Who killed Ali ibn Abi Talib?

The pains, stress, and troubles we experience throughout our lives, as well as the economic and social deprivations we endure, wound our souls and bodies in various ways, while accelerating our exhaustion in terms of the destruction they leave behind. We continue our lives by gradually wearing out and diminishing. Our energy depletes, our moral values and strength wane, the organs that keep us standing are damaged, and in the final moment, we are unable to sustain life: we die.

In this respect, death is actually a process most of the time. A person does not die in an instant. We see the end, but we do not account for the process leading to the end. Perhaps we do not want to face the perpetrators? Who knows, maybe that is the case.

According to official records, Ali ibn Abi Talib was killed in Kufa at the age of 62 by the Kharijite Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam. This was a political/religious assassination. Muljam was there at the moment of the incident, but one must consider whether he was the only one involved in the process leading up to the events. It was Muljam who held the dagger, but we know very well that he was not the one who prepared the dagger, who was instrumental in bringing the dagger to this day, who threw Ali into the midst of his "enemies," and who multiplied his enemies. So, let us open the subject a little further and turn not to the visible perpetrator, but to the history that is not intended to be shown.

Ali knew the Prophet of Islam closely, having been by his side since childhood and bound to him with heartfelt faith. How could he not know him? His family lived in poverty, so he stayed in his house for a time. They were that close. For that reason, while his father and mother had not yet converted, Ali embraced the faith and declared his devotion to the Prophet. He was 32 when he lost him. While the debates over the caliphate had begun, he was busy with the Prophet's funeral arrangements. Ultimately, first Abu Bakr, then Umar, and then Uthman became caliph. To be frank, he remained distant from power for these 25 years; he was not pleased with the "elections" that were held, and perhaps storms were raging inside him, but Ali did not voice them outwardly. We know from history that there were "spoils Muslims," whose hearts had not yet warmed to Islam, and then there were the Alis. Moreover, the spoils Muslims were growing stronger, building another interpretation of "religion" along with their cadres.

The lines had actually been drawn long ago; it was impossible to remain content.

It must be said that the period of Uthman was particularly troubled. For during this period, while on one hand, social opposition was being suppressed through various methods, on the other, the state was practically being handed over to the Umayyads. What we were facing was practically a dynastic state.

Objections were not met with a response, and reactions were fruitless. In those days, Abu Dharr was exiled; according to some accounts, Ammar was beaten by the caliph during these days, and both were figures close to Ali. In one respect, this was actually a challenge to Ali. So much so that, again according to some accounts, it was said that Uthman also wanted to exile Ali. As the days passed like this and the voices of anger against the caliph grew with each passing day, Uthman ibn Affan was killed.

This death was a major and profound rupture in terms of Islamic history. It was a kind of earthquake. Its effects may not have been felt immediately, but as a result, the strained ties had finally been severed. It was precisely in these days that Ali became Caliph. He was approaching 58 years of age. Around him were the poor, the dissidents, those who objected, and those who were angry. Ali was now the voice of all of them; that was what was expected, and that was the meaning attributed to Ali.

On the other hand, we know that Ali generally maintained a distant stance toward wealth and the accumulation of fortune. According to him, wealth had a limit, and this limit was not at all as high as one might think. Benedikt Koehler, a German-born economic historian, says the following on this subject: "Ali was always indifferent to the accumulation of wealth and never hid his disdain for viewing luxury as anything other than a temporary illusion."

Therefore, those who would oppose Ali would primarily be the aristocratic class. Secondly, those who wanted to seize power and used the killing of Uthman as an excuse for this would come to the fore. Indeed, that is what happened. As soon as Ali took the step toward the caliphate, objections began to emerge. For example, the governor of Damascus, Muawiyah, did not accept his dismissal and rebelled against the caliph. In the same days, Talha ibn Ubaydullah, Zubayr ibn al-Awam, and the Prophet's wife Aisha raised the banner of rebellion against Ali, and for this, they formed an army consisting of thousands of people. This event coincided with the time Ali came to power. In the massacre called the Battle of the Camel, thousands of Muslims lost their lives on the lands of Basra, and the city was flooded with blood. Ali could have died too, of course. He did not die, but Zubayr and Talha did; legend has it they were promised paradise, but their deaths came at the hands of Muslims!

This was the second major rupture. The intensity of the earthquake was greater, and its consequences were heavier. It is said that ten thousand people lost their lives in this battle. It should not be difficult to predict the consequences of such a war. Ali's supporters and opponents; the separation of those who died and those who were killed, the sides and the divisions... In the midst of all this, a caliph; Ali... As we said, death sometimes does not happen in an instant; those who remain are also wounded and diminished along with those who die.

The Battle of Siffin took place immediately after these bloody days. Armies with tens of thousands of soldiers faced each other. On one side, Ali; on the other, Muawiyah's forces. It is easy to say, but not easy for the mind to grasp; it is said that seventy thousand people lost their lives after this battle. Think of the plain of Siffin, the blood flowing in streams, the pain rising to the sky.

This was perhaps the third and greatest earthquake. The loss experienced by Muslims, those who died, their surviving relatives, and the wounded were writing not just a war, but a deep trauma in history. On the other hand, those who brought about the arbitration decision in this battle, those who forced Ali to accept this decision, and those who subsequently ruled against Ali in the arbitration were the perpetrators of other wounds and other ruptures.

The dagger was in Muljam's hand, but there were other hands holding the dagger. There were other perpetrators who changed the course of history with the decisions they made, who filled the plains with blood and girded their swords with the ambition of power, darkening not only the period they lived in but also the future. As Ali's body departed for the eternal realm, history was saying that the perpetrator was not singular, and that there were those who prepared the dagger in the process leading to death.