Martyrdom of Ali ibn Abi Talib

 When the treaty of arbitration was being written, the scriber wrote the title Amir al-Mu’minin (Leader of the Believers) with the name of Ali. Amr ibn al-As objected on it and demanded to erase the title by saying that they did not accept

Ali as their leader. Ideally, the supporters of Ali should have protested on erasing the title but they did not. Ashath ibn

Qays accepted Amr‟s objection and the title was erased.  Ali suggested to make Abdullah ibn Abbas or Ashtar the arbitrator from his side but the Iraqis chose to make Abu

Musa al-Ash‟ari their representative against the will of Ali, which Ali was forced to accept.  After defeating the kharijites, Ali ordered Iraqis to prepare to attack Syria but they tried to evade it by making excuse of being fatigued from the recent battle. However, Ali refused this excuse. While returning from the battle of Nahrawan,

Ali camped at Nukhaylah and ordered that no solider would go back home. Despite, large number of people went to their homes in the darkness of night.

In the battle of Nahrawan, Ali‟s victory against kharijites was spectacular. Almost all kharijites were killed other than a few who managed to escape. Those who survived, had committed to kill Ali. For this purpose, an Egyptian kharijite Abd al-Rahman ibn Amr ibn Muljam went to Kufa. In Kufa he met his friends and gauged the situation but did not disclose the purpose of his arrival. Meanwhile he met a man named Shubayb ibn Shajrah who he thought could be helpful. Thus he persuaded him to assassinate Ali. At first he got furious but then Ibn Muljam coaxed him with his sweet talk. Both of them included a third man named Wardan, in their plan.