Killing of Ali ibn Abi Talib

مقتل علي بن أبي طالب

40 AH

In 40 Tabari records that Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam, with al-Barak ibn Abdullah and Amr ibn Bakr, planned to assassinate Ali and Mu'awiya ^{1 2 3}. The index of that volume lists the killing of Ali ibn Abi Talib (may God be pleased with him) and what follows on pages 141 to 152 ⁴. In al-Suyuti the three met in Mecca and pledged to kill Ali, Mu'awiya and Amr ibn al-As (may God be pleased with him) on the night of 17 Ramadan, each heading to the region of another. Ibn Muljam came to Kufa and struck Ali with a sword on the forehead down to the horn, reaching the brain, as Ali came out calling to prayer. Ali kept Friday and Saturday and died on the night of Sunday in the year 40, aged sixty-three in the familiar account. Al-Hasan, al-Husayn and Abdullah ibn Ja'far washed him and al-Hasan led the prayer; he was buried by night in the Dar al-Imara at Kufa and his grave was concealed so the Kharijites would not dig it up. Ibn Muljam's limbs were cut off, placed in a basket and burned ⁵. In al-Mas'udi, Ibn Muljam struck him on the horn while he was waking people for prayer, with Shabib and Mujashi' alongside; Shabib hit the threshold and Mujashi' fled. Just before, Ibn Muljam had passed al-Ash'ath and spoken a line; Hujr ibn Adi heard it and said, 'You have killed him, one-eyed man, may God kill you.' Ali did not sleep that night; he called out, 'Leave them, for they are wailers', and charged al-Hasan, al-Husayn and Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, saying this was the night in which Yusha ibn Nun had been struck. He died on the night of Sunday, 21 Ramadan, and was buried at al-Rahba beside the mosque of Kufa; al-Hasan prayed over him with seven takbirs. He left only seven hundred dirhams of his stipend, or it is said two hundred and fifty, together with his mushaf and his sword ⁶.