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First Fitnah (Battles of the Camel and Siffin)

الفتنة الأولى (الجمل وصفين)

35-41 AH / 656-661 CE

The civil strife that followed Uthman's assassination: the Battle of the Camel (36 AH), Siffin (37 AH) and the arbitration. It split the community politically and gave rise to the Khawarij and the early Shi'at Ali.

Biography

After Uthman's murder, Ali became caliph. Aisha, Talhah and al-Zubayr went to Basra seeking retribution for Uthman, and the Battle of the Camel took place (36 AH), with Talhah and al-Zubayr killed. Mu'awiyah, governor of Syria, withheld allegiance pending retribution, leading to Siffin (37 AH), where Ammar ibn Yasir was killed. Many Sunni scholars cite 'the rebellious group will kill Ammar' (Sahih Bukhari 447) and 49:9 (fighting the group that transgresses) to conclude Ali's side was right.

At Siffin the Syrians raised copies of the Quran calling for arbitration. Ali accepted, which caused a faction to secede ('no judgement but Allah's'), becoming the Khawarij. The arbitration (Abu Musa al-Ash'ari and Amr ibn al-As) failed to resolve the conflict. The Fitnah ended with Ali's assassination (40 AH) and al-Hasan's peace with Mu'awiyah (41 AH), praised in Sahih Bukhari 2704. Sunni doctrine refrains from cursing the companions on either side.

Sources & explanation

۞ Qur'an

49:9

Links open quran.com.

📜 Hadith verified on sunnah.com

  • Sahih al-Bukhari 2704 Sahih

    'This son of mine (al-Hasan) is a sayyid; perhaps Allah will reconcile two great groups of Muslims through him' — fulfilled by his peace with Mu'awiyah. Narrated by al-Hasan al-Basri from Abu Bakrah.

  • Sahih al-Bukhari 447 Sahih

    While building the Prophet's mosque: 'May Allah have mercy on 'Ammar; the rebel (aggressor) group will kill him. He invites them to Paradise and they invite him to the Fire.' (narrated by Abu Sa'id al-Khudri)

  • Sahih Muslim 2916a Sahih

    Sahih Muslim: the Prophet ﷺ told 'Ammar that a rebellious group would kill him.

  • Sahih Muslim 1065a Sahih

    A group (the Khawarij) would break away when the Muslims divided, and the party nearer to the truth would fight them.

  • Sahih al-Bukhari 3609 Sahih

    The Hour will not come until two great groups fight, both making the same claim.

💬 Explanation Mirza view verified

Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza's perspective

Methodological note (not a direct quote): Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza's widely known approach is to build narratives primarily on the Quran and Sahih Hadith, to set aside Israiliyat (Judeo-Christian lore absorbed into later tafsir) and weak or fabricated narrations, and to avoid sectarian framing. Applied to this node: Verified from his lecture (paraphrase): Mirza holds that Ali was on the truth in the Battles of the Camel, Siffin and Nahrawan, treating Ali's fighting as the practical application of Quran 49:9 and the Sahih Muslim hadith that the group 'closest to the truth' would fight the Khawarij (meaning Ali's side was the one on the truth). He mentions Aisha's later regret over the Camel. His stated stance is 'neither Rafidi nor Nasibi' (ywqlRL1hUWs); the finer points (e.g. Ammar's killer, the meaning of 'baghi') are discussed in his videos but not verified here.

Verified from the auto-transcript of 6zhjdo3CoFk (2 Nov 2014); Ammar/'baghi' points rest only on chapter titles of -c9mMtoxan8 and Kt9Qros3f5k.

Related videos Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza

Empires in their lifetime

Further references

  • Sahih Bukhari 447
  • Sahih Bukhari 2704
  • Quran 49:9
  • Tarikh al-Tabari (historical)

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