Who Killed Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib?

Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam al-Muradi belonged to the Murad tribe of Yemen and was a Kharijite — a group that broke away from Imam Ali’s army after the arbitration following the Battle of Siffin, holding both Ali and Muawiya responsible for straying from God’s judgment. The Kharijites believed “judgment belongs to God alone” and saw accepting human arbitration in the war as an unforgivable sin.

According to historical accounts, a group of Kharijites gathered in Mecca and agreed to end what they called the “fitna” (civil strife) by simultaneously assassinating three men: Imam Ali, Muawiya (governor of Syria), and Amr ibn al-As (Muawiya’s military commander in Egypt) — hoping that removing all three leaders would end the war among Muslims. Ibn Muljam took on the task of killing Ali; the other two attempts failed.

On the morning of 19 Ramadan, 40 AH, Ibn Muljam lay in wait for Imam Ali at the mosque of Kufa. As Ali entered to lead the dawn prayer, Ibn Muljam struck him on the head with a sword he had coated in poison beforehand. Severely wounded, Ali died two days later, on 21 Ramadan, at around age sixty-one.

Ibn Muljam was captured immediately after the attack. According to tradition, Ali instructed before his death that, if he died, Ibn Muljam should be killed with only a single blow in retaliation, not more — an instruction that stood in contrast to the harsher punishments common at the time. After Ali’s death, his son Imam Hasan ordered the retaliation carried out.

For a full profile of Imam Ali’s life, see the “Imam Ali” page on Noorjoo. To learn more about Ibn Muljam himself, read the “Ibn Muljam” entry in Noorjoo’s glossary.