Ali as Caliph
Encyclopedia
Ali was the caliph
between 656 and 661 CE which was one of the hardest periods in Muslim history
and coincided with the first Muslim civil war
. He reigned over Rashidun empire
which was extended from Central Asia
in the east to North Africa
in the west. Many Muslims consider his government as the Islamic style of justice and tolerance on one side and tough following of Islamic law
on the other.
encountered with some difficulties. The rebels were divided into several groups comprising Muhajerin, Ansar
, Egypt
ians, Kufa
ns and Basntes. There were three candidates Ali, Talhah and Al-Zubayr. First they referred to Ali and asked him to accept the caliphate. Also some Companions of Muhammad
tried to persuade him to accept the office. But he refused and answered:
Leave me and seek some one else. We are facing a matter which has (several) faces and colors, which neither hearts can stand nor intelligence can accept. Clouds are hovering over the sky, and faces are not discernible. You should know that if I respond to you I would lead you as I know and would not care about whatever one may say or abuse. If you leave me then I am the same as you are. It is possible I would listen to and obey whomever you make in charge of your affairs. I am better for you as a counselor than as chief.
Then rebels offered the caliphate to Talhah and Al-Zubayr and some other companions but they refused it too. Therefore they threatened that, unless the people of Medina choose a caliph within one day, they would be forced to take some drastic action. In order to resolve the deadlock all of the Muslims gathered in Mosque of Prophet
in 18 June 656CE. (19th Dhu al-Hijjah
35AH.) to chose the caliph. Ali refused to accept caliphate by the fact that the people who pressed him hardest were the rebels, and he therefore declined at first. When the notable companions of Muhammad as well as people who live in Medina urged him, however, he finally agreed.
According to Abu Mekhnaf's narration Talhah was the first prominent companion who gave his pledge but the other narrations claim they didn't do so or even somebody forced them to do so. However he and Al-Zubayr later claimed they did so reluctantly, but Ali refused this claim and said that they did so voluntarily. Mudelong
believe that force was not used to urge people to give their pledge and they pledged in public in the mosque.
While the overwhelming majority of people who lived in Medina as well as rebels gave their pledge, some major figures did not. Umayyad
s, kins of Uthman, escaped to Levant
or remained in their houses and later refused Ali's legitimacy. Sa`ad ibn Abi Waqqas were absent and Abdullah ibn Umar abstained from offering his allegiance but both of them assured Ali that they wouldn't do anything against Ali.
Another prominent figure who was in Mecca
at that time and later opposed Ali, was A'isha, Muhammad's widow.
At the beginning Ali told people that Muslim polity had come to be plagued by dissension and discord and he want to purge Islam of all evil from which it had come to suffer. Then warned all concerned that he would tolerate no sedition and all found guilty of subversive activities would be dealt with harshly. He advised people to behave as true Muslims.
But he soon found that he was helpless and the prisoner of the people who didn't obey him. The caliphate had come to him as the gift of the rebels and he didn't have enough force to control or punish them. When some people asked Ali to punish those who killed Uthman, Ali answered, "How do I have the power for it while those who assaulted him are in the height of their power. They have superiority over us, not we over them." While A'isha, Talhah, Al-Zubayr and Umayyad especially Muawiyah I
wanted to take revenge for Uthman's death and punish the rioters who had killed him. However some historians believe that they use this issue to seek their political ambitions due to they found Ali's caliphate against their own benefit.
Soon after Ali became caliph, he dismissed provincial governors who had been appointed by Uthman, and replaced them with trusted aides. He acted against the counsel of Mughrah ibn Shobah and Ibn Abbas, who had advised him to proceed cautiously. Madelung says Ali was deeply convinced of his right and his religious mission, unwilling to compromise his principles for the sake of political expediencey, ready to fight against overwhelming odds. Muawiyah, kinsman of Uthman and governor of Levant
refused to submit to Ali's orders - the only governor to do this.
After the Battle of Bassorah
Ali transferred his capital from Medina to Kufa, the Muslim garrison city in Iraq
. Kufa was in the middle of Islamic land and had strategic position.
Ali resumed the land which had been granted by Uthman and swore to resume whatever some elites had taken before him. He opposed the centralization of capital control over provincial revenues and favored an equal distribution of taxes and booty among the Muslims; in contrast to Umar he distributed the entire revenue of the divan
among Muslims without keeping anything in reserve. When asked to pay more money to elites he said "Do you command me that I should seek support by oppressing those over whom I have been placed? By Allah, I won't do so as long as the world goes on, and as long as one star leads another in the sky. Even if it were my property, I would have distributed it equally among them, then why not when the property is that of Allah."
Ali believed that people and governors have rights over each other and God created these rights so as to equate with one another. The greatest of these rights that Allah has made obligatory is the right of the ruler over the ruled and the right of the ruled over the ruler. If the ruled fulfill the rights of the ruler and the ruler fulfills their rights, then right attains the position of honor among them, the ways of religion become established, signs of justice become fixed and the sunnah
gains currency. He wrote directions for his officials which clearly show what form of regime he wanted to introduce. It was not to be a regime whose officers had an upper hand and were fattened on public money. It was to be a regime where the governed and the tax-payers were at premium. It was their convenience for which the State was to function. It was a welfare-state working solely for the welfare of the people living under its rule, a regime where the rich cannot get richer while the poor are made poorer; a regime where canons of religion hold the balance between the governed and the ruler. He asked people not to speak with him as they spoke with cruel governors and be honest with him.
Ali had decisive beliefs that he shouldn't start a war with other Muslims but when the enemy started it his army wouldn't retreat unless they wanted to attack again. He ordered his soldiers not to kill who would become injured, or not be able to defend himself, or escape from the battlefield and injuries and wanted his warriors not to injure women.
(nation). Ali was first opposed by a faction led by Talhah, Al-Zubayr and the Muhammad's wife, Aisha
bint Abu Bakr. This group was known as disobedients (Nakithin) by their enemies. First they gathered in Mecca then moved to Basra
with the expectation of finding the necessary forces and resources to mobilize people in what is now Iraq. The rebels occupied Basra, killing many people. When Ali asked them for obedience and a pledge of allegiance, they refused. The two parties met at the Battle of Bassorah
(Battle of the Camel) in 656, where Ali emerged victorious.
Then he appointed Ibn Abbas governor of Basra
and moved his capital to Kufa
. Later he was challenged by Muawiyah I
, the governor of Levant
and the cousin of Uthman
, who refused Ali's demands for allegiance and called for revenge for Uthman. Ali opened negotiations with him with the hope of regaining his allegiance but Muawiyah insisted on Levant autonomy under his rule. Muawiyah replied by mobilizing his Levant
n supporters and refusing to pay homage to Ali on the pretext that his contingent had not participated in his election. The two armies encamped themselves at Siffin for more than one hundred days, most of the time being spent in negotiations. Although, Ali exchanged several letters with Muawiyah, he was unable to dismiss the latter, nor persuade him to pledge allegiance. Skirmishes between the parties led to the Battle of Siffin
in 657. After a week of combat was followed by a violent battle known as laylat al-harir (the night of clamor) the Muawiyah's army were on the point of being routed when Amr ibn al-Aas advised Muawiyah to have his soldiers hoist mushaf
(either parchments inscribed with verses of the Qur'an, or complete copies of it) on their spearheads in order to cause disagreement and confusion in Ali's army.
The two armies finally agreed to settle the matter of who should be Caliph by arbitration. The refusal of the largest bloc in Ali's army to fight was the decisive factor in his acceptance of the arbitration. The question as to whether the arbiter would represent Ali or the Kufans
caused a further split in Ali's army. Ash'ath ibn Qays and some others who later became the Kharijites
rejected Ali's nominees, `Abd Allah ibn `Abbas
and Malik al-Ashtar, and insisted on Abu Musa Ash'ari, who was opposed by Ali, since he had earlier prevented people from supporting him. Ali was urged to accept Abu Musa but he never did. Those who preferred Abu Musa went decided to continue with the arbitration anyway. The Kharijites
(schisma
tics), later opposed the decision to choose Abu Musa blaming Ali for his appointment and rebelled and Ali had to fight with them in the Battle of Nahrawan
. The arbitration resulted in the dissolution of Ali's coalition and some have opined that this was Muawiyah's intention.
Muawiyah's army invaded and plundered cities, which Ali's governors couldn't prevent and people didn't support him to fight with them. Muawiyah overpowered Egypt, Yemen and other areas.
This civil war created permanent divisions within the Muslim community and Muslims were divided over who had the legitimate right to occupy the caliphate.
assassinated him with a strike of his poison-coated sword. Ali, wounded by the poisonous sword, lived for two days and died on the 21st of Ramadan in the city of Kufa in 661 CE.
Ali ordered his sons not to kill a group of people. Since the act was performed by a single member of Kharijite group and not all of them, they had to revenge just the murdurer. Thus later Hasan fulfilled Qisas
and killed ibn Muljam.
In these two days he dictated his will to his household "My advice to you is that you should not consider anyone as a co-worker of the Lord, be firm in your belief that there is One and only One Allah. Do not waste the knowledge given to you by the Muhammad and do not give up and destroy his Sunnah
[traditions]. Keep these two pillars of Islam [monotheism and Sunnah of the Muhammad] aloft. If you act according to my advice then you cannot be blamed for damaging or destroying the religion."
Many Shi'a believe that Ali didn’t want his grave to be desecrated by his enemies and because of that he asked his friends and family members to bury him secretly. This secret gravesite is supposed to have been revealed later during the Abbasid
caliphate by Ja'far al-Sadiq
, the sixth Shia Imam. Most Shi'as accept that Ali was buried at the Tomb of Imam Ali in the Imam Ali Mosque
at what is now the city of Najaf
, which grew around the mosque and shrine called Masjid Ali.
However another story, usually maintained by Afghanis, notes that his body was taken and buried in the Afghan city of Mazari Sharif at the famous Blue Mosque or Rawze-e-Sharif.
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
between 656 and 661 CE which was one of the hardest periods in Muslim history
Muslim history
Muslim history is the history of Muslim people. In the history of Islam the followers of the religion of Islam have impacted political history, economic history, and military history...
and coincided with the first Muslim civil war
First Fitna
The First Islamic Civil War , also called the First Fitna , was the first major civil war within the Islamic Caliphate. It arose as a struggle over who had the legitimate right to become the ruling Caliph...
. He reigned over Rashidun empire
Rashidun Empire
The Rashidun Caliphate , comprising the first four caliphs in Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death in 632, Year 10 A.H.. At its height, the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant, Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and Central Asia...
which was extended from Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
in the east to North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
in the west. Many Muslims consider his government as the Islamic style of justice and tolerance on one side and tough following of Islamic law
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
on the other.
Election as Caliph
After the assassination of the third Caliph, Uthman Ibn Affan, rebels had to elect a new Caliph. But this electionElection
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
encountered with some difficulties. The rebels were divided into several groups comprising Muhajerin, Ansar
Ansar (Islam)
Ansar is an Islamic term that literally means "helpers" and denotes the Medinan citizens that helped Muhammad and the Muhajirun on the arrival to the city after the migration to Medina...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ians, Kufa
Kufa
Kufa is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000....
ns and Basntes. There were three candidates Ali, Talhah and Al-Zubayr. First they referred to Ali and asked him to accept the caliphate. Also some Companions of Muhammad
Sahaba
In Islam, the ' were the companions, disciples, scribes and family of the Islamic prophet...
tried to persuade him to accept the office. But he refused and answered:
Leave me and seek some one else. We are facing a matter which has (several) faces and colors, which neither hearts can stand nor intelligence can accept. Clouds are hovering over the sky, and faces are not discernible. You should know that if I respond to you I would lead you as I know and would not care about whatever one may say or abuse. If you leave me then I am the same as you are. It is possible I would listen to and obey whomever you make in charge of your affairs. I am better for you as a counselor than as chief.
Then rebels offered the caliphate to Talhah and Al-Zubayr and some other companions but they refused it too. Therefore they threatened that, unless the people of Medina choose a caliph within one day, they would be forced to take some drastic action. In order to resolve the deadlock all of the Muslims gathered in Mosque of Prophet
Al-Masjid al-Nabawi
Al-Masjid al-Nabawi , often called the Prophet's Mosque, is a mosque situated in the city of Medina. As the final resting place of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, it is considered the second holiest site in Islam by Muslims and is one of the largest mosques in the world...
in 18 June 656CE. (19th Dhu al-Hijjah
Dhu al-Hijjah
Dhu al-Ḥijjah is the twelfth and final month in the Islamic calendar.This is a very sacred month in the Islamic calendar, marking the end of the year. It is in this month in which the Hajj takes place....
35AH.) to chose the caliph. Ali refused to accept caliphate by the fact that the people who pressed him hardest were the rebels, and he therefore declined at first. When the notable companions of Muhammad as well as people who live in Medina urged him, however, he finally agreed.
According to Abu Mekhnaf's narration Talhah was the first prominent companion who gave his pledge but the other narrations claim they didn't do so or even somebody forced them to do so. However he and Al-Zubayr later claimed they did so reluctantly, but Ali refused this claim and said that they did so voluntarily. Mudelong
Wilferd Madelung
Wilferd Ferdinand Madelung is a scholar of Islam. He was born in Stuttgart, Germany, where he completed his early education at Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium....
believe that force was not used to urge people to give their pledge and they pledged in public in the mosque.
While the overwhelming majority of people who lived in Medina as well as rebels gave their pledge, some major figures did not. Umayyad
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
s, kins of Uthman, escaped to Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
or remained in their houses and later refused Ali's legitimacy. Sa`ad ibn Abi Waqqas were absent and Abdullah ibn Umar abstained from offering his allegiance but both of them assured Ali that they wouldn't do anything against Ali.
Another prominent figure who was in Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
at that time and later opposed Ali, was A'isha, Muhammad's widow.
Reign as Caliph
But he soon found that he was helpless and the prisoner of the people who didn't obey him. The caliphate had come to him as the gift of the rebels and he didn't have enough force to control or punish them. When some people asked Ali to punish those who killed Uthman, Ali answered, "How do I have the power for it while those who assaulted him are in the height of their power. They have superiority over us, not we over them." While A'isha, Talhah, Al-Zubayr and Umayyad especially Muawiyah I
Muawiyah I
Muawiyah I was the first Caliph of the Umayyad Dynasty. After the conquest of Mecca by the Muslims, Muawiyah's family converted to Islam. Muawiyah is brother-in-law to Muhammad who married his sister Ramlah bint Abi-Sufyan in 1AH...
wanted to take revenge for Uthman's death and punish the rioters who had killed him. However some historians believe that they use this issue to seek their political ambitions due to they found Ali's caliphate against their own benefit.
Soon after Ali became caliph, he dismissed provincial governors who had been appointed by Uthman, and replaced them with trusted aides. He acted against the counsel of Mughrah ibn Shobah and Ibn Abbas, who had advised him to proceed cautiously. Madelung says Ali was deeply convinced of his right and his religious mission, unwilling to compromise his principles for the sake of political expediencey, ready to fight against overwhelming odds. Muawiyah, kinsman of Uthman and governor of Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
refused to submit to Ali's orders - the only governor to do this.
After the Battle of Bassorah
Battle of Bassorah
The Battle of Bassorah was a battle that took place at Basra, Iraq in 656 between forces allied to Ali ibn Abi Talib and forces allied to Aisha , who wanted justice on the...
Ali transferred his capital from Medina to Kufa, the Muslim garrison city in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. Kufa was in the middle of Islamic land and had strategic position.
Ali resumed the land which had been granted by Uthman and swore to resume whatever some elites had taken before him. He opposed the centralization of capital control over provincial revenues and favored an equal distribution of taxes and booty among the Muslims; in contrast to Umar he distributed the entire revenue of the divan
Divan
A divan was a high governmental body in a number of Islamic states, or its chief official .-Etymology:...
among Muslims without keeping anything in reserve. When asked to pay more money to elites he said "Do you command me that I should seek support by oppressing those over whom I have been placed? By Allah, I won't do so as long as the world goes on, and as long as one star leads another in the sky. Even if it were my property, I would have distributed it equally among them, then why not when the property is that of Allah."
Ali believed that people and governors have rights over each other and God created these rights so as to equate with one another. The greatest of these rights that Allah has made obligatory is the right of the ruler over the ruled and the right of the ruled over the ruler. If the ruled fulfill the rights of the ruler and the ruler fulfills their rights, then right attains the position of honor among them, the ways of religion become established, signs of justice become fixed and the sunnah
Sunnah
The word literally means a clear, well trodden, busy and plain surfaced road. In the discussion of the sources of religion, Sunnah denotes the practice of Prophet Muhammad that he taught and practically instituted as a teacher of the sharī‘ah and the best exemplar...
gains currency. He wrote directions for his officials which clearly show what form of regime he wanted to introduce. It was not to be a regime whose officers had an upper hand and were fattened on public money. It was to be a regime where the governed and the tax-payers were at premium. It was their convenience for which the State was to function. It was a welfare-state working solely for the welfare of the people living under its rule, a regime where the rich cannot get richer while the poor are made poorer; a regime where canons of religion hold the balance between the governed and the ruler. He asked people not to speak with him as they spoke with cruel governors and be honest with him.
Ali had decisive beliefs that he shouldn't start a war with other Muslims but when the enemy started it his army wouldn't retreat unless they wanted to attack again. He ordered his soldiers not to kill who would become injured, or not be able to defend himself, or escape from the battlefield and injuries and wanted his warriors not to injure women.
First Fitna
The First Fitna, 656–661 CE, followed the assassination of the caliph Uthman Ibn Affan, continued during the caliphate of Ali, and was ended, on the whole, by Muawiyah's assumption of the caliphate. This civil war is often called the Fitna, and regretted as the end of the early unity of the Islamic ummahUmmah
Ummah is an Arabic word meaning "community" or "nation." It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of states, or the whole Arab world...
(nation). Ali was first opposed by a faction led by Talhah, Al-Zubayr and the Muhammad's wife, Aisha
Aisha
Aisha bint Abu Bakr also transcribed as was Muhammad's favorite wife...
bint Abu Bakr. This group was known as disobedients (Nakithin) by their enemies. First they gathered in Mecca then moved to Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
with the expectation of finding the necessary forces and resources to mobilize people in what is now Iraq. The rebels occupied Basra, killing many people. When Ali asked them for obedience and a pledge of allegiance, they refused. The two parties met at the Battle of Bassorah
Battle of Bassorah
The Battle of Bassorah was a battle that took place at Basra, Iraq in 656 between forces allied to Ali ibn Abi Talib and forces allied to Aisha , who wanted justice on the...
(Battle of the Camel) in 656, where Ali emerged victorious.
Then he appointed Ibn Abbas governor of Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
and moved his capital to Kufa
Kufa
Kufa is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000....
. Later he was challenged by Muawiyah I
Muawiyah I
Muawiyah I was the first Caliph of the Umayyad Dynasty. After the conquest of Mecca by the Muslims, Muawiyah's family converted to Islam. Muawiyah is brother-in-law to Muhammad who married his sister Ramlah bint Abi-Sufyan in 1AH...
, the governor of Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
and the cousin of Uthman
Uthman
Uthman ibn Affan was one of the companions of Islamic prophet, Muhammad. He played a major role in early Islamic history as the third Sunni Rashidun or Rightly Guided Caliph....
, who refused Ali's demands for allegiance and called for revenge for Uthman. Ali opened negotiations with him with the hope of regaining his allegiance but Muawiyah insisted on Levant autonomy under his rule. Muawiyah replied by mobilizing his Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
n supporters and refusing to pay homage to Ali on the pretext that his contingent had not participated in his election. The two armies encamped themselves at Siffin for more than one hundred days, most of the time being spent in negotiations. Although, Ali exchanged several letters with Muawiyah, he was unable to dismiss the latter, nor persuade him to pledge allegiance. Skirmishes between the parties led to the Battle of Siffin
Battle of Siffin
The Battle of Siffin occurred during the First Fitna, or first Muslim civil war, with the main engagement taking place from July 26 to July 28. It was fought between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah I, on the banks of the Euphrates river, in what is now Ar-Raqqah, Syria...
in 657. After a week of combat was followed by a violent battle known as laylat al-harir (the night of clamor) the Muawiyah's army were on the point of being routed when Amr ibn al-Aas advised Muawiyah to have his soldiers hoist mushaf
Mushaf
A mus'haf is a codex or collection of sheets . The Qur’an, which Muslims believe to have been revealed at various times and in various ways during the 23-year period at the end of Muhammad's life, was collected into a codex under the third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan..The Islamic term al-Qur’ān...
(either parchments inscribed with verses of the Qur'an, or complete copies of it) on their spearheads in order to cause disagreement and confusion in Ali's army.
The two armies finally agreed to settle the matter of who should be Caliph by arbitration. The refusal of the largest bloc in Ali's army to fight was the decisive factor in his acceptance of the arbitration. The question as to whether the arbiter would represent Ali or the Kufans
Kufah
Kufah may refer to:* Ovophis okinavensis, a.k.a. the Okinawa pitviper, a venomous pitviper species found in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan.* Alternative English spelling for Kufa, a city in modern Iraq....
caused a further split in Ali's army. Ash'ath ibn Qays and some others who later became the Kharijites
Kharijites
Kharijites is a general term embracing various Muslims who, while initially supporting the authority of the final Rashidun Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law and cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, then later rejected his leadership...
rejected Ali's nominees, `Abd Allah ibn `Abbas
`Abd Allah ibn `Abbas
Abd Allah ibn Abbas was a paternal cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is revered by Muslims for his knowledge and was an expert in Tafsir , as well as an authority on the Islamic Sunnah.-Family:...
and Malik al-Ashtar, and insisted on Abu Musa Ash'ari, who was opposed by Ali, since he had earlier prevented people from supporting him. Ali was urged to accept Abu Musa but he never did. Those who preferred Abu Musa went decided to continue with the arbitration anyway. The Kharijites
Kharijites
Kharijites is a general term embracing various Muslims who, while initially supporting the authority of the final Rashidun Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law and cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, then later rejected his leadership...
(schisma
Schisma
In music, the schisma is the ratio between a Pythagorean comma and a syntonic comma and equals 32805:32768, which is 1.9537 cents...
tics), later opposed the decision to choose Abu Musa blaming Ali for his appointment and rebelled and Ali had to fight with them in the Battle of Nahrawan
Battle of Nahrawan
The Battle of Nahrawan was a battle between Ali ibn Abi Talib and the Kharijites.After the unsatisfactory conclusion to the Battle of Siffin, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib returned with his army back to Kufa on the 13th of Safar 37 A.H...
. The arbitration resulted in the dissolution of Ali's coalition and some have opined that this was Muawiyah's intention.
Muawiyah's army invaded and plundered cities, which Ali's governors couldn't prevent and people didn't support him to fight with them. Muawiyah overpowered Egypt, Yemen and other areas.
This civil war created permanent divisions within the Muslim community and Muslims were divided over who had the legitimate right to occupy the caliphate.
Death
On the nineteenth of Ramadan, while Ali was praying in the mosque of Kufa, the Kharijite Abd-al-Rahman ibn MuljamAbd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam
Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam al-Sarimi Arabic:عبدالرحمن بن ملجم السريمي was the Kharijite assassin of Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad.-The Plot of Ali's murder:...
assassinated him with a strike of his poison-coated sword. Ali, wounded by the poisonous sword, lived for two days and died on the 21st of Ramadan in the city of Kufa in 661 CE.
Ali ordered his sons not to kill a group of people. Since the act was performed by a single member of Kharijite group and not all of them, they had to revenge just the murdurer. Thus later Hasan fulfilled Qisas
Qisas
Qisas is an Islamic term meaning "retaliation," and follows the principle of an eye for an eye, or lex talionis, first set forth by Hammurabi, and subsequently included in the Old Testament and later legal codes...
and killed ibn Muljam.
In these two days he dictated his will to his household "My advice to you is that you should not consider anyone as a co-worker of the Lord, be firm in your belief that there is One and only One Allah. Do not waste the knowledge given to you by the Muhammad and do not give up and destroy his Sunnah
Sunnah
The word literally means a clear, well trodden, busy and plain surfaced road. In the discussion of the sources of religion, Sunnah denotes the practice of Prophet Muhammad that he taught and practically instituted as a teacher of the sharī‘ah and the best exemplar...
[traditions]. Keep these two pillars of Islam [monotheism and Sunnah of the Muhammad] aloft. If you act according to my advice then you cannot be blamed for damaging or destroying the religion."
Burial
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
caliphate by Ja'far al-Sadiq
Ja'far al-Sadiq
Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad al-Sādiq was a descendant of Muhammad and a prominent Muslim jurist. He is revered as an Imam by the adherents of Shi'a Islam and as a renowned Islamic scholar and personality by Sunni Muslims. The Shi'a Muslims consider him to be the sixth Imam or leader and spiritual...
, the sixth Shia Imam. Most Shi'as accept that Ali was buried at the Tomb of Imam Ali in the Imam Ali Mosque
Imam Ali Mosque
The Imām ‘Alī Holy Shrine , also known as Masjid Ali or the Mosque of ‘Alī, located in Najaf, Iraq, is the third holiest site for some of the estimated 200 million followers of the Shia branch of Islam. ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, the cousin of Muhammad, the fourth caliph , the first Imam is buried here...
at what is now the city of Najaf
Najaf
Najaf is a city in Iraq about 160 km south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2008 is 560,000 people. It is the capital of Najaf Governorate...
, which grew around the mosque and shrine called Masjid Ali.
However another story, usually maintained by Afghanis, notes that his body was taken and buried in the Afghan city of Mazari Sharif at the famous Blue Mosque or Rawze-e-Sharif.