The Effect of Khawarej Sect on Khuzestan Transformations during the Omavid Caliphate

Masoud Moradi[1]
Maryam Shajiravi[2]

Abstract

The geographical location of Khuzestan and its vicinity to the Islamic power centers in Kufeh and Damascus made Arabian tribes— who were in ideological conflicts with the Islamic caliphate—settle there. Khawarej, during the caliphate of Ali Ibn Abitaleb (A), laid the foundations of rebels in Khuzestan. During Umayyad era, the inclinations towards foreign thoughts increased in the region and its adjoining lands due to a number of political and economic reasons and practical deviations in political and economic manners of Omavid caliphs. Different sects of Khawarej, particularly Azareqhe and Safariyeh, settled in Khuzestan, and rose to power in no time. Adopting a descriptive research method and taking advantage of valid historical sources, the present study aims at analyzing and explicating the role of Khawarej sect in Khuzestan's historical transformations and attempts to investigate the effect of Khawarej on Khuzestan transformations during the Omavid caliphate, while answering to a number of relevant questions. The findings reveal that the ideologies and activities of Khawarej created chasm between people and Omavid caliphate. Having resorted to Khawarej, they could resist the frequent trooping of Omavid caliphate for at least two decades, and they gradually changed into a dangerous agent for destroying the Omavids by joining other uprisings.