Instead, he made his headquarters in a modest mud-
brick house alongside the mosque. There would be no
more green-marbled palaces, no more favoritism of
cronies and kin, no more proɹteering at public expense,
he declared. He would restore the rule of righteousness,
and the Kufans loved him for it.
With the Caliph in residence, Kufa became the
eʃective capital of the Muslim empire. Its inhabitants
were no longer “provincial rabble” and “boorish
Beduin.” They were at the heart of Islam, and Ali was
their champion. The burgeoning city had drawn in freed
slaves, peasants, traders, and artisans, attracted to Kufa
as people still are today to rapidly expanding cities: by
the prospect of opportunity, real or illusory. Persians and
Afghans as well as Iraqis and Kurds, most of them were
converts to Islam, but until now they had been
considered second-class Muslims. Under Ali, they were
welcomed as equals. The Arabism of Omar and the
Umayyadism of Othman were things of the past. Ali, the
closest of all men to the Prophet, would lead a return to
the ideal of a more perfect union of all believers.
Ali never intended the move to Kufa to be a permanent
one. His plan was to return to Medina as soon as he had
settled the issue with Muawiya and Syria, but he never
would return. From the moment he made the decision in
favor of Kufa, Muslim power began to leave Arabia