Second Fitna

The Second Fitna was the second civil war in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad Caliphate. It followed the death of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I in 680 and lasted for about twelve years. The war involved three main challenges to the authority of the Umayyad dynasty: the first by Husayn ibn Ali and his supporters, including Sulayman ibn Surad and Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, who rallied to avenge Husayn's death in Iraq; the second by Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, who proclaimed himself caliph in Mecca and was nominally recognized throughout most of the Caliphate; and the third by the Kharijites, who took over central Arabia and southern Iraq and Persia. The roots of the civil war date back to the First Fitna. After the assassination of the third Rashidun caliph Uthman, the Islamic community experienced its first civil war over the immediate question of retribution for his murder. Following the assassination of the fourth Rashidun caliph Ali in 661 and the abdication of his eldest son Hasan the same year, Mu'awiya became the sole ruler of the caliphate. Mu'awiya's unprecedented decision to nominate his son Yazid as his successor sparked opposition, and tensions soared after Mu'awiya's death. Husayn was invited by the Alid partisans of Kufa to overthrow the Umayyads but was intercepted and killed with his small company at the Battle of Karbala in October 680. Yazid's army suppressed a rebellion in Medina in August 683 and subsequently besieged Mecca, where Ibn al-Zubayr had established himself in opposition to Yazid. After Yazid died in November, the siege was abandoned, and Umayyad authority soon collapsed throughout the caliphate following the death of his son, except in parts of Syria where Marwan I was proclaimed caliph; most provinces recognized Ibn al-Zubayr as caliph. A series of pro-Alid movements demanding to...