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TheNajdat were the sub-sect of theKharijite movement that followedNajda ibn 'Amir al-Hanafi, and in 682 launched a revolt against theUmayyad Caliphate in the historical provinces ofYamama andBahrain, in central and easternArabia.
Among the beliefs of the Najdat were:
After theassassination of the third caliphUthman in 656 by provincial rebels, the caliphatefell into civil war asMu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, a relative of Uthman and the governor ofSyria, challenged the legitimacy of the new caliphAli. The indecisive battle between the two atSiffin ended in an arbitration agreement in July 657. Asserting that human arbitration was invalid as God's command was clear that the rebels (in this case Mu'awiya) had to be fought and overcome, some of Ali's soldiers left the army. They were calledKharijites following this secession.[1] They later fought against Ali in theBattle of Nahrawan in July 658 and were crushed by the Caliph. FollowingAli's assassination in 661 by a Kharijite, Mu'awiya became the sole ruler, establishing theUmayyad Caliphate.[2] During his reign, the Kharijites flourished in the southern Iraqi city ofBasra.[3] Severely repressed by the Iraqi governorZiyad ibn Abih and laterUbayd Allah ibn Ziyad,[3] the Kharijites fled to Arabia around 680.[4]
After Mu'awiya's death in 680, the Muslim empire fell tocivil war. Denouncing the new caliphYazid, theQurayshi leaderAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr established himself in the sanctuary ofMecca.[5] When Yazid sent an army to end the rebellion in 683 andMecca was besieged, Kharijites assistedAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr in defending the city.[4] However, Yazid died in November 683 and Ibn al-Zubayr proclaimed himself caliph. Kharijites, after discovering that Ibn al-Zubayr had proclaimed caliphate and did not share their view of Uthman and condemned his murder, abandoned him.[6] Some of them went toYamama, in central Arabia, under the leadership of Abu Talut, whereas the majority went to Basra. In the meantime, Basran tribal chiefs expelled Ibn Ziyad and the city fell to tribal warfare. Kharijites, under the leadership ofNafi ibn al-Azraq, took over the city, killed the deputy appointed by Ibn Ziyad and broke 140 of their comrades free from Ibn Ziyad's prison.[7] Soon afterwards, Basrans recognized Ibn al-Zubayr and he appointedUmar ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Ma'mar his governor there. Umar drove the Kharijites out of Basra and they escaped toAhwaz.[8][9] Doctrinal differences between Nafi andNajda ibn Amir al-Hanafi, another of the leaders, led to a split within the group.[6]
Najda, with his followers, returned to Yamama and the faction became known as Najdat.[6] In 685, after some particular successes, the Kharijite faction of Abu Talut recognized Najda as their leader. Najda started raiding towns in Ibn al-Zuabyr's domains.[10] In 687 a group led by Atiyya ibn al-Aswad split up and headed toSistan where they founded their own Kharijite branch. In the same year, Najda invadedYemen and seized it, includingSanaa, and his lieutenant Abu-Fudayk conquered theHadramaut. The Najdat now controlled the most peripheral areas of the caliphate and therefore most adequate to avoid the oppression of caliphate forces. The Najdat then began their conquest ofHejaz where, after the defeat of Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, they suffered an attack fromMuhammad's cousin Abd Allah ibn Abbas. Here they blocked supplies toMecca andMedina and isolatedTaizz, but did not want to attack the holy villages.[citation needed]
The Kharijite Najdat faction and Najda bin Amir al-Hanafi excommunicated Husayn bin Numayr, fighting against them in the Battle of Jabal al-Haruriyya. In this battle, eight thousand of ummayed soldier were killed, while Husayn bin Numayr managed to escape.[11]
At this point the Najdat dominated almost all of Arabia. However, an ideological split severed their ranks, between those who favored the continuation of the fight against the Umayyad "usurpers" and those who were in favor of a treaty withDamascus. Subsequently, some of Najda's supporters began to object to certain beliefs of his and rebelled against him. The intransigents, led by 'Atiya al-it Hanafī, took refuge in the Iranian region ofHelmand, assuming the title of Atawiyya, while some more radical Najdat, led by Abu Fudayk, murdered Najda himself in 691 and took his place. They later tried to fight against the Umayyad caliphAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan. In 692 Fudayk repelled a caliphate attack from Basra, but they were eventually defeated by the caliphate in 693, at the battle of Mushahhar.[citation needed]
Politically exterminated, Najdat retreated into obscurity and disappeared around the tenth century.[12][13]
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