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Ali ibn Abi Talib , the fourth Rashidun caliph and first Shia Imam was assassinated by a Kharijite called Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Amr ibn Muljam al-Muradi on 26 January 661, at the Great Mosque of Kufah in present-day Iraq . Ali, who was then 59 of age, died due to his injuries two days after Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Amr ibn Muljam al-Muradi struck him on his head by a poison-coated sword, on the 21 (or 19) Ramadan 40 AH (28 January 661 CE ). He was the third successive caliph, after Umar and Uthman , to be assassinated. Ali became the caliph after the assassination of Uthman in 656. However he faced opposition from some factions including the Levant governor, Muawiyah I . A civil war, called the First Fitna , took place within the early Islamic state which resulted in the overthrow of the Rashidun caliphs and the establishment of the Umayyad dynasty . It began when the caliph Uthman ibn Affan was assassinated in 656 and continued through the four-year reign of Ali. After Ali agreed to arbitration with Muawiyah I following the Battle of Siffin (657), a revolt happened against him by some members of his army, later known as Kharijites ("those who leave"). They killed some of Ali's supporters, but they were crushed by Ali's forces at the Battle of Nahrawan in July 658. Ibn Muljam met up with two other Kharijites namely al-Burak ibn Abd Allah and Amr ibn Bakr al-Tamimi at Mecca , and concluded that the situation of the Muslims at the time was due to the errors of Ali, Muawiah and Amr ibn As , governor of Egypt . They decided to kill the three in order to resolve the "deplorable situation" of their time and also avenge their companions killed at Nahrawan. Aiming to kill Ali, Ibn Muljam headed toward Kufa where he fell in love with a woman whose brother and father had died at Nahrawan. She agreed to marry him if only he could kill Ali. Consequently, Ali was stabbed by Ibn Muljam at the Great Mosque of Kufa. After Ali's death, Ibn Muljam was executed in retaliation by Hasan ibn Ali . The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate . Encyclopædia of Islam, Second Edition . Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World v.1 . Encyclopædia of Islam, Second Edition .¹

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 962489929.

The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 20 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

661 murder in Kufa, present-day Iraq Ali ibn Abi Talib , the fourth Rashidun caliph ( r. 656–661 ) and the first Shia Imam , was assassinated during the morning prayer on 28 January 661 CE , equivalent to 19 Ramadan 40 AH . He died of his wounds about two days after the Kharijite Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam struck him over his head with a poison-coated sword at the Great Mosque of Kufa , located in Kufa , in present-day Iraq . He was about sixty-two years of age at the time of his death. Ibn Muljam had entered Kufa with the intention of killing Ali, probably in revenge for the Kharijites' defeat in the Battle of Nahrawan in 658. He found two accomplices in Kufa, namely, Shabib ibn Bujra and Wardan ibn al-Mujalid. Unlike Ibn Muljam, the swords of these two missed Ali and they fled, but were later caught and killed. Before his death, Ali requested either a meticulous application of lex talionis to Ibn Muljam or his pardon, and he was later executed by Hasan , the eldest son of Ali. By most accounts, also involved in the assassination was al-Ash'ath ibn Qays , the influential Kufan tribal leader whose loyalty to Ali is often questioned in the early sources. The assassination of Ali paved the way for his archenemy Mu'awiya , who soon founded the Umayyad Caliphate . The shrine of Ali in Najaf , near Kufa, is a major destination for Shia pilgrims.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177510043.

The opening as it stood in 2025

661 murder in Kufa, present-day Iraq Ali ibn Abi Talib , the fourth Rashidun caliph ( r. 656–661 ) and the first Shia Imam , was assassinated during the morning prayer on 28 January 661 CE , equivalent to 19 Ramadan 40 AH . He died of his wounds about two days after the Kharijite dissident Ibn Muljim struck him over his head with a poison-coated sword at the Great Mosque of Kufa , located in Kufa , in present-day Iraq . He was about sixty-two years of age at the time of his death. Ibn Muljim had entered Kufa with the intention of killing Ali, probably in revenge for the Kharijites' defeat in the Battle of Nahrawan in 658. He found two accomplices in Kufa, namely, Shabib ibn Bujra and Wardan ibn al-Mujalid. Unlike Ibn Muljim, the swords of these two missed Ali and they fled, but were later caught and killed. Before his death, Ali requested either a meticulous application of lex talionis to Ibn Muljim or his pardon, and he was later executed by Hasan , the eldest son of Ali. By most accounts, also involved in the assassination was al-Ash'ath ibn Qays , the influential Kufan tribal leader whose loyalty to Ali is often questioned in the early sources. The assassination of Ali paved the way for his rival Mu'awiya to found the Umayyad Caliphate . The shrine of Ali in Najaf , near Kufa, is a major destination for Shia pilgrims.

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