ate an educational center that could produce a
progressively educated Muslim population who
could excel under the British regime as the Hin-
dus had. Ahmad Khan himself advocated a critical
reevaluation of Islamic law in which the Quran
and the hadith (to a limited extent) would be
considered. He believed true Islam was a wholly
rational faith and entirely compatible with mod-
ern science. Nonetheless, the Islamic studies
curriculum was not confined to Ahmad Khan’s
idiosyncratic approach. Several faculty members
at the college, including an Arabic instructor, have
been Europeans. MAO College became Aligarh
University in 1920, and in 1925, the women’s
madrasa that had been affiliated with it became
the Aligarh Women’s College. The university now
has four areas of study: arts, science, engineering,
and theology. It became a center for nationalist
politics during India’s struggle for independence,
with some of its students and faculty promoting a
united India, while others actively supported the
creation of pakistan as a separate Muslim state.
Many faculty departed with the partition in 1947,
but Aligarh continues to be a top university to the
present day.
See also all-india mUslim leagUe; hindU-
ism and islam; reneWal and reForm movements;
secUlarism.
Anna BigelowFurther reading: David Lelyveld, Aligarh’s First Gen-
eration: Muslim Solidarity in British India (Princeton,
N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1977); K. A. Nizami,
History of the Aligarh Muslim University (Delhi: Idarah-i
Adabiyat-i Delli, 1995).
Ali ibn Abi Talib (ca. 597–661) cousin and
son-in-law of Muhammad, the fourth caliph of the
Sunni Muslim community, and first imam of the Shia
A native of mecca, he was one of the first persons
to accept Islam after Muhammad’s wife khadiJa
(d. 619). He grew up in Muhammad’s household
and married his daughter Fatima. Ali’s courage in
battle at Badr (624) and elsewhere converted him
into a chivalric hero and warrior saint of Muslim
lore.
Ali is the focus of controversy in the succes-
sion to leadership of the Muslim community after
Muhammad’s death in 632. This resulted in the
sectarian division between Sunni and Shii Islam.
The partisans (shia) of Ali believed that mUham-
mad appointed him his successor following the
Farewell Pilgrimage to mecca a few months
before Muhammad’s death. Many Shia have con-
sidered this a divinely inspired designation that
included the descendants of Muhammad’s house-
hold through Ali.
Following Muhammad’s death, abU bakr (d.
634) was elected as the first caliph. In order to
avoid a division in the early Muslim community,
Ali recognized Abu Bakr’s right to rule and that of
the next two caliphs, Umar ibn al-khattab (d. 644)
and Uthman ibn aFFan (d. 656). Ali was elected the
fourth caliph under controversial circumstances
following the murder of Uthman. Accused of
complicity in the assassination, Ali’s period of rule
was mired in civil war with his rival, Muawiya ibn
Abi Sufyan, leader of the powerful Umayya clan
of Mecca. His support dwindled when a faction,
the khaWariJ (seccessionists), rebelled against him
during the Battle of Siffin (657) because he had
submitted the conflict with Muawiya to arbitra-
tion. Ali’s forces succeeded in defeating these reb-
els at Nahrawan in 658, but one of the Khawarij
assassinated him in Kufa, iraq, in 661. Muawayya
(r. 660–80) became the next caliph and founded
the Umayyad caliphate in Syria.
While some “extremist” Shiis virtually deify
Ali, most consider belief in Muhammad’s des-
ignation of Ali as his successor a religious duty
alongside belief in the oneness of God and the
prophethood of Muhammad. The martyrdom
of Ali, and especially the massacre of his son
al-Husayn and his companions at the Battle of
karbala (680), made the paradigm of redemptive
suffering a characteristic of Shii salvation history.Ali ibn Abi Talib 33 J