Dissension in the Umma • 61caliphate. He was the son of Muhammad's uncle and protector, his first
male convert, the husband of the Prophet's daughter Fatima, and hence
the father of his only grandsons, Hasan and Husayn. Ali had risked his life
so that Muhammad could safely leave Mecca during the hijra. He had
fought against the pagan Meccans, accompanied the Prophet on most of
his expeditions, and advised the earlier caliphs on questions of dogma and
policy. He was pious and generous. Regrettably, he proved to be a weak
caliph. Either Ali came too late to do the office any good, or the caliphate
came too late to do him any good.
Challenges to Ali
Soon after his accession, Ali left Medina, never to return; Kufa would serve
as his capital. But when he reached Basra, he was challenged by two of
Muhammad's associates, Talha and Zubayr; Aisha joined in, branding Ali
unfit to rule because he had not tried to protect Uthman. This was a strange
accusation, as none of the challengers had liked or defended the third
caliph. Their real motives were political and personal. Ali had allegedly de¬
nied government posts to Talha and Zubayr, and Aisha had never forgiven
him for having accused her of infidelity to Muhammad. Ali and his troops
defeated the challengers in a bloody affray, the Battle of the Camel, so called
because it raged around Aisha's camel-borne litter. Talha and Zubayr died
in battle (as, it is said, did 13,000 others), and Aisha was sent back to Med¬
ina. The Battle of the Camel was the first instance in which two Muslim
armies fought against each other. It set an unhappy precedent.
A more dangerous challenge came from Mu'awiya, Uthman's cousin and
governor of Syria, whom Ali tried to dismiss. The Umayyad clan was under¬
standably outraged when Uthman was murdered and replaced by Ali, a
Hashimite, who seemed reluctant to find and punish the assassins. In Dam¬
ascus Mu'awiya displayed Uthman's bloodstained shirt and the severed fin¬
gers of his widow, who had tried to protect her husband, thus horrifying
many Muslims at what seemed to be a political murder. Arab custom called
for seeking revenge, especially once it became clear that the assassins would
not be brought to justice. Mu'awiya had a loyal garrison of Arab troops, and
they challenged Ali. The two sides met in a series of skirmishes at Siffin (in
northern Syria) in 657. Finally, when Ali's side seemed to be winning, wily old
General Amr ibn al-As advised Mu'awiya's men to stick pages of the Quran
on the tips of their spears, appealing for a peaceful arbitration of the quarrel.
Ali suspected a trick, but his troops persuaded him to accept the appeal.
Ali and Mu'awiya each chose a representative and agreed to let them de¬
cide whether the Umayyads were justified in seeking revenge for Uthman's