page_title: History of early Islamic Tunisia
section_title: Kharijite revolt
hierarchical_section_title: History of early Islamic Tunisia / Independent Berber Islam / Kharijite revolt
caption_attribution_description: English: Rustamid Dynasty 776 - 909 (AD)
context_page_description: The History of early Islamic Tunisia opens with the arrival of the Arabs who brought their language and the religion of Islam, and its calendar. The Arab conquest followed strategy designed by the Umayyad Caliphate regarding its long-term conflict with the Byzantine Empire. The native Berbers eventually converted to Islam. They might have seen some similarities between themselves and the Arabs, in similar cognate culture, such as familiarity with a pastoral way of life. The first local Islamic ruling house, the Aghlabids, consisted primarily of rule by leading members of this Arab tribe. Fundamental elements of Islamic civilization were established. Although accepting Islam, many Berbers nonetheless resisted rule by the Arabs, establishing the Rustamid kingdom followiing the Kharijite revolt. Next in Ifriqiya arose the Shia Fatimids, inspired by a few immigrants from the east yet consisting for the most part of Ifriqiya Berbers. The Fatimids later expanded their rule east, through conquest by Berber armies of Egypt, and established their caliphate there which came to include Syria and the Hejaz.
context_section_description: The origins of the Rustamid state can be traced to the Berber Kharijite (Ar: Khawarij) revolt (739-772) against the new Arab Sunni power that was being established across North Africa following the Islamic conquest. Originating in Mesopotamia, the Kharijite movement had begun in protest against the fourth caliph Ali, who consented to negotiate during a Muslim civil war (656-661) despite his superior army in the field; as a result some of his armed forces left the camp, hence the movement of the Khawarij ["those who go out"]. Originally puritan in outlook, being of the ummah of Islam for a believer indicated a perfection of the soul, yet sin constituted a schism, a split from other believers, the sinner becoming an apostate. The leader must be above reproach, yet could be non-Arab. Never attaining lasting success, but persisting in its struggles, the Kharijite movement remains today only in its Ibadi branch, with small minorities in isolated locales throughout the Muslim world. The Ibadis predominate in Oman.
  In the Maghrib the un-Islamic tax policies imposed on the Muslim Berbers by the new Arab Islamic regime (levying the kharaj [land tax] and the jizya [poll tax] meant only for infidels) provoked a widespread armed resistance, which came to be led by Kharijite Berbers. The widespread struggle of this movement included victories, e.g., the "battle of the nobles" in 740. Later the Kharijites became divided and eventually were defeated after some decades. Arab historians remark that the 772 defeat of the Kharijite Berbers by an Abbasid army in battle near Tripoli was "the last of 375 battles" the Berbers had fought for their rights against armies from the East. Yet the Kharijites persisted under the Rustamids. Even until today across North Africa they practice still, small island communities of this religious minority within Islam.
caption: Kharijite revolt (739-772) at flood tide, precursor to the Rustamid state (776-909).
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