Ismailii's succession crisis

                                                 
Ismailism shares its beginnings with other early Shī‘ah sects that emerged during the succession crisis that spread throughout the early Muslim community. From the beginning, the Shī‘ah asserted the right of ‘Alī, Muhammad's cousin, to have both political and spiritual control over the community. This also included his two sons, who were the grandsons of Muhammad through his daughter Fāṭimatu z-Zahrah.

The conflict remained relatively peaceful between the partisans of ‘Alī and those who asserted a semi-democratic system of electing caliphs, until the third of the Rashidun caliphs, Uthman was martyred, and ‘Alī, with popular support, ascended to the caliphate.

Soon after his ascendancy, Aisha, the third of the Prophet's wives, claimed along with Uthman's tribe, the Ummayads, that Ali should take Qisas (blood for blood) from the people responsible for Uthman's martyrdom. ‘Alī voted against it as he believed that situation at that time demanded a peaceful resolution of the matter. Both parties could rightfully defend their claims, but due to escalated misunderstandings, the Battle of the Camel was fought and Aisha was defeated but respectfully escorted to Medina by Ali.

Following this battle, Muawiya, the Umayyad governor of Syria, also staged a revolt under the same pretences. ‘Alī led his forces against Muawiya until the side of Muawiya held copies of the Quran against their spears and demanded that the issue be decided by Islam's holy book. ‘Alī accepted this, and an arbitration was done which ended in his favor.

A group among Alī's army believed that subjecting his legitimate authority to arbitration was tantamount to apostasy, and abandoned his forces. This group was known as the Kharijites, and ‘Alī wished to defeat their forces before they reached the cities where they would be able to blend in with the rest of the population. While he was unable to do this, he nonetheless defeated their forces in subsequent battles.

Regardless of these defeats, the Kharijites survived and became a violently problematic group in Islamic history. After plotting an assassination against ‘Alī, Muawiya, and the arbitrator of their conflict, only ‘Alī was successfully assassinated in 661 CE, and the Imāmate passed on to his son Hasan and then later his son Husayn, or according to the Nizari Ismāʿīlī, straight to Husayn. However, the political caliphate was soon taken over by Muawiya, the only leader in the empire at that time with an army large enough to seize control.


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