Ali (a.s.) His Khilaafah

1. Ali (a.s.)His Khilaafah A.S. Hashim, MD From Wikipedia.com Ali,His Khilaafah

2. Sources of Reference • ibn Jarir al-Tabari, • Ibn Qutaybah, • Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. "Ali". • Madelung, • Encyclopaedia of the Holy Prophet and Companions • Tabatabaei, • Lapidus, • The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon • Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid • Dakake • Nahj Al-Balagha, Sermon 3 • Holt, P.M.; Lambton, Ann K.S.; Lewis, Bernard. Cambridge History of Islam. • Watt, William Montgomery. Muhammad at Mecca. Oxford University Press.

3. In this Slide Show • Ali’s Policies • The Immediate Reforms • The Charismatic Character • First Fitna الفتنه (Sedition) • Jamal Battle • A’isha is Returned Home • Siffin صفين • Siffin and the Arbitration • Kharijis الخوارج • Mu'awiya's Plunders • Ali’s Assassination • Burial • Madelung writes: • Khilaafah

4. Ali: Reign as Khalifa • Since the conflicts in which Ali was involved were perpetuated in polemical sectarian historiography, biographical material is often biased. • But the sources agree that Ali was a profoundly religious man, • devoted to the cause of Islam, • and the rule of justice, • in accordance with the Quran and the Sunnah; • Ali engaged in war against erring Muslims as a matter of religious duty.

5. The Sources Abound in Notices • The sources abound in notices on • Ali’s austerity, • rigorous observance of religious duties, and • detachment from worldly goods. • Thus some authors, however, have pointed out that Ali shunned political maneuvering and flexibility. • Ali inherited the Rashidoon Khilaafah —which extended from Egypt in the west to the Iranian highlands in the east— while: • the situation in the Hijaz and the other provinces • on the eve of his election was unsettled.

6. Empire: By Ali’s Election Islamic empire when Ali was elected.

7. Ali’s Policies • Soon after Ali became Khalifa he: • dismissed the governors of the provinces who had been appointed by Uthman, • replacing them with trusted aides. • He acted against the counsel of Mughira ibn Shu'ba and Ibn Abbas, • who had advised him to proceed his governing cautiously. • Madelung says Ali was deeply convinced of his right and his religious mission, • unwilling to compromise his principles for the sake of political gains or expediency, • and ready to fight against overwhelming odds. • Mu'awiya, the kinsman of Uthman and governor of Syria • refused to submit to Ali's orders; he was the only governor to do so.

8. Ali’s Policies • When Ali was elected as Khalifa, he stated to the citizens of Medina: • that Muslim polity had come to be plagued by dissension and discord; • he desired to purge Islam of any evil. • He advised the populace to behave as true Muslims, • warning that he would tolerate no sedition and • those who were found guilty of subversive activities would be dealt with harshly. • Ali recovered the land granted by Uthman and • swore to recover anything that some elites (prominent persons) had acquired before his election.

9. The Immediate Reforms • Unlike the 3 Khalifas before him, Ali opposed the centralization of capital control over provincial revenues, • favoring an equal distribution of taxes and booty amongst the Muslim citizens; • He distributed the entire revenue of the treasury among them. • Ali refrained from nepotism, including with his brother Aqeel ibn Abi Talib. • This was an indication to Muslims of his policy of offering equality to Muslims who served Islam in its early years and to the Muslims who played a role in the later conquests.

10. The Charismatic Character • Ali succeeded in forming a broad coalition especially after the Battle of Basra. His policy of equal distribution of taxes and booty gained: • the support of Muhammad's Companions especially the Ansaar (who were subordinated by the Quraish leadership after Muhammad), • And the traditional tribal leaders, • And the Qurra القرآء (Quran reciters) that sought pious Islamic leadership. • The successful formation of this diverse coalition seems to be due to Ali's charismatic character.

11. The Diverse Coalition • This diverse coalition became known as Shi'a Ali, meaning "party" or "faction of Ali". • However according to Shi'a, as well as non-Shi'a reports, • the majority of those who supported Ali after his election as Khalifa, • were Shi'a politically, not religiously. • Although at this time there were many who counted as political Shi'a, few of them believed Ali's religious leadership.

12. First Fitna الفتنه (Sedition) • A'isha, Talha, Al-Zubair and Benu Umayya especially Mu'awiya: • Wanted to take revenge for Uthman's death. • Both Talha and Zubair were brother-in-laws of A’isha. • They wanted to punish the rioters who had killed Uthman. • They attacked Ali for not punishing the rebels and murderers of Uthman. • However some historians believe that they used this issue to seek their political ambitions • because they found Ali's Khilaafah against their own benefit.

13. First Fitna الفتنه (Sedition) • On the other hand, the rebels maintained that Uthman had been justly killed, • Because of not governing according to Quran and Sunnah, • hence no vengeance was to be invoked. • Historians disagree on Ali's position. • Some say the Khilaafah was a bequest of the rebels, • and Ali did not have enough force to control or punish the rebels, • while others say Ali accepted rebels argument or at least didn't consider Uthman just ruler. • Under such circumstances, a schism took place which led to the first civil war in Muslim history.

14. First Fitna الفتنه (Sedition) • Some Muslims, (Mu’awiya among them), known as Uthmanis, considered: • Uthman a rightful and just Imam (Islamic leader) till the end, • who had been unlawfully killed. • Thus his position was in abeyance until he had been avenged and a new Khalifa elected. • In their view Ali was the Imam in error. • Some others, known as party of Ali, believed that: • Uthman had fallen into error, • he had refused to mend his way or step down, • thus Ali was the just and true Imam and his opponents are infidels.

15. First Fitna الفتنه (Sedition) • The First Fitna, 656–661, followed: • the assassination of Uthman, • continued during the Khilaafah of Ali, • and was ended by Mu'awiya's assumption of the Khilaafah. • This civil war (often called the Fitna) is regretted as the end of the early unity of the Islamic Ummah. • Ali was first opposed by a faction led by Talha, Al-Zubair and their sister-in-law A'isha daughter of Abu Bakr. • This group, known as "disloyal, or renouncers" (Nakithin الناكثون) gathered in Mecca then moved to Basra • with the expectation of finding the necessary forces and resources to mobilize people of Iraq.

16. In Sermon 156,The Prophet about: Discord

17. Ali Faces Overwhelming Odds: The Camel Battle الجمل The Khariji النهروان Siffin Battle صفين

18. At Basra • The rebels occupied Basra, killing many people. • They refused Ali's offer of obedience and pledge of allegiance. • The two sides met at the Battle of Basra (Battle of the Camel) in 656, where Ali emerged victorious. • Ali appointed Ibn Abbas governor of Basra and • moved his capital to Kufa, the Muslim garrison city in Iraq. • Kufa was in the middle of Islamic land and had strategic position.

19. Jamal Battle • Benu Umayya, forming large part of the forces • Were set free by Ali after the Battle • Talha: was Killed by Marwan ibn Hakam • Zubair: Did not participate • The casualties: Fairly high • The aftermath: Benu Umayya now join Mu’awiya to fight Ali in Siffin

20. Jamal Sequence • Negotiations to stop fight, fail • Zubair quits his camp • Fight with many casualties • A’isha on camel urging to fight • A’isha’s camel is incapacitated • Battle ends abruptly

21. A’isha is Returned Home • Ali lets A’isha be at home in Basra to rest • 40 Guards in company of A’isha on her way to Medina • Brother of A’isha in charge of the escorting guards (Muhammad son of Abu Bakr) • Al-Hasan and Al-Husain escort A’isha to the boundary of Basra • The 40 guards selected by Ali to protect A’isha, turn out to be women dressed as men

22. Ali Confronts Mu'awiya • Ali was challenged by Uthman’s cousin Mu'awiya, the governor of Syria • who refused Ali's demands for allegiance and called for revenge for Uthman. • Ali opened negotiations hoping to regain his allegiance, • but Mu'awiya insisted on Syrian autonomy under his rule. • Mu'awiya replied by mobilizing his Syrian 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 many weeks, most of the time being spent in negotiations. • Though Ali had exchanged several letters with Mu'awiya, he was unable to dismiss Mu’awiya, nor persuade him to pledge allegiance.

23. Siffin صفين • Skirmishes between the parties led to the Battle of Siffin in 657. • After a week of fighting a violent battle known as laylat al-harir (the night of clamor), took place. • Mu'awiya's army was on the point of defeat, being routed • When Amr ibn al-Aas advised Mu'awiya to have: • his soldiers hoist Mus'haf (either parchments inscribed with verses of the Quran, or complete copies of it) • on their spearheads in order to cause disagreement and confusion in Ali's army. • Ali saw through the stratagem, but only a minority of his soldiers wanted to pursue the fight.

24. Artist Rendering: Battle of Siffin

25. Siffin صفين • The two armies finally agreed to settle the matter of who should be Khalifa 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 (Mu’awiya surrogate) and some others • rejected Ali's nominees, Abdullah ibn Abbas and Malik al-Ashtar, • and insisted on Abu Musa Ash'ari, who was opposed by Ali, • since Ash'ari had earlier prevented people from supporting Ali.

26. Siffin and the Arbitration • Finally, Ali was more or less forced to accept Abu Musa Ashari. • Some of Ali's supporters, later known as Kharijis الخوارج (schismatics), • opposed arbitration and rebelled, and Ali had to fight with them in the Battle of Nahrawan النهروان . • The arbitration resulted in the dissolution of Ali's coalition • and some have opined that this was Mu'awiya's intention.

27. Siffin Sequence • Negotiations to prevent fighting: fail • Nine days fighting severe • Ammar charges Siffin صفين • Numerous casualties • Ali almost winning • Arbitrations to take place

28. After Siffin: Control of Territories Region under control of Mu’awiya Region under control of Ali Region under control of Amr Ibn Aas

29. Kharijis الخوارج • Khariji revolt against Ali • Ali argues with Khariji, many decide not to fight against Ali • 3000 Khariji insist of fighting Ali in Nahrawan, in Iraq • Ali Defeats Khariji in Nahrawan النهروان • Looks for the crippled man the Prophet foretold: They find him after 3 day search

30. Mu'awiya's Plunders • In the following years Mu'awiya's forces invaded and plundered cities of Iraq, • which Ali's governors could not prevent and people did not support him to fight with them. • Mu'awiya overpowered Egypt, Hijaz, Yemen and other areas. • In the last year of Ali's Khilaafah, the mood in Kufa and Basra changed in his favor as Mu'awiya's vicious conduct of the war revealed the nature of his reign. • However the people's attitude toward Ali was deeply differed. • The majority supported him due to their distrust and opposition to Mu'awiya.

31. Policies • What shows Ali's policies and ideas of governing is his instruction to Malik al-Ashtar, • when appointed by him as governor of Egypt. • This instruction, is considered by many Muslims and even non-Muslims, as the ideal constitution for Islamic governance • involved detailed description of: • duties and rights of the ruler • and various functionaries of the state • and the main classes of society at that time.

32. Policies as Written to al-Ashtar • Ali wrote in his instruction to Malik al-Ashtar: • Infuse your heart with mercy, love and kindness for your subjects. • Be not in face of them a voracious animal, counting them as easy prey, • for they are of two kinds: • either they are your brothers in religion • or your equals in creation. • Error catches them unaware, deficiencies overcome them, (evil deeds) are committed by them intentionally and by mistake. • So grant them your pardon and your forgiveness to the same extent that you hope God will grant you His pardon and His forgiveness. • For you are above them, and he who appointed you is above you, and God is above him who appointed you. • God has sought from you the fulfillment of their requirements and He is trying you with them.

33. Agriculture Versus Tax Collection • Since the majority of Ali's subjects were nomads and peasants, he was concerned with agriculture. • Ali instructed to Malik to give more attention to development of the land • than to the collection of the tax, • because tax can only be obtained by the development of the land • and whoever demands tax without developing the land ruins the country and destroys the people.

34. In Sermon 93,Ali: about of mischief of Benu Umayya

35. 30 years earlier, the Muhammad said to Ali: The most evil of evildoers is the one who will wet this (beard) with the blood from this (forehead) إنَّ أشقى الأشـقـيين مَن يُخضِّبُ هذه بهذه   وأشار إلى لحيته ثم رأسه Prediction of the ProphetAbout Ali’s end

36. Ibn Muljim, the Khariji • Ibn Muljim, one of the deviators (Khariji), • Along with 2 others planned to kill • Ali • Mu’awiya • Ibn Aas • These Khariji were involved in Nahrawan • They planned to avenge • Mu’awiya and Ibn Aas escaped being killed • But Ali was the only one killed

37. Ali Assassinated • Ibn Muljim with a poisoned sword, was in hiding to kill Ali • Ali in Kufa Masjid had come to lead morning prayer, it was dark with poor visibility • It was the 19th of Ramadhan, Yr 40 Hijri • While Ali was in Sujood absorbed in prayer • Ibn Muljim jumped and hit Ali at the head with his poisoned sword, it was a fatal blow.

38. Ali’s Assassination I • Upon being so wounded Ali said: فزت ورب الكعبه I have won by the Lord of the Ka’ba • A lot of commotion ensued • Taken home, Ali gave final advice to his son Al-Hasan, and other children • Two days later he died on Leilatul Qadr 21st of Ramadhan

39. Ali’s Assassination II • Ali’s last words were: فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ He with the slightest act of goodness will so be rewarded And he with the slightest act of evil deeds will so be rewarded

40. Ali, while Wounded: • Though severely wounded: • Ali ordered his sons not to attack the Kharijis, • even though a single member of these Kharijis tried to kill him. • Ali said to his son, (Imam Hasan) that if he lives on he will forgive ibn Muljim and free him, • however, in the event of his death, ibn Muljim should get one equal hit and not more, • regardless if this man dies from that hit or not, just as Ali himself received one hit from him (ibn Muljim). • Thus, Imam Hasan fulfilled Qisas قصاص and gave equal hurt to ibn Muljim as he gave it to Ali.

41. Ali Wounded: Mosque of Kufa Ali wounded in this mosque

42. Inside of Imam Ali’s shrine

43. Burial • According to Al-Sheikh Al-Mufid, Ali did not want his grave to be desecrated by his enemies • and consequently asked his friends and family to bury him secretly. • This secret gravesite was revealed later during the Abbasi Khilaafah by Imam Ja'far al-Saadiq, his descendant and the sixth Shi'a Imam. • Most Shi'as accept that Ali is 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.

44. The Final Burial Place of Ali.

45. After Ali's Death • After Ali's death, Kufa Muslims: • pledged allegiance to his eldest son Hasan without dispute, • as Ali on many occasions had declared that just Ahlul Bayt of Muhammad were entitled to rule the Muslim community. • At this time, Mu'awiya held both Syria and Egypt • and, as commander by then of the largest force in the Muslim Empire, • he declared himself Khalifa • And he marched his army into Iraq, the seat of Al-Hasan's Khilaafah.

46. Mu’awiya Subverts • Confrontation ensued during which Mu'awiya: • gradually subverted the generals and commanders of Al-Hasan's army • with large sums of money and deceiving promises until a large part of Al-Hasan’s army defected. • Finally, with the odds so high against him, Al-Hasan agreed to make peace and yield the Khilaafah to Mu'awiya. • In this way Mu'awiya captured the Islamic Khilaafah and in every way possible placed the severest pressure upon Ali's family and his Shi'a. • Regular public cursing of Imam Ali in the congregational prayers remained a vital institution which was not abolished for 90 years (except during for the 2 year Khilaafah of Omar ibn Abdul Aziz). • Mu'awiya also established the Umayya Khilaafah, essentially a centralized monarchy.

47. Madelung writes: • Umayya highhandedness, misrule, and repression were gradually to turn the minority of Ali's admirers into a majority. • In the memory of later generations Ali became the ideal Commander of the Faithful. • In face of the fake Umayya claim • to legitimate sovereignty in Islam as God's Vice-regents on earth, • and in view of Umayya treachery, arbitrary and divisive government, and vindictive retribution, • they came to appreciate Ali's honesty, his unbending devotion to the reign of Islam • his deep personal loyalties, his equal treatment of all his supporters, • and his generosity in forgiving his defeated enemies.

48. KHILAAFAH A birds-eye view • VIEW POINT I • The phenomenon, the circumstance, the mode of choice and selection of the Khalifas are to be taken as they are • This view is taken by the Sunni

49. KHILAAFAHA birds-eye view • VIEW POINT II • The phenomenon would have been remarkably different had the wishes of Prophet Muhammad been observed. • This view is taken by the Shi’a 

50. Ali in Defense of Islam