T he infurgents, upon the murder of O thman, made A lee an offer
of the K h a lifa t; which, with the confent of his colleagues T alha
and Z obair, (already mentioned,) he accepted.— He was publicly proclaimed
K halif within a fhort time after, and at the diftance of twenty-
four years from the period of his firft afpiring to that dignity.
In obtaining, however, this long-fought objedl, A lee foon found
himfelf embarked upon a tempeftuoUs ocean, and the ftorm ended only
with his life.-^Confcious that the concern he was generally, and perhaps
juftly, fufpe&ed to have in the death of Othman would not fail to alienate
from him all thofe who were connected with that Khalif, or whom
he had advanced, one of his firft fteps was, to effedt a general removal of
the governors who-had been appointed by his predeeeflor. This bold and
dangerous meafure excited much difguft in all the provinces,, but more
particularly in Syrian, where Moaviah, to whom the care of that region
had been entrufted by O.thman, and who- was. nearly related: to. him,
excited a ftrong party againft A lee, and openly declared his refolution-of
avenging upon him the death of his kinfman. . A t the fame time T alha
andZoBAiR were difgufted with A lee, becaufe ofhis having refufed to them
the governments of Koofa and Bafra; and underftanding that A ysha, the
widow of Mohammed, had retired from Medina, (then, the feat of the
Khalifat), to Mecca, Yollo.wed her thither-.. A t Mecca a. powerful faction
was excited a g a in f t - p a r t i c u la r ly among, the tribe o f Ommiahj. and
thefe being joined' by the difmiffed. governors of the provinces, and having
Ayjha at their head, collected a powerful army, determining to
depofe A lee by force, and fet up Moaviah as KhUlif in his room.—
Thus was excited the firft civil war among.the Muffulmans •, and hence
originated the diffenfions-which have ever fince obtained between the
opponents of A lee and his adherents.
A lee, with undaunted refolution, faced, and for the prefent repelled,
the threatening ftorm. He met. the infurgents, and, after a bloody conflict,
gave them a complete overthrow., in which T alha and Z obair
were
wereflain, and A ysha taken prifoner, whom the K halif treated with
the utmoft refped, and Pent her back, with honourable attendance, to
Mecca.
A fter this viftory, A lee remained complete matter of Arabia.^ But
he ftill found himfelf oppofed by a powerful party in Syria-, for Moaviah,
having retired to Damafcus,: and being there joined by all the
relations of O thman, was publicly acknowledged by thofe as Kha/iJ
P erhaps the mere effort of a faction at Damafcus would not, of
itfelf have availed to fhake the throne of A lee, confirmed as it was
by his recent fignal fuccefs. But the pretenfions o f his competitor were
fupported, on this occafion, by the celebrated A mroo ibn
moft puiffant and popular of all the Mufulman commanders.. This chieftain
had conquered Egypt during the Khalifat o i Omar ; had afterwards
been recalled by O thm an ; and, at the period of his. death, and t e
inveftiture of A lee, commanded in Palejttne•
T o «ratify fome particular refentment againffi the fon-in-law of the
Prophet,° or, more probably, induced by his attachment to .the houfe
o f Omm'iah, he repaired from Jerufalem to Damafcus, and took the
oaths to Moaviah. He pledged himfelf to obey and maintain the ufurper
as the only true and legitimate leader of the F aithful. Such was
his influence that the multitude immediately joined their acclamations,
and flocked to the ftandard of the Syrian K h d lif T h e civil war was
thus rekindled. T h e armies, of fhe contending Khdlifs prepared for
battle, and A lee' was once more on the point of defeating his- enemies,
when’ they were faved by the-ftratagem of fattening fome Koran* to the
ends of their fpears ; for the troops of A lee, beholding the facred volumes
thus expofed, could not be prevailed upon to advance to the encounter.
Soon after thefe proceedings a truce was agreed upon, and the competitors
engaged to retire to- their refpeaive capitals, Koofa. and Darnafr
CUSy