an will have no effect on them.)

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The Khawarij are the dogs of Hell.

It is narrated from Uthman Shahham, he says: Muslim bin Abi Bakrah narrated to us that he asked him whether he had heard any hadith regarding the Khawarij? He said: I heard my father, Sayyiduna Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him), say that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Beware! Soon there will arise from my Ummah people who will be harsh and severe in religious matters, their tongues will be very skilled with the Qur'an, but it will not go below their collarbones. When you see them, kill them. Then I say again, when you see them, kill them. The one who kills them will be deserving of reward.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Tufail (may Allah be pleased with him) that during the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), a son was born to a man. He brought the child to the service of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took hold of the skin of the child’s face and prayed for blessings for him. As a result, hair grew on the child’s forehead in the shape of a bow, and the child grew up. When the era of the Khawarij came, the child inclined towards them and began to love them, so the hair on his face fell off. Seeing this, his father caught him, imprisoned him, and kept him confined, fearing that he might fully join them. Sayyiduna Abu Tufail (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We went to him and gave him advice and admonition, and in our words we also said to him,“Do you not see that the blessing of the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has fallen from your forehead?”We continued to admonish him until he turned away from the opinion of the Khawarij. Allah Almighty accepted his repentance, and after that, hair grew again on his forehead.

It is narrated from Zaid bin Wahb, he says: When the emergence of the Khawarij occurred at Nahrawan, Sayyiduna Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, stood among his companions and said: These people have shed innocent blood and have plundered the livestock of the people, and they are also the closest among your enemies. There is a fear that if you go towards your other enemy, these people will attack the remaining individuals and wealth after you. I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: A group will arise in my Ummah such that your prayers and fasts will be nothing compared to their prayers and fasts, and your recitation will not be able to match their recitation. They will recite the Qur’an and think that it is in their favor, whereas in reality it will be against them, and it will not go below their throats. They will exit from Islam just as an arrow passes through its prey without leaving any mark. Their sign is that one man among them will have only the upper part of his arm, and the part below the elbow will not be there, and that too will be like a breast, and there will be some white hairs on it. If those who kill them knew, from the statement of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, about their action and its reward, they would suffice with this action and leave off other deeds. So set out in the name of Allah. After this, the rest of the hadith was mentioned.

It is narrated from Tariq bin Ziyad, he says: We set out in the company of Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) to confront the Khawarij. Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) killed them and then said: Look, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had said that soon a people will emerge who will speak words of truth, but it will not go beyond their throats. They will exit from the truth just as an arrow passes through its prey. Their sign is that among them there will be a man who is dark-skinned and has a defective hand, and on his hand there will be black hair. Now see, if any of the slain is such a person, then you have killed the worst of people, and if none of the slain is such, then you have killed the best of people. Then we actually found a slain man with a defective hand like that, so we all fell in prostration before Allah Almighty, and Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) also fell in prostration with us.

Abu Wadi’i ‘Abad says: We were traveling towards Kufa in the company of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). When we had gone two or three nights’ distance beyond Harura, many of our people separated from us. We mentioned this to Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: Do not let this action of theirs worry you; these people will soon return. After that, he narrated the whole hadith. Then Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) praised and glorified Allah and said: My beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed me that the leader of these people will be a man with an incomplete hand, and on his nipple there will be some hair, like the tail of a certain kind of small mouse. Now you people search for him. They did not find any such man among them. We came to him and said: We did not find any such man. He said: Search again. By Allah, neither have I spoken falsely nor was I told anything false. He repeated this three times. We said: We did not find any such man. Then Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) himself came and said: Turn him over and look, turn him over. Until a man from Kufa came and said: Here is that man. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said Allahu Akbar and then said: No man will be able to tell you who his father is. People began to say: This is Malik, this is Malik. He said: Then tell me, whose son is he?

(Second chain) Abu Wadi'i says: We were going towards Kufa in the company of Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him. Then he mentioned the hadith related to the man with the defective hand. Sayyiduna Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said three times: By Allah! Neither have I lied nor has a lie been narrated to me. Then he said: My beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed me that among the jinn there are three brothers: this one is the eldest, the second has a very large group, and the third is weak and feeble.

It is narrated from Ubaidah, he says: When Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) killed the people of Nahrawan, he said: Search for the slain man of this description. The people found him fallen in a pit beneath the slain. They took him out, and Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) turned to his companions and said: If I did not fear that you would fall into pride and arrogance, I would tell you what Allah Almighty has promised, through the words of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), for the killers of these people. I said: O Ali! Did you yourself hear this from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? He said: Yes, by the Lord of the Ka'bah.

It is narrated from Saeed bin Jumhan, he says: We were fighting against the Khawarij, and with us was Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him). One of his slaves went and joined the Khawarij. They were on one side and we were on the other. We called out to him, "Abu Fairoz! Abu Fairoz, your master Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him) is here." He said: "If he comes for migration, then very good." Sayyiduna Ibn Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "What is that enemy of Allah saying?" We said: "He is saying that he is a good man if he migrates." Upon hearing this, Ibn Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Is there any migration after the migration with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?" Then he said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: Glad tidings for the one who kills them or whom they kill."