I shared this passage before but I just noticed something profound which I never observed before.

The grievance which manefested the hypocricy of Dhu Al-Khuwaysirah was a political one: a misguided sense of justice brought about from their perceived misjudgement of the very authority and source of the law itself – the Messenger of God ﷺ!

i.e. The sole source of his grievance and the entire basis for his sect (kharijism) CANNOT be religious. It MUST be political.

It cannot be a religious misunderstanding as he openly and clearly goes against the very judgement of the Messenger of God ﷺ – the source of our religion. His claim for religiousity simply has no legitimacy despite its religious pretense.

What’s profound is that of all the heretics to emerge, this was one of the only ones to be so clear in their denial of Islam during the time of the Prophet ﷺ. The prophet himself explains in the remainder of the hadith; we will belittle our worship and fasting in comparison to theirs, yet faith never enters their hearts. The significance of this incident occuring during the prophet’s time was to establish the clarity of their heresy. It was to show everyone that despite their claims, their outward form of piety and their apparent stature in worship, they have absolutely nothing to do with Islam.

ISIS today are the manefestation of Dhu Al-Khuwaysirah and his sect. Their sole basis for existence is built upon political grievances guised under the pretense of religion. They delude the fools and uneducated that they hold some religious authority, despite their clear violation of prophetic teaching.

But just as Dhu Al-Khuwaysirah directed his political grievances and denial of the Prophet through feigning piety, ISIS repeat the very same thing today. With every perverted call to jihad they make, they openly violate the essence of every teaching the Prophet ﷺ bought. They claim to follow his guidance, yet it is all a cover for the political grievances which lie at the core of their ideology.