ALI (656-661 A.D.)

[1Sidenote: [656-657 A.D.]]

2Ali commenced his reign by deposing all the governors of the provinces. Amongst these were several men of great influence; especially Moawiyah the son of that Abu Sufyan, who had been long the chief of the Meccan idolaters, and the most bitter enemy of Mohammed. After Mecca had submitted, Mohammed made Moawiyah one of his private secretaries; the caliph Omar had raised him to the government of Syria, and he had now ruled that important province during fifteen years. Crafty, subtle, intriguing, possessing inflexible obstinacy, and boundless ambition, he received Ali’s mandate for his deposition with violent indignation. As he was a near relative of Othman, he resolved to declare himself his avenger, and though that sovereign had left children, Moawiyah claimed to be his heir and successor. He found allies in the centre of Arabia; and while the Syrians were preparing to take arms, Aisha, with a numerous body of followers, was already in the field. Though she had notoriously shared in the conspiracy against Othman, she now proclaimed herself his avenger, and she denounced Ali as the author of his death.

3Joined with her were Talha and Zobair, two of Mohammed’s old companions, who well knew the falsehood of Aisha’s allegations. They had been the foremost to swear allegiance to Ali, but not having obtained all that they desired, they ranged themselves in the ranks of the rebels, to whom their presence gave additional confidence. The obligation of their oaths they evaded by the expiatory offerings prescribed in the fifth chapter of the _Koran_, which is one of the greatest blots on the character both of the book and its author.

4Aisha, contrary to the established custom of Arabia, led her forces in person, mounted on a strong camel, and protected by an escort of picked men. When she approached a small village named Jowab, all the dogs in the place rushed out and barked at her with great fury. This she regarded as an evil omen, and declared that Mohammed had told her, “One of my wives, engaged in an evil design, shall be attacked by dogs in Jowab; take care that you be not the wicked person.” Full of alarm, she wished to return; but Zobair and Talha, knowing how important was her presence, suborned fifty false witnesses to swear that the village was never known by the name of Jowab. As she still seemed anxious to depart, they spread a report, that the army of Ali had gained a position in their rear, and consequently that she could not return in safety. “This,” say the Moslem historians, “was the first public lie told since the promulgation of Islam.”

5The two armies met at Khoraiba, a place in the neighbourhood of Bassora; Ali’s forces amounted to twenty thousand men, all picked soldiers, those of Aisha were more numerous, but they were, for the most part, raw and undisciplined levies. After a brief contest, the rebels were routed; Talha fell wounded mortally from his horse, and with his dying breath besought pardon from God for his share in the murder of Othman and his treachery to Ali. When told of this, the generous conqueror exclaimed that God had granted Talha time for repentance before receiving his soul into heaven. Zobair escaped from the battle, but was overtaken on the road to Mecca by his pursuers, who cut off his head, and brought it as an acceptable present to the caliph.

6Ali expressed so much indignation at the sight, that the bearers assailed him with bitter reproaches, saying, “You are the evil genius of the Mussulmans; you consign to hell those who deliver you from your enemies, and you name those who attack your men companions of Satan.” The victory, however, could not be regarded as complete until Aisha had been forced to submission; the strictest orders were given to respect her person, but also it was desired that no pains should be spared to make her prisoner. Seventy men had their hands cut off attempting to seize her camel by the bridle; the pavilion in which she sat, was stuck so full of arrows that it resembled a porcupine; at length a soldier cut the back sinew of the camel, the animal fell helpless on his knees, and Aisha remained a captive.

7Muhammed, the son of Abu Bekr, was sent to take charge of her; she loaded him with the fiercest invectives, but he did not make any reply. When she was brought before Ali, he received her in the most courteous manner, recommended her to forbear from meddling with public affairs for the future, and sent her under a faithful escort to Medina. Thus ended the first great battle between the opponents and the partisans of Ali; it is frequently called by eastern writers “the battle of the camel” from the animal on which Aisha rode; it was the prelude to many and fearful scenes of slaughter.

8The rebellion in Syria next engaged the attention of Ali; Moawiyah had not only rejected his offers of accommodation, but denied his title to the caliphate: in order to justify this rebellion, and strike the eyes of the multitude, Moawiyah procured the bloody robe in which Othman was murdered, and caused it to be borne in solemn procession through the streets of Damascus. This sight so powerfully inflamed the popular passions, that though it was then the middle of summer, more than thirty thousand persons bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to taste fresh water, until they had avenged the death of Othman. Among the leading partisans of the Syrian governor was Amru, the conqueror of Egypt, who seemed to share the general excitement, though well aware that Ali was innocent of the imputed crimes.

9[Sidenote: [657-658 A.D.]]

10The hostile forces met in the plains of Siffin, on the western bank of the Euphrates, not far from the city of Racca. Neither leader was prepared for general action, and ninety days were wasted in desultory skirmishes between divisions. His impetuous valour gave Ali the victory in most of these encounters; he challenged his rival to decide the dispute by single combat; but Moawiyah would not venture to enter the lists. The last action at Siffin continued all night, to the great disadvantage of the Syrians; they would have been driven from their very entrenchments, had not the crafty Moawiyah made an appeal to the superstitious feelings of Ali’s followers.

11He ordered some of his men to place copies of the _Koran_ on the points of their lances, and advancing to the front of the lines, exclaim, “This is the book that ought to decide all differences between us; this is the word of God, and the code of our faith; it expressly forbids the shedding of Moslem blood.” Coarse as was the artifice, it had the most complete success; the troops of Irak, the flower of the caliph’s forces, threw down their arms, and clamorously demanded that a negotiation should be commenced.

12In vain did Ali command them to continue the fight, assuring them that Moawiyah disregarded the _Koran_, and was equally the enemy of God and man; the soldiers clamorously replied that they would not fight against the book of God, and threatened the caliph with the well-known fate of Othman.

13From the moment that he was checked in the midst of victory, Ali seems to have despaired of the issue of the contest; when required to name an arbitrator, he coldly answered, “He that is not at liberty, cannot give his advice; you must now conduct the affair as you think proper.” His soldiers took him at his word, and nominated on the part of the caliph, Abu Musa, whose chief merit was, that he had written a faulty copy of the _Koran_, and whose fidelity had been long more than suspected. Moawiyah appointed a much more subtle negotiator, Amru, universally regarded as the most able statesman of the period. The arbitrators were enjoined to decide the dispute according to the _Koran_ and the traditions of the prophet, and to pronounce judgment in the next month of Ramadhan.

14Amru persuaded Abu Musa, that the best plan that could be adopted, was to declare the throne vacant, and proceed to a new election. When the day for giving judgment arrived, Abu Musa, as had been agreed, first ascended the pulpit, and with a loud voice pronounced the following words; “I depose both Ali and Moawiyah from the caliphate, in the same manner that I draw this ring from my finger.” Amru next ascended, and said, “You have heard Abu Musa pronounce the deposition of Ali: I confirm it; and I invest Moawiyah with the supreme authority in the same manner that I now draw this ring upon my finger. I hail him as the legal successor of Othman, the avenger of his blood, and the most worthy of the Moslems to command the faithful.”

15This unexpected declaration created a violent tumult. Abu Musa accused Amru of breach of faith, called him a wretch, a dog, an unclean beast, and imprecated on his grave all nameless desecrations; Amru replied, that his co-arbitrator was a learned blockhead, a jackass loaded with books, and the grandfather of stupidity; at the same time, he stoutly maintained his sentence.

16This event was fatal to the cause of Ali; his soldiers, who had forced him to commence the imprudent negotiation, felt that their fidelity must for the future be suspected, and began to desert in whole battalions. The new and formidable sect of the Kharijites, that is, “the deserters,” appeared in the midst of Arabia, declaring that both the rivals had forfeited their right to reign, by submitting to human judgment what God alone should determine. It was necessary to march a large army against these fanatics, and the time which Ali wasted in their subjugation, was employed by Moawiyah in new conquests. It would be difficult to form an idea of the vindictive rage which filled all parties at this period.

17We have already mentioned the view taken of affairs, by the fanatical Kharijites. Three of this sect happened to meet at Mecca, and after some discourse agreed that if the three chief causes of discontent were removed, namely, Ali, Moawiyah, and Amru, the affairs of the Mussulmans would soon be restored to their ancient flourishing condition. Finally, they resolved to devote themselves for the common advantage, and agreed, that on a stated day, one should slay Ali at Cufa; another, Moawiyah at Damascus; and the third, Amru in Egypt. The attempt was made; Amru on that day did not appear in public; Moawiyah escaped with a few slight wounds; Ali alone received a mortal stroke.

18The respect which the Shiites have for the memory of Ali, borders on idolatry. All the Mussulmans, however, now join in commiserating his calamities, and blaming the violence of which he was the victim. Every time that they pronounce his name, they accompany it with the benediction, “May God render his face glorious.”

19[Sidenote: [659-661 A.D.]]

20From the contest between Ali and Moawiyah, the first of the Omayyad caliphs, arose the distinction of the Mohammedans into Sunnites and Shiites. The chief points at issue between them, are the following; (1) The Shiites, or as they call themselves, the Adalians, or “lovers of justice,” assert that the three first caliphs were usurpers; the Sunnites declare that they were legitimate monarchs, elected according to the sunna, or traditional law of the prophet. (2) The Shiites regard Ali as the equal of Mohammed; some even assert his superiority, but the Sunnites deny that he possessed any special dignity. (3) The Shiites assert that the _Koran_ is made void by the authority attributed to tradition; the Sunnites say that tradition is necessary to complete and explain the doctrines of the _Koran_.

21The Turks, Egyptians, and Arabs belong to the Sunnite sect; the tenets of the Shiites are professed by the Persians, a great portion of the Tatars, and several of the Mohammedan princes in India.

22Ali was buried at Cufa, but the exact place of his sepulchre cannot be determined. A magnificent mosque has been erected in the neighbourhood of the city, which is called Meshed-Ali, the place of Ali’s martyrdom; it is, to this day, a favourite object of pilgrimage to devout Mussulmans.[f]

23So, after a most turbulent and unhappy caliphate, Ali died of his wound, in the sixty-third year of his age, and the fifth of his reign, 661 A.D., and the thirty-eighth year of the Hegira; making the third caliph slain within twenty years by the hand of an assassin.

24Ali was an upright and honourable man, a patron of literature and the fine arts, and himself a poet. He certainly merited better treatment at the hands of his own subjects, having been a just judge, and a kind and paternal governor; oftener forgiving than punishing the misdeeds of those who were so frequently conspiring against his life and interests. His lineal descendants are sheriffs and emirs; permitted to wear their turbans and hair in a peculiar fashion, differing from the usages of all other Moslems.

25Ali left two sons, Hassan and Hosein. Hassan was in his thirty-fifth year when he succeeded his father, as the fifth caliph of the Moslems. The people chose Hassan without opposition, owing to his having been a favourite of his grandfather, the prophet; whom also he is said to have resembled in features. Moreover, he was a benevolent, upright, and devout man; but he grievously lacked the energy so indispensable for a ruler in troubled times. The new caliph would willingly have disbanded the army ready to march upon Syria; for he was no lover of warfare, and would rather have forfeited the Syrian provinces than mixed in battle.

26His brother Hosein, however, was a warrior; and so were many of the veteran generals who had sworn allegiance to his father, and whose plans he was therefore compelled to follow up. He accordingly marched upon Syria; sending forward twelve thousand light troops, under Kais, to check the progress of Moawiyah, who was advancing to meet Hassan’s army. Kais succeeded in repelling the Syrians; and secured a position, where he might await the arrival of the main body of the army, which, however, never reached its destination. The troops of Hassan were chiefly from Irak, and not inclined to enter upon the campaign; moreover, they knew him to be an inefficient commander. A revolt broke out amongst the soldiery, in which Hassan was wounded. This occurred at Madain, and the caliph was compelled to seek refuge with the governor in the citadel. He ultimately sent proposals to Moawiyah, offering to abdicate in his favour, under certain stipulations, to which Moawiyah readily agreed. So, to the great indignation of Hosein, Hassan abdicated; and eventually the two brothers settled in Medina, where Moawiyah supplied them liberally with funds.

27This act doubtless saved a good deal of bloodshed; and, in the thirty-ninth year of the Hegira, the sixth caliph, Moawiyah I, began to reign. His first act was to almost exterminate the sect of Seceders; a people even more dangerous than the modern Janissaries, and against whom the caliph Moawiyah had deep hatred, owing to the stab he had received in Damascus.[t]