459. al-Amwāl – narrating from Kathir ibn Namir: “A man brought another man from the Khawārij to Ali (a.s.) and said, ‘O Commander of the Faithful! I saw this man cursing you.’
He said: “Curse him back, the same way as he cursed me.”
He said: “He has threatened you!”
Ali (a.s.) said: “I will not kill a person who has not killed me.”
Then he said: “They have three rights over us: not to prevent them from the mosques where they utter the name of God; not to deprive them of public assets so long as their hands are in ours and not to fight against them until they begin to fight against us.”1
460. al-Musannif – narrating from Kathir ibn Namir: “A man brought another man from the Khawārij to Ali (a.s.) and said he [and his group] have threatened you and then ran away and I caught this man.”
The Imām said: “Should I kill the person who has not killed me?”
The man said: ‘He cursed you!”
He said: “You either curse him or let him go.”2
See The Encyclopedia of Commander of the Faithful, VI, 390 (The Imām’s patience with the persecutions of the Khawārij and his tolerance towards them).
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Exiling or Detaining the Plotters
461. Sharh Nahj al-Balāghah: “It is narrated that `Umrān ibn Husayn was one of those who had deviated from Ali (a.s.) and he (a.s.) had exiled him to Madā'in for he had said: “If Ali dies, I do not know how his death will come! And if he is to be killed – that I hope he will – I look forward to that!”3
1.. al-Amwāl, p. ۲۴۵, h. ۵۶۷, Kanz al-`Ummāl, vol. ۱۱, p. ۳۰۰, h. ۳۱۵۶۹.
2.. al-Musannif fi al-Ahādith wa al-Athār, vol. ۸, p. ۶۱۴, h. ۱۴۷, Kanz al-`Ummāl, vol. ۱۱, p. ۳۱۹, h. ۳۱۶۱۶.
3.. Sharh Nahj al-Balāghah, vol. ۴, p. ۷۷.
