The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (129 page)

n on spears, and invited the combatants to resolve the problem by recourse to the Holy Book. ‘Al
was forced to accept arbitration by most of his army, and was thus politically outmanœuvred by Mu‘
wiyya's stratagem. ‘Al
's support diminished, a section of his army rebelled (those averse to arbitration) and these were crushed at Nahrawan (658 (AH 38)). The remnants of this defeated group later became known as the
Kharijites
. During ‘Al
's preparations for further battle, he was assassinated by a Kharijite in the mosque of K
fa (661 (AH 40)).
Since the period of ‘Al
's caliphate is a controversial time in Islamic history, it is open to various interpretations. Both Sunni and Sh
‘a sources agree that ‘Al
was a powerful orator, a leading authority on the Qur’
n and the
Sunna
of the Prophet Mu
ammad, and that his piety was beyond question. ‘Al
's sermons, lectures, and discourses have been preserved in
Nahj-ul-Balagha
(collected in the 11th cent.). However, while Mu
ammad,
Abu Bakr
, and ‘Umar had displayed great pragmatism in the handling of worldly affairs, ‘Al
lacked political insight: on the assumption of authority, he reversed all of ‘Uthm