The Battle for Supremacy of Ali and Muawiya - Essay Example

Ali and Mu’awiya: The Battle for Supremacy The period spanning the years 600 to 700 saw two of the most important milestones in Islamic history. In this century, Islam has experienced its largest expansion ever covering Arabia and what is today’s Iran, Iraq, Syria, Israel and Egypt as well as Libya and Tunisia. Immediately after, North Africa, Tripoli and Spain fell into Muslim hands as well. Secondly, it was during this time when Islam underwent an important schism that would impact the trajectory of the Islamic story as the Islamic Empire was handed from the Prophet Muhammad unto his successors. Central to these developments was the conflict between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Mu’awiya. This paper will explore this chapter in Islamic history – outline the dynamic of such conflict and identify its effects. Background Because there is no formal hierarchy in place, issues of succession to the Islamic leadership ensues upon the death of a caliph, Muhammad’s successors. During the onset of the 7th century trouble started when the third caliph, Uthman, was murdered. Ali succeeded him, being the closest to the Prophet since he was a first cousin and a son-in-law to Muhammad. Uthman’s clan, called the Umayyads vowed revenge and would later support its own candidate to the Caliphate, which is Mu’awiya. One of Ali’s first edicts as the Islamic ruler was to replace all of Uthman’s appointees, particularly the governors - most of whom were Uthman’s kin. Mu’awiya was immediately covered by this decree as he was the governor of Syria. This factor along with Ali’s refusal to investigate and produce Uthman’s murderer led Mu’awiya to question the legitimacy of Ali’s rule. As a result, civil war broke between Ali and Mu’awiya’s forces. A first-hand account of this conflict was recorded by Sebeos, a 7th century bishop of Armenia. To quote: Now God sent a disturbance amongst the armies of the sons of Ismael, and their unity was split. They fell into mutual conflict and divided into four sections. One part [was composed of] those in the direction of India; one part, those who occupied Asorestan and the north; one part, those in Egypt and in the regions of the T’etalk; one part in the territory of the Arabs and the place called Askarawn… The prince who was in the region of Asorestan, their prince called Muawiya… When he saw what had occurred, he brought together his troops… slew that other king whom they had installed, waged war with the army in the region of the Arabs, and inflicted great slaughter on them (Sebeos 154). Sebeos historical commentary is peppered with religious bias but one can very well determine the extent of the conflict and the prevailing sentiment, which counts dread and awe from subjects, during the time. The Armenian bishop even seemed to hold a grudging respect, if not altogether fear, for Mu’awiya as he concluded his narrative on the conflict that when Mu’awiya prevailed, “he rules over the possessions of the sons of Ismael and makes peace with all” (154). The Defeat of Ali During the start of the conflict between Ali and Mu’awiya, the former appeared to have the upper hand. He had the support of most of the Muslim world. His rule was considered legitimate and has been highly regarded as the last of the four “rightly-guided” caliphs. But his decisions eventually eroded his support and weakened his hold unto power considerably. The first of these and, certainly, the most important was the rebellion of the Kharijites. Immediately after Mu’awiya declared his challenge to the caliphate, Ali mustered his forces and marched towards Syria, Mu’awiya’s stronghold. In 657, the famous battle of Siffin culminated but this ended with Ali at a disadvantage. According to Jackson (2006), “Mu’awiya persuaded the enemy to enter into negotiations that ultimately cast doubt on the legitimacy of Ali’s caliphate and alienated a sizable number of his supporters” (22). The negotiation that took place was supposed to settle the conflict but that it turned to be an investigation to settle whether Uthman had been killed wrongfully. The examination found that he was. However, Ali refused to take action, much less acknowledge the verdict. This decision would cost Ali so much since it solidified Mu’awiya support base and would gradually erode his own. An account of defection towards Mu’awiya was recounted by 9th century historian al-Baladhuri: Sa ‘sa ‘a b. Suhan came to Mu’awiya. Mu’awiya said to him: You have come to the best place, you have come to the place of the gathering of the dead on the Day of Judgment (Al-Baladhuri 25). Then there was the case of the Kharijites – considered to be the backbone of Ali’s armed forces – was one of those who rebelled. When Ali asked the Kharijites of al-Nahrawan to march with his army to subdue the Syrians, the Kharijites declared that they won’t do so unless “Ali testified that he had committed an act of infidelity and repented” (Shaban 1976, 53). What happened was that Ali decided to marched on to Syria without the help of the Karijites. The result was disastrous: the Karijites rebelled and seized Kufa the moment the caliph turned his back to meet his enemy. Ali was forced to deal with the rebels and halt the Syrian campaign. Although he was able to quash the rebellion, the repercussions were enormous. Timani’s (2008) point of view is an excellent depiction of this: The secession of the Karijites from Ali’s army shook the foundation of Ali’s reign and weakened his rule. Ali not only had to put off his campaign against the Syrians, but he also had to fight the men who were the backbone of his army (18). The al-Nahrawan incident took a toll on Ali’s men and the caliph was forced to postpone his conquest of Syria. Again this would lead to another catastrophic loss. Upon learning of the postponement, Mu’awiya (who had been preparing for Ali’s invasion) immediately shifted his strategy and turned towards Egypt. A series of events ensued leading to the murder of important personages in the politics between Ali and his Egyptian officers as well as between Mu’awiya and the Uthmanid supporters in Egypt. In the end, wrote Timani, “Ali’s attempt to prevent Egypt from falling into Mu’awiya’s hands failed due to the defection of Ali’s troops, who showed no interest in lending support to their brethren in Egypt. Amr [Mu’awiya’s commander] entered Egypt, and Muhammad b. Abi Bakr [Ali’s governor], who took offensive with an army of only two thousand men [against Amr’s four thousand] was slain and his body was burned inside the carcass of a donkey” (19). A number of other battles were fought but the pattern was the same. Ali pursued his rivalry with Mu’awiya but he had to constantly fight into two fronts: towards his enemy and the factions that rebel under his leadership. Across many sources, however, it was apparent that at this stage, there was no clear winner in the contest. Mu’awiya would launch a campaign elsewhere to divert Ali’s attention, would be successful in one or would fail in another. On the other hand, Syria had to live in fear from the constant threat of invasion from Ali’s horde. The conflict finally drew to a close when Ali and his son was murdered by an Egyptian who “struck Ali on the head with a poisoned sword as the imam entered, or after he had just left, the mosque of Kufa to perform the morning prayer” (Timani 20). Ali’s eldest son died under mysterious circumstances within the year Mu’awiya seized the caliphate. This effectively paved the way for an encumbered rule for Mu’awiya as he started to build his Umayyad dynasty. Conclusion As has been stated earlier, the conflict between Ali and Mu’awiya led to a great schism in the Muslim world. Because Islam’s religious leader is also the caliph, the religion eventually split stemming from the factions opposed to Mu’awiya’s rule. The followers of Ali formed a separate branch of Islam and named themselves Shia or the Shiites. For Shiites, Ali was a symbol of martyrdom (Thorpe 2006, 67). This Islamic denomination believes that Ali is slightly lower than Muhammad in holiness and rejects the three other preceding caliphs in the order of religious importance. For the Shiites, Ali was an imam and, with his successors, receives authority directly from god, serving as spiritual guides to Muslims and the Islamic community. The repercussion of this schism is felt even today as the political and religious systems of Shiite and Sunni states markedly differ from each other. In fact, in many instances such differences pitted them against each other in violent conflicts, For instance, there is the case of the Iran-Iraq war. The former is Shiite while the latter is Sunni. Or, there is the ease by which Saddam Hussein was toppled as Iraq’s dictator. He was a Sunni ruling a predominantly Shiite population. Finally, there is also the fact that the victory of Mu’awiya led to the consolidation of the Islamic empire under the Umayyad dynasty. Under their rule, Egypt, North Africa, India and even parts of Europe were successfully annexed. Within the empire, the Umayyads were able to perpetuate Islam successfully. Systems and mechanism were put in place in order to unite the disparate races under the regime. For example, Arabic was declared the official language, a common coinage was adopted and religious architecture spread across the dominion. The combined effects of these elements led to the emergence and flourishing of a unique Islamic culture. Bibliography Al-Baladhuri. (not dated). Ansab, vol. IV/A, p. 25, 1.2. Jackson, Roy. Fifty key figures in Islam. Oxon: Routledge, 2006. Sebeos. The Armenian history attributed to Sebeos. Robert Thomson, James Howard-Johnston and Tim Greenwood (trans.). Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1999. Shaban, M.A. Islamic history: a new interpretation, Volume 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976. Thorpe, Earl. The Other Truth About The Middle East Conflict. Lulu.com Publishing, 2006. Timani, Hussam. Modern intellectual readings of the Kharijites. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 2008. Read More