Having ended the resistence of the Mariqun, Imam Ali (a.s.) turned to resuming the fight against the Qasitun in al-Sham, with arbitration having failed in the second meeting.
He proclaimed mobilization for his army, and declared war against the opposition led by Mu'awiyah. This was announced by him in a speech delivered in Kufa, his capital of the Islamic state, where the people were invited for Jihad (fight in the way of Allah):
"Jihad! Jihad! O creatures of Allah!" He declared: "Beware, that I am mobilizing the army today. Whoever desires to go forward to Allah, let him come forth!"(172)
Then Imam Ali (a.s.) started distributing banners to his leaders, Husain, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari and Qais bin Sa'id. Yet, as he was engaged in mobilizing his forces in order to put an end to the opposition movement led by Mu'awiyah, there was another mean conspiracy being covertly planned, this time to assassinate him.
A group of his enemies held a meeting in Mecca to deliberate evil intentions, which were to end with the most horrific consequences. The gravest decision was to murder Amir al-Mu'minin, and the task was assigned to the willful criminal Abdul-Rahman bin Muljam al-Muradi.
It was a most critical period in the history of Islam and the Muslims, and at a time when the nation was looking forward to a decisive victory over the destructive elements of disunity led by Mu'awiyah bin Abi Sufyan, that the sinful hand of al-Muradi was extended to Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.). He swept down with a sword on his head while the Imam was prostrating during dawn prayers at the honorable mosque of Kufa on the 19th of the month of Ramadan of the year 40 A.H.
They assassinated Imam Ali (a.s.) at his finest time--the hour of standing before Allah, the Exalted, during a prayer of submission, in the best of days, while fasting during the month of Ramadan; during the most glorious Islamic duties, while preparing to wage jihad, and in the highest and most pure divine places, the Mosque of Kufa.
May joy be to Amir al-Mu'minin Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.) and a blessed afterlife!
The crime of assassinating Imam Ali (a.s.) remains one of the most cruel, brutal and hideous, because it was not committed against one man, but against the whole rational Islamic leadership. By assassinating Imam Ali (a.s.), they actually aimed at assassinating the message, the history, the culture and the nation of Muslims embodied in the person of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.). In doing so, the Islamic nation lost its guide of progress, and at the most wonderous opportunity in its life after the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.).
Imam Ali (a.s.) suffered from his wound for three days, during which he entrusted his son, Imam Hasan (a.s.) with the Imamate of guiding the nation ideologically and socially. During those three days, as during all his life, he never ceased remembering Allah, praising Him, and accepting Him and His ordinance.
Likewise, he continued giving pieces of advice and directions leading to good, pointing to the right, defining the way to guidance, explaining the course for deliverance, calling for the observance of Allah's ordinances, and warning against following one's ill desires and set-backs from not carrying our the divine message.
The following is one piece of advice offered to his sons, Imams Hasan and Hussain (a.s.), as well as to his people, the nation and coming generations:
"I advise you to fear Allah, and not to run after (the pleasure of) the world, even if it may run after you. Do not be sorry for anything from it which you have been denied. Say the truth and act for(Allah's) reward. Be an enemy of the oppressor, and be a helper of the oppressed.
"I advise you, my children, my household and all those who may receive my message, to fear Allah, to arrange your affairs well, to maintain good relations among yourselves, for I have heard your grandfather (s.a.w.) saying: 'Good relations are better than prayer and fasting in general.'
"(Fear) Allah when handling matters of orphans. Do not let them starve, nor allow them to be lost as long as you are there.
"(Fear) Allah in respect to your neighbors, for they were the truest of your Prophet (s.a.w.). He went on asking us to take care of them, so much that we thought he would make them heirs (of our heritage).
"(Fear) Allah in respect to the Qur'an, (take care that) no one may excel you in following its tenets.
"(Fear) Allah in respect to prayer, as it is the pillar of your religion.
"(Fear) Allah in respect to your Lord's House (Ka'bahh), do not forsake it so long as you live, because if you do you will not be looked upon with respect.
"(Fear) Allah in respect to jihad, fight with your wealth, your lives and your tongues, in the way of Allah.
"Have mutual liason and give-and-take. Beware of turning your faces from, and of renouncing, one another. Do not abandon bidding good and forbidding evil, lest vicious people may overrule you, and then in such a case, your invocations will not be responded to (by Allah)."
Then he said: "O, Banu Abdul Muttalib, certainly I do not want you to wade through the blood of the Muslims, crying: "Amir al-Mu'minin was murdered. You certainly kill for me no one but my killer.
"Wait till I die by this stroke of him (bin Muljam), then strike a single stroke against him, and do not disfigure his body, for I had heard the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.)saying: 'Avoid mayhem even with a rabid dog'."(173)
Such was the heroic end of this great man! The loss to the Mission and the nation was the gravest after the loss of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.).
By the death of Imam Ali (a.s.) the nation lost:
A heroism that had become the song of the time;
A courageous history that has never dreamt of its like;
A wisdom no one can fathom, save Allah;
A purity, the like of which was only in the prophets;
An abstinence from the pleasures of life that could be attained only by the nearest to Allah; An eloquence such as to be the echo of Book; and
A jurisprudence, and a thorough knowledge of the laws of religion, that made him the 'gateway of the city' of the Prophet's knowledge, and the authority to whom the Islamic nation referred in all its affairs.
Peace be upon Amir al-Mu'minin the day he was born, the day he was martyred on his alter, and the day he shall be raised alive.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.