Turmah has rightly said about the habits of Banū-Tamim...

Turmah has rightly said about the habits of Banū-Tamim: “Banū-Tamim cannot forget the ways of depravity the same way that a bird cannot forget its way.

They will go astray even if they come to the righteous path.” When Banū-Tamim came to al-Madinah as a delegation, and went to the presence of the Prophet (a.s) to embrace Islam, one of them shouted, “O Muhammad (a.s), come out!” Because of this way of addressing, the following verse was revealed concerning Banū-Tamim: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُنَادُونَكَ مِنْ وَرَاءِ الْحُجُرَاتِ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ.

“As for those who call out to you from behind the private chambers, surely most of them do not understand. (49/4)” After the Prophet (a.s), a majority of them recanted the Faith. The infamous claimant of prophethood, Sujah bint al-Harith, was from this tribe. She created rifts amongst the Muslims and encouraged mischief. It can therefore be said about Banū-Tamim that in their hearts Islam was not etched and their intrinsic hypocrisy came out either in the form of apostasy or rebellion.

It was their instinct of mischief that made them rise against Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s). One group has termed the Khawarij as Shi`ah to create an impression that the Shi`ah had converted the victory of `Ali (a.s) into failure and then forsook him and later on they came to fight with him. They present this episode as his political ineptitude. No doubt, these people were in the army of Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s), but calling them the Shi`ah of `Ali (a.s) and blaming Shi`ism is not right.

In the army of the Imam (a.s), there were not men of one sect only. Certainly there was a group who believed his Imamate was through Nass and, because of his being the Vicegerent of the Prophet (a.s), they considered it their bounden duty to obey him and his disobedience as Haram. These people never changed sides nor left him under any circumstances.

There was another group that was larger considered his caliphate as the result of the support of the majority the way they had accepted the earlier caliph. In the same order they accepted him as the fourth in the lineage of the caliphs. They were attached to others before `Ali (a.s) became the caliph. After he assumed the caliphate they left Mu`awiyah and came to his side.

From them one group, when they felt that `Ali (a.s) would not approve of their ways, found an excuse and veered away from the Imam (a.s).

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