Ali ibn Abi Talib

Mortally wounded in January 661 at the mosque of Kufa by the Kharijite Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam, the fourth caliph died two days later.

Overview

Ali, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, became caliph in 656 after the killing of Uthman, and his reign was dominated by the First Fitna, a civil war against opponents including Muawiya, governor of Syria. Ali accepted arbitration after the Battle of Siffin in 657, which led a group of his former supporters, the Kharijites, to reject his authority, and he defeated them at Nahrawan. In revenge one of them, Ibn Muljam, struck him with a poisoned sword during prayer at Kufa. Muawiya then established the Umayyad Caliphate. Shia Muslims regard Ali as the first imam, and his shrine at Najaf is one of the holiest sites of Shia Islam.