ʿImrān ibn Hitān, al-Sunnī (meaning that he was a sunnī) thumma (then he became a) al-Khārijī: He adopted the madh`hab of the khawārij during the later stages of his life. The reason for that was his cousin (female) was of the madh`hab of the khawārij, so he wanted to make her change; however, she ended up making him change to her madh`hab!¹

Ibn Kathīr further stated:

“ʿImrān ibn Hitān Al-Khārijī: At first he was from Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah. However he married a very beautiful woman from the Khawārij and he loved her immensely, whereas he was unattractive. Thus he wanted to change her to the Sunnah but she refused, hence he deviated along with her to her madh`hab. He was a prolific poet. He is the one who praised the killer of ʿAlī (ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muljim) by stating the following:

“A strike from an ever-repentant one; he did not do it except to attain the pleasure of the One who possesses the ‘Arsh. Indeed, I will always remember this act for I consider him one to be of the most faithful servants in the sight of Allāh.”²

Imām al-Dhahabī’s wife told him, “I and you will be in Jannah together because you were blessed (i.e. to have a very pretty wife) and you showed gratitude, and I was tested and I was patient.”³

As Abū ‘Āliyyah said:

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“Two favours Allāh bestowed upon me and I don’t know which is greater than the other: the first one is that He made me a Muslim, and second is that He did not make me a Harūrī (i.e. a Khārijī).” ⁴

Endnotes:

1. At-Tah-dhīb (8/167-168)
2. Al-Bidāyah wan-Nihāyah (9/65)
3. Siyar ʿalámu-Nubala (4/213)
4. It is interesting to note that he is one of the narrators of ḥadīth whose ḥadīth are in Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī