Wasil ibn `Ata called himself a polytheist and escaped from their harm.

Wasil ibn `Ata called himself a polytheist and escaped from their harm. The story goes that Wasil and some of his companions came across a band of Khawarij. Wasil warned his men that they were faced with Khawarij and must maintain their silence and that he would speak on their behalf.

Saying this he went near the Khawarij and said, “We are polytheists and want to seek your protection and to learn about the do’s and don’ts of the Qur’an and act according to them.” Wasil said that they believed him and started teaching about the norms of the Qur’an and they kept nodding their heads. When Wasil and his men agreed to what the Khawarij talked about, they said that now they were brothers and could go wherever they wanted to. Wasil…