Who are the Qaraamitah?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

The Qaraamitah are the followers of a destructive movement that was initiated by Hamdaan ibn Al-Ash‘ath, also known as “Qirmit” because he was a short man with short legs. This meaning is denoted from the Arabic word.

Their main beliefs are as follows:

•       Abolishing fundamental Islamic rulings such as prayer, fasting and other obligatory acts.

•       Not believing in the Hereafter and punishment. They believe that Paradise is worldly pleasures while torment is the preoccupation of the followers of the Sharee‘ah with prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and Jihaad. 

•       Allowing men to share women under the pretext of eliminating causes of mutual hatred. 

•       Interpreting the fundamentals of Islam figuratively; they believe that fasting is abstaining from revealing secrets, Ba‘th (Resurrection) is being guided to their school of thought, a prophet is a person upon whom the first god conferred a pure holy power, and the Quran is Muhammad’s expression of the knowledge that was conferred upon him.

•       Believing in the existence of two ancient gods, with one of them being the reason behind the existence of the other. However, the first one created the world with by the help of the second, not by himself. They disguise their thoughts of disbelief behind the emotional slogan of loving the household of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and that they were wronged. They deceive the common people who are often fooled by their claims.   

And Allaah Knows best.