Assassination of Hadrat Ali (R.A.):
After the battle of Nahrwan the "Khwarij" had gone underground. As a matter of fact they were as much against .Hadrat Ali (R.A.)as they were against Hadrat Mu'awiyah (R.A.). They were still working against the Khilafat and they were greatly disgusted with the civil war that seemed endless.To end this state of affairs, they worked out a dangerous plot. According to them Muslims were divided because of differences between Hadrat Ali and Amir Mu'awiyah. They also disliked 'Amr ibn 'As and considered him as chief planner for Amir Mu'awiyah. They decided, therefore, to assassinate all the three of them. It was planned that the three personalities would be struck at the same time on the same day.Three persons, appointed to assassinate Ali, Mu'awiyah, and 'Amr ibn 'As (R.A.) were Abdur Rehman Muljam, Bark ibn 'Abdullah, and 'Amr ibn Bark respectively. Early hours of the 17th of Ramadan, 40 A.H., was fixed for the assassination.After the Fajr Salat of the 17th Ramadan in :he year 40 A.H. (661 A.D.) the three appointed Kharljis struck the three men.
Amir Mu'awiyah escaped with a scratch, Hadrat Amr ibn 'As did not turn out for the Imamat because he was sick that day, thus was unhurt, but Hadrat Ali (R.A.) was mortally wounded with the poisoned sword of Ibn Muljam. He passed away in the evening of Ramadan 20, 40 A.H.Ibn Muljam was caught by the people after he had struck Hadrat Ali. Hadrat Ali asked the Muslims to slay him if he died. At the same time of his death Hadrat Ali called his sons and advised them to serve Islam and to be good with the Muslims. When somebody asked him should the Muslims take pledge of loyalty at the hands of his elder son, Hadrat Hassan, he replied, "I leave this decision to the Muslims." He also advised people not to kill any person other than the assassin to avenge him.He was sixty three years old at the time of his death and had ruled for four years and nine months as the Khalifah.According to a number of historians his real grave is not known because his son Hadrat Hasan took out his body from the grave after he was buried because of the fear of Kharijis and buried him at an unknown place.
Period of his Khilafat:
The period of Hadrat Ali's Khilafat extending to four years and about nine months, was marked by civil war. His rule was characterised by a series of revolts for the first time in the history of Islam. He was elected as the Khalifah in the most critical period of Islamic history. The martyrdom of Hadrat .Uthman was an extraordinary event about which the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu 'alaihi we Salaam) had already prophesied. Hadrat Ali was in a very difficult situation. On the one hand the assassins and the insurgents were creating endless trouble for him, and on the other hand Banu Umayyah (Uthman's family) fled to Syria and incited Amir Mu'awiyah to stick to his demand for avenging HADRAT Uthman?s assassins. Hadrat Ali faced these problems and difficulties with extraordinary courage and presented before us an exemplary character. He never had full support even from his friends in Kufa but still remained firm in his position.As it has been described before, he could never locate the real assassins of Hadrat Uthman and this could not be achieved until peace was established. Therefore his first task was to create an atmosphere of peace in the state. But the Sabaites (insurgents) never wanted peace. They worked on both sides.
On the one side they made it difficult for Hadrat Ali to find out the assassins, and on the other hand they sent their agents to Syria to incite the people (especially Umayyads) against Hadrat Ali. Their main aim was to let the Muslims fight among themselves so that they might prosper. Although Hadrat Ali knew all this but he was unable to take any firm action because of the civil war.The third problem faced by Hadrat Ali (R.A.)was the Kharijite movement. They were extremists and misled a number of innocent Muslims. They did not hesitate to use sword against persons who do not agree with them. They developed many beliefs foreign to Islam, although they appeared to be very pious but very politically, they were corrupt. Hadrat Ali dealt with them with an iron hand. He realised that if they were not wiped out in the beginning they would mislead future generations. He was successful in destroying their strong hold. However some of them, who escaped, went underground but they were never in a strong position.
Hadrat Ali (R.A.) tried his utmost to unite the Muslims and bring them back on one platform but he was not successful. The tragic death of Hadrat Uthman (R.A.) signal for blood shed among the Muslims. The Companions were not to be blamed for it at all. This was caused by anti-Islamic elements in the form of Sabaites, ('Abdullah ibn Saba and his followers). Historical facts bear it out that Abdullah ibn Saba became the greatest enemy of Islam. It was he who shattered the unity of Muslims forever. After completing their mission the Sabaites made a pretence of being Ali?s friends but they never helped him nor the cause of Muslim Unity. No sooner had Hadrat Ali assumed Khilafat than a group of the same miscreant Sabaites who had brought about the cold-blooded assassination of Hadrat Uthman (R.A.) began to demand due retribution for the murder of the Khalifah and started to incite Muslims only to create division among them.
Thus they played a double role. A group of them showed themselves as friends of Ali and another group (much smaller than the first) went to Syria and other parts of Islamic State to incite the Muslims against Hadrat Ali (R.A.).Hadrat Ali (R.A.) faced all these problems with courage and never lost heart. He was a man of strong will power and determination and was quite right in his decisions.
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