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The First Islamic Civil War (656–661), also called the First Fitna , was the first major civil war
Civil war

A civil war is a war between organized groups to take control of a nation or region, or to change government policies. It is high-intensity conflict, often involving Regular Army, that is sustained, organized and large-scale....
 within the Islamic Caliphate
Islamic caliphate

The Islamic Caliphate may refer to the following Caliphates:*The Rashidun Empire*The Umayyad Caliphate**The Umayyad Caliphate of C?rdoba*The Abbasid Caliphate...
. It arose as a struggle over who had the legitimate right to become the ruling Caliph
Caliph

The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah....
. The dispute shattered the unity of the Muslim ummah
Ummah

Ummah is an Arabic language word meaning "community" or "nation". It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of Islamic state, or the whole Arab world....
 and resulted in the permanent division of Islam into rival Shi'a and Sunni
Sunni Islam

Sunni Islam is the Demographics of Islam Divisions of Islam of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa?l-Jama?ah or Ahl as-Sunnah for short....
 sects.

The Fitna began as a series of revolts fought against Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth and final of the so-called Rightly-Guided Caliphs
Rashidun

The Rightly Guided Caliphs or The Righteous Caliphs is a term used in Sunni Islam to refer to the first four Caliphs who established the Rashidun Empire....
, caused by the controversial assassination of his predecessor, Uthman Ibn Affan.






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Encyclopedia


The First Islamic Civil War (656–661), also called the First Fitna , was the first major civil war
Civil war

A civil war is a war between organized groups to take control of a nation or region, or to change government policies. It is high-intensity conflict, often involving Regular Army, that is sustained, organized and large-scale....
 within the Islamic Caliphate
Islamic caliphate

The Islamic Caliphate may refer to the following Caliphates:*The Rashidun Empire*The Umayyad Caliphate**The Umayyad Caliphate of C?rdoba*The Abbasid Caliphate...
. It arose as a struggle over who had the legitimate right to become the ruling Caliph
Caliph

The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah....
. The dispute shattered the unity of the Muslim ummah
Ummah

Ummah is an Arabic language word meaning "community" or "nation". It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of Islamic state, or the whole Arab world....
 and resulted in the permanent division of Islam into rival Shi'a and Sunni
Sunni Islam

Sunni Islam is the Demographics of Islam Divisions of Islam of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa?l-Jama?ah or Ahl as-Sunnah for short....
 sects.

The Fitna began as a series of revolts fought against Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth and final of the so-called Rightly-Guided Caliphs
Rashidun

The Rightly Guided Caliphs or The Righteous Caliphs is a term used in Sunni Islam to refer to the first four Caliphs who established the Rashidun Empire....
, caused by the controversial assassination of his predecessor, Uthman Ibn Affan. It lasted for the entirety of Ali's reign, and its end is marked by Muawiyah
Muawiyah I

Muawiyah I was a Sahaba of the Prophets of Islam, Muhammad and later the Umayyad Caliphate in Damascus. He engaged in a First Fitna against the fourth and final Rashidun , Ali and met with considerable military success, including the seizure of Egypt....
's assumption of the caliphate (founding the Umayyad dynasty), and the subsequent peace treaty between him and Hassan ibn Ali.

Background


Battle of Bassorah

Ali was first opposed by a faction led by Talhah, Al-Zubayr and the Muhammad's wife, Aisha
Aisha

Aisha bint Abu Bakr was the third wife of Muhammad. In Islamic writings, she is thus often referred to by the title "Mother of the Believers" , per the description of Muhammad's wives as "Mothers of Believers" in the Qur'an , and later, as the "Mother of Believers", as in Qutb's Ma'alim fi al-Tariq ....
 bint Abu Bakr. This group was known as disobedients (Nakithin) by their enemies. First they gathered in Mecca then moved to Basra
Basra

Al-Ba?rah is the capital of Basra Province, and had an estimated population of 1,052,200 as of 2003. Basra is also Iraq's main port. The city is the historic location of Sumer, the home of Sinbad the Sailor, and a proposed location of the Garden of Eden....
 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, Battle of the Camel, or Battle of Jamal 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 perpetrators of the assassination of the previous caliph Uthman ibn Affan....
 (Battle of the Camel) in 656, where Ali emerged victorious.

Battle of Siffin

Later Ali was challenged by Muawiyah I
Muawiyah I

Muawiyah I was a Sahaba of the Prophets of Islam, Muhammad and later the Umayyad Caliphate in Damascus. He engaged in a First Fitna against the fourth and final Rashidun , Ali and met with considerable military success, including the seizure of Egypt....
, the governor of Levant
Levant

The Levant describes, traditionally, the Eastern Mediterranean at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia formed by the lands bordering the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the Taurus Mountains, on the south by the Arabian Desert, and on the west by the M...
 and the cousin of Uthman
Uthman

?Uthman ibn ?Affan was one of the sahaba . An early convert to Islam, he played a major role in early Muslim history, most notably as the third Caliph of the Rashidun Empire and in the compilation of the Qur'an....
, 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 describes, traditionally, the Eastern Mediterranean at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia formed by the lands bordering the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the Taurus Mountains, on the south by the Arabian Desert, and on the west by the M...
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....
 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 a collection of sheets . The Qur'an, which Muslims believe to be 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 b....
 (then parchments inscribed with verses of the Qur'an) on their spearheads in order to cause disagreement and confusion in Ali's army.

Arbitration

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 rejected Ali's nominees, `Abd Allah ibn `Abbas
`Abd Allah ibn `Abbas

Abd Allah ibn Abbas was a cousin of Muhammad. He is revered by Muslims for his knowledge. He was an expert in tafsir, as well as an authority on the Sunnah of Muhammad....
 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. Finally Ali was urged to accept Abu Musa.

Battle of Nahrawan

Some of Ali's supporters, later were known as Kharijites
Kharijites

Kharijites is a general term embracing various Muslims who, while initially supporting the caliphate of the fourth and final "Rightly Guided" caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, later rejected him....
 (schisma
Schisma

In music, the schisma, also spelled skhisma, is the ratio between a Pythagorean comma and a syntonic comma and equals 32805/32768, which is 1.9537 cent s....
tics), opposed this decision and rebelled and Ali had to fight with them in the Battle of Nahrawan
Battle of Nahrawan

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.

Loss of All Provinces Except Kufa

Muawiyah's army invaded and occupied 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.

Last days of Ali

On the nineteenth of Ramadan, while Ali was praying in the mosque of Kufa, the Kharijite Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam
Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam

Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam Nesbat was the Kharijites assassination of Ali ibn Abu Talib, the son in law of the prophet Mohammad...
 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 A.D.

Hasan caliphate

Upon the death of Ali ibn Abi Talib, Kufi Muslims pledged allegiance to his eldest son Hasan
Hasan ibn Ali

Hasan ibn ?Ali ibn Abi Talib ? was the grandson of Muhammad, son of Ali and Fatimah . He is an important figure in Islam as he is a member of the Ahl al-Bayt and Ahl al-Kisa, as well as being a Shia Imamah , and one of The Fourteen Infallibles of Twelvers....
 without dispute.

Footnotes