Ali conflict Battle of Nahrawan
Formation of the Kharijites
As Ali returned to Kufa, some 12,000 of his men seceded and gathered outside of Kufa in protest to the arbitration agreement. Ali visited them and told them that they had opted for the arbitration despite his warnings. The seceders agreed and told Ali that they had repented for their sins and now demanded that Ali followed suit. To this, he responded with the general declaration, "I repent to God and ask for his forgiveness for every sin," and also ensured them that the judgment of the arbitrators would not be binding if they deviated from the Quran and Sunna. He thus largely regained their support at the time. But when the seceders returned to Kufa, they spread that Ali had nullified the arbitration agreement, which he denied, saying that he was committed to the formal agreement with Mu'awiya. Many of the dissidents apparently accepted Ali's position, while the rest left for al-Nahrawan, a town near al-Mada'in, and there declared Abd-Allah ibn Wahb al-Rasibi (d. 658) as their leader. These formed the Kharijites (lit. 'seceders'), who later took up arms against Ali in the Battle of Nahrawan (658). As for their motives, the Kharijites, among them many of the qurra, may have feared being held accountable for their role in the assassination of Uthman. Alternatively, the Kharijites were disillusioned with the arbitration process, particularly by the removal of Ali's title of amir al-mu'minin in the final agreement and by its reference to the Sunna next to the Quran. After being silent about it initially, the Syrians now said that they also wanted the arbitrators to judge whether the killing of Uthman was justified, about which the qurra had no doubts. The Kharijites adopted the slogan, "No judgment but that of God," highlighting their rejection of the arbitration (by men) in reference to the Quranic verse 49:9, "If two parties among the believers fall to fighting, make peace between them. If one of them aggresses against the other, fight those who aggress until they return to God’s Command. And if they return, make peace between them with justice and act equitably. Truly God loves the just." When they interrupted Ali's sermon with this slogan, he commented that it was a word of truth by which the seceders sought falsehood. He added that they were repudiating government even though a ruler was indispensable in the conduct of religion. Ali nevertheless did not bar their entry to mosques or deprive them of their shares in the treasury, saying that they should be fought only if they initiate hostilities.
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