Wikipedia's first sentence called it “extremist branch of khawarij”. Today it says “extremist branch of the kharijites who followed the leadership of nafi ibn al-azraq”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2020
Azariqa ( , al-azāriqa ) were a extremist branch of Khawarij , who followed the leadership of Nafi ibn al-Azraq al-Hanafī al-Handhalī.1 Adherents of Azraqism participated in an armed struggle against the rulers of the Umayyad Caliphate , and they declared those who avoided this duty infidels - kafirs - and allowed their murder. Nafi ibn al-Azraq even permitted the killing of women and children of his opponents. At the same time, the Azraqites did not extend the principle of killing “apostates” to Christians and Jews, since they believed that they did not betray the teachings of the prophets Jesus and Moses . Like all Kharijites , they declared Muslims who committed great sins ( al- Kabā'ir ) to be unfaithful, and claimed that they would eternally suffer in hellfire. The Azraqites denied the principle of “prudent concealment of faith” ( takiya ). They recognized the imamate as “worthy” ( أفضل ʾafḍal ), that is, the applicant who would come up with arms and call people to fight “unbelievers” and would not allow the imamate to be “surpassed” ( مفضول mafḍūl ). Based on this, they declared the caliph Ali ibn Abu Talib , Usman ibn Affan and their adherents unbelievers. The Azraqites considered the territories beyond their control to be the " land of war " ( دار الحرب Dār al-Ḥarb ), and its population was subject to extermination.2
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 951980080.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
The Azariqa ( , al-azāriqa ) were an extremist branch of Khawarij , who followed the leadership of Nafi ibn al-Azraq al-Hanafi . Adherents of Azraqism participated in an armed struggle against the rulers of the Umayyad Caliphate , and they declared those who avoided this duty infidels - kafirs - and allowed their murder. Nafi ibn al-Azraq even permitted the killing of women and children of his opponents. At the same time, the Azraqites did not extend the principle of killing “apostates” to Christians and Jews, since they believed that they did not betray the teachings of the prophets Jesus and Moses . Like all Kharijites , they declared Muslims who committed great sins ( al- Kabā'ir ) to be unfaithful, and claimed that they would eternally suffer in hellfire. The Azraqites denied the principle of “prudent concealment of faith” ( takiya ). They recognized the imamate as “worthy” ( أفضل ʾafḍal ), that is, the applicant who would come up with arms and call people to fight “unbelievers” and would not allow the imamate to be “surpassed” ( مفضول mafḍūl ). Based on this, they declared the caliph Ali ibn Abu Talib , Uthman ibn Affan and their adherents unbelievers. The Azraqites considered the territories beyond their control to be the " land of war " ( دار الحرب Dār al-Ḥarb ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1098939589.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Islamic sect Not to be confused with Azraqi .The Azariqa ( Arabic : الأزارقة , romanized : al-ʾAzāriqa ) were an extremist branch of the Kharijites who followed the leadership of Nafi ibn al-Azraq . Adherents of Azraqism participated in an armed struggle against the rulers of the Umayyad Caliphate , and they declared those who avoided this duty infidels - kafirs - and allowed their murder. Nafi ibn al-Azraq even permitted the killing of women and children of his opponents. At the same time, the Azraqites did not extend the principle of killing “apostates” to Christians and Jews, since they believed that they did not betray the teachings of the prophets Jesus and Moses . Like all Kharijites, they declared Muslims who committed great sins ( al- Kabā'ir ) to be unfaithful, and claimed that they would eternally suffer in hellfire. The Azraqites denied the principle of “prudent concealment of faith” ( takiya ). They recognized the imamate as “worthy” ( أفضل ʾafḍal ), that is, the applicant who would come up with arms and call people to fight “unbelievers” and would not allow the imamate to be “surpassed” ( مفضول mafḍūl ). Based on this, they declared the caliph Ali ibn Abu Talib , Uthman ibn Affan and their adherents unbelievers. The Azraqites considered the territories beyond their control to be the " land of war " ( دار الحرب Dār al-Ḥarb ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1280396367. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “extremist branch of khawarij”. Today it says “extremist branch of the kharijites who followed the leadership of nafi ibn al-azraq”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
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What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since October 7, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
extremist branch of khawarij
Now
extremist branch of the kharijites who followed the leadership of nafi ibn al-azraq
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.