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PersonAD 600 – AD 661

Ali

Also called: Ali ibn Abi Talib

Fourth caliph (656–661), Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, whom the Shia revere — with his descendants — as the only rightful successors (imams); assassinated at Kufa

Son of Muhammad’s uncle Abu Talib, he grew up in Muhammad’s household and was among the very first to accept Islam. He married Muhammad’s daughter Fatima, by whom he had Hasan and Husayn. He became caliph in 656, but accepting arbitration after the Battle of Siffin (657) against Muawiya drove some followers (the Kharijites) away, and one of them assassinated him at Kufa in 661. The name Shia comes from “the party of Ali”.

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3 related events

  1. 1
    AD 630Conquest of Meccaparticipant

    After a long struggle, Muhammad and the Muslims of Medina entered Mecca with little resistance and cleared the idols from the Kaaba, which became the sanctuary of Islam.

  2. 2
    AD 632 – AD 661The Rashidun Caliphatemonarch

    After Muhammad’s death four caliphs, from Abu Bakr to Ali, led the Muslim world. In this period the Arabs conquered Byzantine Syria and Egypt and Sasanian Persia.

  3. 3
    AD 661Founding of the Umayyad Caliphaterelated figure

    Muawiya, governor of Syria, became caliph with Damascus as his capital and founded the Umayyad dynasty. The caliphate became hereditary.

People who appear alongside

  • Abu BakrAD 573 – AD 634

    First caliph (632–634), Muhammad’s close companion and father-in-law, chosen to lead the community after Muhammad’s death (the Shia hold that Ali should have succeeded); he reunited Arabia

  • UmarAD 584 – AD 644

    Second caliph (634–644), whose armies conquered Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Persia, and who fixed the Islamic calendar from the year of the Hijra

  • Muawiya IAD 602 – AD 680

    Founder of the Umayyad caliphate (661–680); as governor of Syria he opposed Ali, made Damascus his capital and named his son as heir, making the caliphate hereditary

  • MuhammadAD 570 – AD 632

    Prophet of Islam, who began preaching in Mecca around 610 after what he proclaimed were revelations from the one God, Allah; moving to Medina, he built a community of believers and united Arabia

  • UthmanAD 576 – AD 656

    Third caliph (644–656), of the Umayyad clan, who had the standard text of the Qur’an compiled; resented for favouring his kin, he was killed by rebels in Medina

Themes this person appears in

  • The Rise of the Islamic WorldAD 570 – 1055

    From the revelation to Muhammad to the Seljuk entry into Baghdad — 450 years in which a new faith from Arabia built a civilisation stretching from Iberia to Central Asia and reached as far as Silla by sea