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Islamiyat IGCSEPDF 170
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Hazrat Ali R.A:
Main events of caliphate/Summary:
in his house, but when he agreed to their demands they were pacified. They began their
journey home, but hearing he had tricked them, they turned back and began a second siege.
This siege lasted some time, during which some leading Muslims tried to help Hazrat Usman
but were prevented by him, and eventually the Egyptian force, led by Hazrat Abu Bakr’s son
Mohammad, entered the house and murdered the Caliph. It is said that they came upon him
while he was reading the Quran, and that his blood was shed on its pages, and also that his
wife Naila was injured in the affray, while trying to protect him. His family in secrecy buried
the Caliph’s body.
After the assassination of Hazrat Usman, the Egyptians and some prominent Companions of
the Holy Prophet(pbuh) requested Hazrat Ali to accept the office of the caliph but he
declined the offer. Thereafter, the people of Madinah persuaded Hazrat Ali to accept the
Khilafat. Talha, Zubair and some others performed the Bayyat at Hazrat Ali’s hand. On the
25th of Zil Haj 35AH/656AD, there was a general Bayyat at the Prophet’s mosque and Hazrat
Ali thus became the fourth Khalifa of Islam. Since this election was supported by the rebels ,
it divided the community in three groups i.e supporters of Ali, the Umayyads, and the
Quraish who hoped to return to the caliphates of Abu Bakr and Umar.
• Hazrat Ali very quickly took some of the measures demanded by Hazrat Uthman’s
adversaries. He replaced the governors who had been appointed by Uthman with men who
supported him, and he distributed the wealth that Hazrat Umar and Hazrat Usman had
ordered to be kept aside. His lack of action against Hazrat Usman’s murderers provoked
strong reactions.
• Hazrat Aisha, the Prophet’s widow, who was in Makkah, openly denounced him, and was
joined by the two companions, Talha and Zubair. They demanded that Hazrat Usman’s
murderers should be brought to justice. With a few hundred fighting men, they set out for Iraq
in the hope of finding more supporters, and Hazrat Ali was forced to pursue them. The two
sides met near Basra and attempted to settle their differences peacefully. But extremist
supporters among them provoked a fight, and this grew into a battle around the camel which
carried Hazrat Aisha. The Battle of the Camel took place 656AD. Talha and Zubair were killed,
and after a defeat, Hazrat Aisha was conducted back to Madina, with the escort due to a wife of
the Prophet Muhammad pbuh. Hazrat Ali now moved his headquarters to Kufa, where his
support was strongest.
• Hazrat Ali’s differences with Muawiya came to a climax when Muawiya insisted that
Hazrat Usman has been killed unjustly and so his murderers should be punished. He moved
against the Caliph, and the two forces met at Siffin in 37AH/657 AD. The fighting proved
indecisive for many days; then when Muawiya’s side seemed to be losing, he was advised to
order his soldiers to fix Qurans to their lances, indicating that the outcome should be decided
not by warfare, but by consulting Allah’s Word. Hazrat Ali was persuaded to accept, and
arrangements were made for an arbitrator from each side to decide the rights and wrongs of
the case.
• Abu Musa al-Ashari represented Hazrat Ali and Amr Ibn al-Aas represented Muawiya. It
was decided that if they agreed that Hazrat Usman had acted against the teachings of the
Divine Law, then his killing would be just and his assassins would go unpunished; but if he
had acted in accordance with the law, then his killers would be seen as criminals and