ALI

(b. c. 600, Mecca; d. Jan. 661, Kufah, Iraq), in full Ali Ibn Abu Talib , son-in-law of -Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, and fourth caliph (successor to Muhammad), reigning from 656 to 661. The question of his right to the caliphate resulted in the only major split in Islam (into Sunni and Shiah branches). He is revered by the Shiahs as the only true successor to the Prophet.

Ali was the son of Abu Talib, uncle of Mohammad. Muhammad took Ali under his care when Abu Talib was greatly improvised following a drought. When Muhammad felt God's call to become his Prophet, Ali, though only 10 years old was one of the first to convert to Islam and remained his lifelong devoted follower. According to legend Ali risked his life by sleeping in the Prophet's bed to impersonate him the night that Muhammad fled from Mecca to Medina in 622 to escape from enemies who were plotting to assassinate him. Ali also carried out Muhammad's request to restore all the properties that had been entrusted to him as a merchant to their owners in Mecca. Thereafter reaching Medina he married Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, who bore him two sons, Hasan and Husain.

Ali always displayed rare courage in battle during the military expeditions Muhammad undertook to consolidate Islam and obtained a lion's share of the booty. Also one of Muhammad's scribes, Ali was chosen to lead several important missions. When the hostile inhabitants of Mecca finally accepted Islam without battle, it was Ali who smashed the pagan idols in the Kabah (holy shrine). Muhammad died on June 8, 632. Some say he had unequivocally nominated Ali as his successor while he was returning from his "farewell pilgrimage" to Mecca. Others reject this claim, maintaining that Muhammad died without naming a successor. While attending the last rites of the Prophet, Ali was confronted by the fact that Abu Bakr, Muhammad's closest friend and father of Aishah (one of the Prophet's wives), had been chosen caliph. Not wanting a bloody tribal strife, Ali did not actively assert his own rights. He retired to a quiet life, during which religious work became his chief occupation. He is credited with the chronologically arranged version of the Quran. His excellent knowledge of the Quran and Hadith (sayings and deeds of Muhammad) aided the caliphs in various legal problems.  

Following the murder of the third caliph Uthman, Ali was invited by the Muslims of Medina to accept the caliphate, to which he reluctantly agreed. His brief reign was beset by difficulties due mostly to the corrupt state of affairs he inherited. Acutely aware of the neglect of the Quran and the traditions of Muhammad that his predecessors had allowed to develop, he based his rule on the Islamic ideals of social justice and equality. His policy was a blow to the interests of the Quraish aristocracy of Mecca who had grown rich in the wake of the Muslim conquests. In order to embarrass Ali, they demanded that he bring Uthman's murderers to trial, and when he rejected their request, a rebellion against him was instigated in which two prominent Meccans along with Aishah, Muhammad's widow and the daughter of Abu Bakr, the first caliph, took a leading part. This rebellion, known as the Battle of the Camel (the camel ridden by Aishah), was quelled. A second rebellion was on the point of being crushed when its leader, Muawiyah, a kinsman of Uthman and the governor of Syria, averted defeat by proposing arbitration. Ali saw through the stratagem but was forced by his army to accept the arbitration, which greatly weakened his position. Soon, he had to fight some of the very people who had earlier forced him to accept arbitration but now denounced it. Known as Khawarij (Seceders), they were defeated by Ali in the Battle of Nahrawan. Meanwhile, Muawiyah followed an aggressive policy, and by the end of 660 Ali had lost control of Egypt and of the Hejaz. While praying in a mosque at Kufah in Iraq, Ali was struck with a poisoned sword by a Kharijite, intent on avenging the men slain at Nahrawan. Two days later Ali died and was buried near Kufah.

Ali's political discourses, sermons, letters, and sayings, collected by Ash Sharif ar-Radi (d. 1015) in a book entitled Nahj al-balaghah (The Road of Eloquence) with commentary by Ibn Abi al-Hadid (d. 1258), are well known in Arabic literature.

AISHAH

   (b. 614, Mecca; d. July 678, Medina), in full Aishah Bint Abi Bakr , the third and most favoured wife of Prophet Muhammad (the founder of Islam), who played a politically important role after the Prophet's death.

All Muhammad's marriages had political motivations, and in this case the intention seems to have been to cement ties with Aishah's father, Abu Bakr, who was one of Muhammad's most important supporters. Aishah's physical charms, together with the genuine warmth of their relationship, secured her a place in his affections that was not lessened by his subsequent marriages. Gifted with tremendous intelligence, extraordinary wisdom, and formidable memory, Aishah was one of the Prophet's most devoted pupils and followers. She was skilled in medicine, poetry, mathematics, and oratory. According to Islamic scholars, half of the Ilm-I-Hadith (understanding and knowledge of the Hadith and Islam) would have perished without Aishah. She helped preserve the behavioural principles of Muhammad, by practising them herself and teaching them to others. She narrated at least 2,000 Hadith, giving Muslims valuable insights into the Prophet's daily life.

It is said that in 627 she accompanied the Prophet on an expedition but was separated from the group. Later, when she was escorted back to Medina by a man who had found her in the desert, Muhammad's enemies claimed that she had been unfaithful. Muhammad, who trusted her, had a revelation asserting her innocence and publicly humiliated her accusers.  

When Muhammad died in 632, Aishah was left a childless widow of 18. She remained politically inactive until the time of Uthman (644-656; the third caliph, or leader of the Islamic community), during whose reign she played an important role in fomenting opposition that led to his murder in 656. She led an army against his successor, Ali, but was defeated in the Battle of the Camel. The engagement derived its name from the fierce fighting that centred on the camel upon which Aishah was mounted. Captured, she was allowed to live quietly in Medina. Aishah died in AD 678 and was buried beside other companions of the Prophet.