A Simple Guide to ISLAM
Pious Caliphate
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Ali had now established himself as caliph by defeating his rivals. He
had shifted the capital from Madinah to Kufah. The first priority in
the matters of the state was given to the dismissal of the provincial
governors. Muawiya ibn abi Sufiyan, governors of Syria and a
relative of Usman too was dismissed. But Muawiya who had
established himself securely in Syria did not accept the dismissal
order. He came out openly to avenge the martyred caliph. It was
an issue on which he could mobilize the support of a great majority
of Muslims. He made eloquent speeches to play upon Muslim
emotions. He took the stand that since the new Caliph is evading
the issue of producing the assassins, which is the demand of
justice, the caliph therefore stands disqualified for the office of the
caliphate. In this way Muawiya justified his insurrection against the
elected caliph.
Muawiya gathered a large army of Syrians while the army of Ali
comprised 50,000 Iraqis. The encounter took place on July 28,
657. Malik al Ashtar was commanding Ali’s forces. Ali was on the
point of victory. But the shrewd Muawiya and his supporter Amr
ibn al As managed to avert defeat by proposing arbitration. Ali saw
through this trick. But his army forced him to accept the principle
of arbitration. This greatly weakened his position.
Then there was another group known as Kharjites (Dissenters).
Earlier supporters of Ali, now they turned against him. They
maintained that Ali should not have accepted arbitration. They
became so deadly against the caliph that anyone who said that he
was the follower of the Caliph was mercilessly killed.
