Assassination of Ali has been listed as one of the Philosophy and religion good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Article milestones Date Process Result June 5, 2016 Good article nominee Listed
	A fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the " Did you know?" column on March 13, 2016. The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that Ibn Muljam assassinated the fourth caliph Ali at the request of his lover whose father and brother were killed by Ali's forces at the Battle of Nahrawan?
	Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the " On this day..." column on January 26, 2018, and January 26, 2022.

This article is rated GA-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to multiple WikiProjects.

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This review is transcluded from Talk:Assassination of Ali/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: FunkMonk ( talk · contribs) 19:34, 1 March 2016 (UTC) reply

• Hi, I will review this. FunkMonk ( talk) 19:34, 1 March 2016 (UTC) reply
• The intro is way too short, it should summarise the entire article.

FunkMonk Please have a look. RRD13 দেবজ্যোতি ( talk) 10:55, 5 March 2016 (UTC) reply

Looks better! I'll be back for the rest of the review late tomorrow. FunkMonk ( talk) 11:24, 5 March 2016 (UTC) reply

• "After the death of Muhammad" Perhaps add "Muslim prophet" before Muhammad, to present him.

• Everyone knows that fact; it is as common as Paris being the capital of France. RRD13 দেবজ্যোতি ( talk) 11:48, 28 March 2016 (UTC) reply

• "between Sunni and Shia" add "Muslims".

•  Done RRD13 দেবজ্যোতি ( talk) 11:48, 28 March 2016 (UTC) reply

• "arose over a disagreement over" Double over seems repetitive, alternatives?

•  Done RRD13 দেবজ্যোতি ( talk) 05:57, 2 April 2016 (UTC) reply

• "considered the prophet in the Islamic tradition, as the head of the Muslim community." Seems a bit odd at the end of the sentence?

•  Done RRD13 দেবজ্যোতি ( talk) 05:57, 2 April 2016 (UTC) reply

• "over who would succeed him" Add as caliph?

•  Done RRD13 দেবজ্যোতি ( talk) 05:57, 2 April 2016 (UTC) reply

• "Sunnis believed that anyone could succeed Muhammad" Add if elected/chosen by Muslims?

•  Done RRD13 দেবজ্যোতি ( talk) 05:57, 2 April 2016 (UTC) reply

• "the partisans of Ali" Link Ali.

•  Done RRD13 দেবজ্যোতি ( talk) 05:57, 2 April 2016 (UTC) reply

• "Abu Bakr was elected as" Present him breifly?

•  Done RRD13 দেবজ্যোতি ( talk) 05:57, 2 April 2016 (UTC) reply

• "He was succeeded by Umar" Present?

I dont understand what you mean. RRD13 দেবজ্যোতি ( talk) 06:00, 2 April 2016 (UTC) reply

Present the person. FunkMonk ( talk) 07:27, 2 April 2016 (UTC) reply

• "as the fourth Rashidun" Explain.

 Done RRD13 দেবজ্যোতি ( talk) 06:00, 2 April 2016 (UTC) reply

• "The group argued that Quranic teachings ask people to bring rebels under obedience by violence.[5]" People or rulers?

People. RRD13 দেবজ্যোতি ( talk) 06:00, 2 April 2016 (UTC) reply

• Add Khawarij before "group" in the sentence above for clarity.

 Done RRD13 দেবজ্যোতি ( talk) 06:00, 2 April 2016 (UTC) reply

• "killed by Ibn Muljam at" present.

I dont know what you mean. RRD13 দেবজ্যোতি ( talk) 06:00, 2 April 2016 (UTC) reply

Present the person. FunkMonk ( talk)

 Done Mhhossein ( talk) 06:41, 21 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• "at the Great Mosque of Kufa on 26 January 6" Add where this is.

 Done Mhhossein ( talk) 06:48, 21 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• Mention First Fitna.

 Done Mhhossein ( talk) 05:12, 23 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• Aftermath could mention Second Fitna, and other subsequent conflicts between Muslims resulting form this assassination.

FunkMonk: How can I make connection between 'Aftermath' and the Second Fitna? Also, can you please explain what you mean regarding "other subsequent conflicts"? Mhhossein ( talk) 05:43, 23 May 2016 (UTC) reply

On second thoughts, I don't think anything in my comment above is necessary. Though if anything comes to mind, could be mentioned if any subsequent animosity has resulted from the assassination. FunkMonk ( talk) 07:45, 23 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• It should also mention how important the death of Ali has become to Shias, and how it is commemorated (ashura), etc.

 Done as much as possible. Mhhossein ( talk) 13:09, 23 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• "Shiites mourn the anniversary of Hasayn's defeat." Mention muharram by name as well, now it is hidden as an "easter egg link".

 Done Mhhossein ( talk) 13:09, 23 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• "on the 21 Ramadan 40 AH" Only mentioned in intro.

 Done Moreover, I emphasized that the exact date is disputed per reliable sources. Mhhossein ( talk) 15:11, 23 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• Khawarij and Ibn Muljam are overlinked in the intro.

 Done I resolved the issue with Ibn Muljam while I think we have to keep both bluelinks going to Khawarij. The first one is Kharijite (referring to a person) and the second one is Khawarij (referring to a group). Mhhossein ( talk) 17:46, 23 May 2016 (UTC) reply

Seems they both link to the same article, though? That counts as overlinking. FunkMonk ( talk) 17:50, 23 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• You refer to Quttaam as a girl in the intro but as a woman in the article.

 Done Mhhossein ( talk) 04:25, 24 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• "Consequently he was stabbed by" He: Ali.

 Done Mhhossein ( talk) 04:25, 24 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• I won't make any of it now, but since this is a rather short article, I'm not sure why it was split off from the general article about Ali? Seems it would easily fit there.

I think the main article is long enough and we'd better not make it longer by adding it to that. Mhhossein ( talk) 04:37, 24 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• You there, Royroydeb? FunkMonk ( talk) 09:14, 11 March 2016 (UTC) reply

Regarding @ FunkMonk:'s request on Wikipedia:Good article nominations, I will join you as the second reviewer. I think more should be done to reach GA criteria. Thus, I put on hold tag on the article.-- Seyyed( t- c) 04:13, 22 April 2016 (UTC) reply

@ Royroydeb:

• "Attack and death" This part is incomplete. Madelung has provide precise description of the event in his book " The Succession to Muhammad" pp.308 and 309. You can also use Veccia Vaglieri's article.( ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib)

 Done Mhhossein ( talk) 07:34, 24 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• There should be information about the role of al-Ash'ath [1]

@ Sa.vakilian: Could you please provide more explanations? I've restricted access to your proposed source. Mhhossein ( talk) 10:42, 24 May 2016 (UTC) reply

@ Sa.vakilian and FunkMonk: Fortunately, I got two articles by Brill regarding our subject and I found some info regarding the role of Ash'ath. I'll consider adding needed info. Mhhossein ( talk) 06:12, 27 May 2016 (UTC) reply

 Done Mhhossein ( talk) 06:07, 26 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• There should be more information about Ibn Muljam [2]

 Done Mhhossein ( talk) 07:34, 24 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• There should be more information about the relation between Ali and Khawarij in the "Background" section.

 Done Mhhossein ( talk) 07:34, 24 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• "Aftermath": This section is incomplete as well. You can add more information from Madelung's book.--

 Done I added some more info from Madelung's book. Mhhossein ( talk) 13:03, 24 May 2016 (UTC) reply

Thank you.-- Seyyed( t- c) 06:41, 22 April 2016 (UTC) reply

I tried to add some parts of Madelung's book. Mhhossein ( talk) 11:57, 25 April 2016 (UTC) reply

According to Madelung three persons were involved in assassination of Ali, the point which is missed here in the article. Mhhossein ( talk) 12:12, 25 April 2016 (UTC) reply

• Comment: Another issue which should be resolved prior to promotion is the inconsistency of the templates used for citation. Mhhossein ( talk) 11:41, 25 April 2016 (UTC) reply

Thanks for further comments. This GAN is really going way too slow, Royroydeb, anyone else would have failed it by now, but I'll wait and see if you get going. FunkMonk ( talk) 17:13, 2 May 2016 (UTC) reply

FunkMonk, Royroydeb hasn't edited on Wikipedia since April 18. You may want to go ahead and fail it. BlueMoonset ( talk) 05:25, 16 May 2016 (UTC) reply

Yeah, I'll fail this in a couple of days. FunkMonk ( talk) 18:07, 16 May 2016 (UTC) reply

Mhhossein, since you seem knowledgeable about the topic, might you want to take over the nomination and fix the remaining issues? FunkMonk ( talk) 14:12, 19 May 2016 (UTC) reply

@ FunkMonk: I can do the job. That you don't hold your finger on the 'fail' button to push it any time possible, is admirable. Should I address the bullet points raised above? -- Mhhossein ( talk) 17:17, 19 May 2016 (UTC) reply

Thanks! Yeah, that's all you have to do. I don't like failing articles due to inactivity (usually everything can be fixed over time), and it shouldn't be too hard to fix this one... FunkMonk ( talk) 17:20, 19 May 2016 (UTC) reply

@ Sa.vakilian: Where can I find reliable info on the motivation behind the assassination. I've already made some relations between the Nahrawan battle and the assassination. -- Mhhossein ( talk) 13:33, 20 May 2016 (UTC) reply

I suggest to use Brill's article.-- Seyyed( t- c) 06:03, 22 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• @ Sa.vakilian and FunkMonk: I'm finished with resolving the issues raised above. Ready to perform any further required edits. Mhhossein ( talk) 06:15, 26 May 2016 (UTC) reply

Looks good, but there are some grammar issues with the new paragraph about al-Ash'ath ibn Qays. I'll give it a look later and see what I can fix. FunkMonk ( talk) 13:11, 26 May 2016 (UTC) reply

I fixed a few errors. [3] You should not use contractions like "didn't", as it is too informal. FunkMonk ( talk) 13:35, 27 May 2016 (UTC) reply

• "in the battle for the water" Anything that could be linked?
• "al-Burak b. Abd Allah and Amr b. Bakr al-Tamimi" What do the b.s stand for?

FunkMonk: Thank you for fixing the error and for the point. Per this source, "the battle for the water" refers to the battle of seffin and b.s stand for ibn. Mhhossein ( talk) 14:42, 27 May 2016 (UTC) reply

Ok. Could these be linked and spelled out in the article? FunkMonk ( talk) 14:43, 27 May 2016 (UTC) reply

@ FunkMonk:  Done, I also trimmed some other parts and added reliable info. Anything else? Mhhossein ( talk) 12:26, 28 May 2016 (UTC) reply

I think it looks quite good now. What does sa.vakilian say? FunkMonk ( talk) 13:03, 28 May 2016 (UTC) reply

Excuse me, God willing, I will check in this week.-- Seyyed( t- c) 06:45, 30 May 2016 (UTC) reply

The article has some problems which I try to fix. Then I tell my final view.-- Seyyed( t- c) 03:28, 3 June 2016 (UTC) reply

Thank you. It looks too much better now.-- Seyyed( t- c) 01:33, 5 June 2016 (UTC) reply

Seyyed: Thank you for editing the article and for enhancing its quality. FunkMonk Can we go forward? Mhhossein ( talk) 05:36, 5 June 2016 (UTC) reply

• Looks good, remaining issue now is that some of the info found in the intro is not mentioned in the article body, which it should. The intro is just supposed to be a summary of the article, with no unique info. I'll list the info below:
• "Ali, being then 62 or 63 years of age"
• "("those who leave")"
• "(Qisas)
• "Ibn Muljam met up with two other Kharijites namely al-Burak ibn Abd Allah and Amr ibn Bakr al-Tamimi at Mecca concluded that the situation of the Muslims at the time were due to the erroneousness of Ali, Muawiah and Amr ibn As, governor of Egypt, whom they decided to kill in order to resolve the "deplorable situation" of their time and also avenge their companions killed at Nahrawan." This sentence is extremely long and should be broken up.
• There are quite a few duplicate links throughout the article.

@ FunkMonk::  Done. Thanks for your useful points, I'm ready to make any other required changes. Mhhossein ( talk) 14:16, 5 June 2016 (UTC) reply

I think it works much better now as a stand alone article, thanks for saving this one, guys! Will now pass. Just noticed that the article lacks wikiproject tags on the talkpage, though... FunkMonk ( talk) 14:35, 5 June 2016 (UTC) reply

FunkMonk: And thank you for being patient with this nomination. I should also thank Seyyed for helping me with this promotion. Mhhossein ( talk) 04:34, 6 June 2016 (UTC) reply

Hey @ Kaldari:! Regarding your recent edit, please see many other Assassination-of-type articles such as Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Assassination of Olof Palme, Assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, Assassination of John F. Kennedy and etc where {{ Infobox civilian attack}} is used as the infobox template. Do you have anything to add? -- Mhhossein ^talk 19:36, 29 December 2017 (UTC) reply

None of those assassinations have religious significance. {{ Infobox civilian attack}} seems awkward and overly-simplifying in this context, in my opinion. And the juxtaposition of an idealized hagiographic illustration with a banal list of historical facts is especially awkward. Kaldari ( talk) 21:34, 29 December 2017 (UTC) reply

What's it, if Assassination of Ali is not a civilian attack? How having a religious significance can/should make a difference? -- Mhhossein ^talk 12:20, 30 December 2017 (UTC) reply

Btw, as far as I know, the most available photo relevant with the article subject, is this "hagiographic" work. -- Mhhossein ^talk 12:27, 30 December 2017 (UTC) reply

@ Mhhossein: I wouldn't have noticed this section if it weren't for your latest edit. I believe the first source is a self-published one, unless I'm missing something. Please read the WP:IPC essay, which better explains my concerns. Didn't check the other sources yet, but they are most likely unreliable. Fitzcarmalan ( talk) 08:53, 27 April 2018 (UTC) reply

Yeah, the first source is weblog updated by the painter himself. Anyway, I'll replace it with a secondary an independent source. By the way, the materials you removed is neither off-topic nor original research. -- Mhhossein ^talk 13:40, 13 May 2018 (UTC) reply

The second paragraph is definitely off-topic. The painter himself doesn't seem notable enough to have a WP article about him. Let alone a mention on this article of not only him, but also the critical reception of one of his works. Please remove it. Fitzcarmalan ( talk) 14:28, 14 May 2018 (UTC) reply

I don't think so. That the "painter himself doesn't seem notable" has nothing to do with whether or not we can mention his work in an article most related to it. However, none of these mean that you can't start a RFC. Regards. -- Mhhossein ^talk 18:48, 14 May 2018 (UTC) reply

I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of Assassination of Ali's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "Iranica":

• From Ghulat: "Assassination of Ali" at Encyclopædia Iranica
• From Battle of Karbala: Madelung, Wilferd. "Hosayn b. ali". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
• From Succession to Muhammad: "Ali ibn Abitalib". Encyclopedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2007-08-12. Retrieved 2007-10-25. {{ cite encyclopedia}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) ( help)
• From Timeline of Ali's life: "Ali ibn Abitalib". Encyclopedia Iranica. Archived from the original on November 7, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-25. {{ cite encyclopedia}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) ( help)
• From Ali: "Alī ibn Abu Talib". Encyclopædia Iranica. Archived from the original on April 29, 2011. Retrieved December 16, 2010. {{ cite encyclopedia}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) ( help)
• From Ali as Caliph: "Ali ibn Abitalib". Encyclopedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2007-08-12. Retrieved 2007-10-25. {{ cite encyclopedia}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) ( help)
• From Mourning of Muharram: Chelkowski, Peter (2008). "NAḴL". Encyclopædia Iranica (Online ed.).
• From Karbala: Litvak, Meir (2010). "KARBALA". Iranica Online.
• From Hasan ibn Ali: Hasan b. 'Ali b. Abi Taleb, Encyclopedia Iranica.
• From Encyclopaedia of Islam: Elton L. Daniel, "Encyclopedia of Islam" in Encyclopaedia Iranica
• From Husayn ibn Ali: Madelung, Wilferd. "HOSAYN B. ALI". Iranica. Retrieved 12 January 2008.
• From Siege of Uthman: "Ali ibn Abitalib". Encyclopedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2007-10-25. {{ cite encyclopedia}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) ( help)
• From Ashura: Madelung, Wilferd. "ḤOSAYN B. ʿALI i. LIFE AND SIGNIFICANCE IN SHIʿISM". Encyclopædia Iranica Online. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
• From Shia view of Ali: "Ali ibn Abitalib". Encyclopædia Iranica. Archived from the original on November 7, 2007. Retrieved 2010-12-16. {{ cite encyclopedia}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) ( help)

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT ⚡ 23:54, 10 June 2018 (UTC) reply

• Dear @ Spanianou: As you may have seen, the article is a GA and editors would better be more cautious when editing the article, in order for the GA level to be kept. I just noticed your edit and thank you for your contribution. Anyway, could you please use a referencing style in harmony with this article? As you see, we have not used short formats such as Harvnb here. Regards. -- Mhhossein ^talk 07:17, 11 June 2018 (UTC) reply

@ Howcheng: I just noticed your edit and have altered the date in the other article, since I think the source used here in this article is reliable enough for the date (and I could not verify 27 Jan by the given source in the other article). So, I don't find them to be contradictory! -- Mhhossein ^talk 07:47, 25 January 2019 (UTC) reply

Apparently it's not very clear at all. Look at Talk:Ali/Archive 6#Date of death. 21 Ramadan as the date of death seems to be correct, but it's just a matter of converting that to the western calendar. — howcheng { chat} 16:49, 25 January 2019 (UTC) reply

A number of comments about this article. They seem fairly uncontroversial but I'll wait a bit for feedback/objections before implementing them.

Open

Corrections and mechanical edits

1. Inconsistency in transliteration, e.g., Muawiyah vs. Muawiya.
2. A separate bibliography section might be added and the inconsistencies in citations should be sorted out.
3. "Shablb ibn Bujra" should be "Shabib ibn Bujra", according to the source.
4. The latter part of the following is not in the source: "Ali's death is commemorated by Shia Muslims every year at the Imam Ali Mosque and by Sunni Muslims at the Hazrat Ali Mazar."

Discussed

1. "Ali became the caliph" can be replaced with the more informative sentence "Ali was elected caliph."
2. The paragraph in Background starting with "Ali's caliphate was coincident with First Fitna" benefits from some copy editing. Here is my proposal, where I have omitted the (standard) sources for brevity: Ali's caliphate was concurrent with the first Muslim civil war, known as the First Fitna. Though Ali was elected as the fourth Rashidun (or rightly guided) caliph after Uthman's death, he faced opposition during his rule. On the one hand, in Mecca, Aisha, Talha, and Zubayr revolted against Ali and seized control of Basra. Aisha was Muhammad's widow, while Talha and Zubayr were two of his companions. Ali marched to Basra and emerged victorious in the Battle of Camel in 656 against an army led by Aisha, Tahla, and Zubayr. On the other hand, Muawiya, the incumbent Umayyad governor of Syria, declared war on Ali, accusing him of inciting Muhajirun against Uthman and demanding the surrender of his murderers. In response, Ali maintained his innocence and urged Muawiya to present his case before Ali's court. After failed negotiations, the two parties fought the Battle of Siffin in 657, which ended in a stalemate as the two sides agreed to settle the matters by arbitration.
3. The following can be replaced with something with fewer quotes and closer to the source: Current: According to Madelung, a small minority of people were convinced that "he was the best of Muslims after the Prophet and the only one entitled to rule them," and after Ali's death people were divided regarding their view toward him. "Distrust of, and opposition to, Mu'awiya and his Syrian cohorts" was what united the majority. Ali's admirers then turned into majority due to "highhandedness, misrule and repression" that composed the rule of the Umayyads. Proposed: According to Madelung, during his rule, Ali found a loyal following who regarded Ali as the best of Muslims after Muhammad and the only one entitled to the caliphate. Nevertheless, this following remained a small minority and what united Kufans after Ali's assassination was instead their opposition to Muawiya. Madelung adds that, over time, the oppressive rule of the Umayyads turned the minority of Ali's admirers into the majority.
4. The second paragraph can be shortened to read better. Here is my proposal: "Ali was elected caliph after the assassination of Uthman in 656 but faced opposition from some factions including Muawiya I, the incumbent governor of Syria. As a result, the first Muslim civil war, known as the First Fitna, followed the assassination of Uthman, continued throughout the four-year reign of Ali and ended with the overthrow of the Rashidun caliphate and the establishment of the Umayyad dynasty by Muawiya. Notably, after Ali agreed to arbitration with Muawiya, following the Battle of Siffin in 657, a fraction of his army revolted against him. These later became known as the Kharijites or those who secede. They soon began to terrorize the civilian population and were crushed by Ali's forces in the Battle of Nahrawan in July 658."
5. Both Levant and Syria are used in this wiki article to describe Muawiya's territory. The said territory is referred to as Syria by Madelung. So one can replace Levant with Syria in this wiki article for the sake of consistency and readability.
6. I think proper nouns like Kharijites and Rashidun need not be italicized.
7. an Excessive number of quotes, e.g., in the section Ali's prediction of his fate (save for the quote about the "evilest man").
8. After providing the source, "Amr ibn al-As, governor of Egypt" in the lead can be replaced with the more accurate, e.g., "Amr ibn al-As, Muawiya's governor of Egypt". ^[1]
9. There are lots of places that the language can be improved, e.g., the existing sentence "Some sources have accused al-Ash'ath of being informed of the plot of the assassination of Ali" can be rewritten as "Some sources have alleged that al-Ash'ath was aware of the plot to assassinate Ali."
10. "After Ali's death, the Shias of Iraq declared Ali's eldest son Hasan the successor to Ali, thus proclaiming him as their new caliph. However, Hasan was not interested in becoming caliph, and to prevent further bloodshed, he signed the Hasan–Muawiya treaty and abdicated in favor of Muawiyah, who became the first caliph of the Umayyad caliphate." can probably be replaced with a more historically accurate statement. Here is my proposal, where I have dropped the sources: After the assassination of Ali in January 661, his eldest son, Hasan, was elected caliph in Kufa. Soon after Muawiya marched on Kufa with a sizeable army, while Hasan's military response suffered defections in large numbers, in part facilitated by military commanders and tribal chiefs who had been swayed to Muawiya's side by promises and offers of money. After a failed attempt on his life, a wounded Hasan, who by now only ruled the area around Kufa, ceded the caliphate to Muawiya in 661, who founded the Umayyad caliphate.
11. The following is unsourced. If a source is not found, remove: "...while remembered by nearly all Muslims every year during Muharram paying tribute to Muhammad's grandson and his family's brutal assassination."
12. "other sahaba" in the following replace should be replaced with the more accurate Talha and Zubayr. "Ali, first emerged victorious at the Battle of Camel in 656, against an army primarily led by Muhammad's wife Aisha and other sahaba."
13. The following sentence in the lead might be a bit confusing: "Ali, who was then 62 or 63 years of age, died due to his injuries two days after Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Amr ibn Muljam al-Muradi struck him on his head with a poison-coated sword,  on the 21 (or 19) Ramadan 40 AH (28 January 661 CE)." There is only a comma to clarify that 21 (or 19) is the day on which Ali died. This can be rewritten more clearly.

• There are a lot of comments so plz wait so that other users may get involved. Also you have not even pinged the most involved users in this page. -- Mhhossein ^talk 06:56, 11 December 2021 (UTC) reply

For the time being, your claim in #1 needs a reliable source. #2 seems OK to me. As for #3, it is too short and ignores important point regarding Kharijites. Syria and Levant mentioned in #4 refer to two different area from historical viewpoint, right? Which one is used by the sources? -- Mhhossein ^talk 07:04, 11 December 2021 (UTC) reply

Thanks, Mhhossein! I've now pinged a few people. Re Item 3, I didn't plan on removing the information about the Kharijites and have now included the full paragraph in my proposal above (after some light edits) to avoid any confusion. Re Item 1, I've added a source although it's likely that I'm misunderstanding your comment. Albertatiran ( talk) 08:38, 11 December 2021 (UTC) reply

Do you mean Amr was not governor of Egypt when Ali was assassinated? -- Mhhossein ^talk 05:15, 12 December 2021 (UTC) reply

It was added by user:Sa.vakilian. I think you may remove it if you have a reliable source saying Amr ibn As was not the Egypt's governor at the time. Also, I am OK with 5 and 6 (as for 6, I think the sentence "the evilest..." would better be left untouched.) -- Mhhossein ^talk 05:23, 12 December 2021 (UTC) reply

Hi, Mhhossein! Please have a look at the updated Item 1. (Amr was indeed a governor at the time of assassination but he was Muawiya's governor not Ali's. This can be easily clarified as described in Item 1. I also divided the comments into two groups. Albertatiran ( talk) 16:24, 12 December 2021 (UTC) reply

Hi, Albertatiran. I agree with the modification you provided for Amr ibn As in the lead – provided that it's accompanied by a reliable source. Now dealing with the open items; Why do you think the "Therefore, a civil war ..." is redundant? I don't see any similar items in the page making this sentence excessive. As for al-Sallabi, I suggest keeping the source, since I don't think it is unreliable. Though you may evaluate it at the WP:RSN. As for #4, you can see my original edit. The source is Madelung but I don't know how it was changed later. What's your proposal for #5 and your edits under #6 are welcomed (but be careful about the meaning of the sentences). -- Mhhossein ^talk 03:52, 14 December 2021 (UTC) reply

@ Mhhossein, Sa.vakilian, AstroLynx, Toddy1, Chewings72, Murtaza.aliakbar, and NanoFan: Hi! Asking for your feedback about the above proposed changes. Thanks in advance. Albertatiran ( talk) 08:38, 11 December 2021 (UTC) reply

Thanks, Mhhossein. Can you check the the updated list of open items? Albertatiran ( talk) 20:13, 15 December 2021 (UTC) reply

You're welcome. Do you like implementing the discussed items gradually? Thanks for your CE proposal in #1. To be honest, I am happy with the current wording (for plenty of reasons) but think #2 is an improvement (are you suggesting to keep "to prevent further bloodshed, he signed the Hasan–Muawiya treaty..." up to the end of the current paragraph?). As for #3, it is a combination of my edit and an edit from another user. So, it's possible they have entered something unsourced. Anyway, can we find a source for it? Thanks for your proposals. -- Mhhossein ^talk 06:22, 16 December 2021 (UTC) reply

Hi, Mhhossein! In addition to the above list, I'm hoping to copy-edit the article. I understand that you've written parts of it and I hope you are ok with me editing the article more freely. Academic writing is my day job :) and I believe I can improve the writing and presentation in various places without changing the message. Regarding the above list, it might be easier for me to have our discussion first before making all these changes lumped together with other light edits. And we're almost done! :) About the open item 1 above, I wonder what your concerns are and if they can be addressed easily. Thanks. Albertatiran ( talk) 17:27, 17 December 2021 (UTC) reply

ِDear Albertatiran, I am sure your efforts may improve the quality of pages but the disputes between the editors are normal which would better get resolved via reaching a consensus/compromise. As for #1 from the open list, we don't need to have the names in their complete forms. According to the 'Battle of the Camel', Aiysha was a key figure in the battle to the point the war is named after her riding on the back of a camel. It's even reported that Zubayr deserted the field but was killed by the soldiers on his side. So, let's not the change the meaning by saying "Ali first emerged victorious in the Battle of Camel in 656 against an army led by Tahla, Zubayr, and Aisha." Though, to be honest, I think your version is featured with "The battle ended in a stalemate as the two sides agreed to settle the matters by arbitration" and "...and declared war on him" which are more accurate. -- Mhhossein ^talk 15:44, 19 December 2021 (UTC) reply

@ Mhhossein: I understand. Please see revised #1 with the changes highlighted in red. Albertatiran ( talk) 19:51, 20 December 2021 (UTC) reply

Bravo Albertatiran. I just realized there's something lacking in the paragraph. After sating "Ali's opponents ostensibly asked for the murderers of Uthman to be punished," then we need to bring Ali's response/view point. Your thoughts? As for the remaining items, I am OK with them except #4 which can be still worked on to be improved. For instance, saying "Ali built a loyal following..." makes the wrong impression that he really did something to build a group of loyal followers, which I don't think is the case. Best. -- Mhhossein ^talk 07:24, 21 December 2021 (UTC) reply

@ Mhhossein: Good point about #1! About #4, it might be argued that perhaps Ali did play an active role, e.g., his sermons and teachings. In any case, please see the revised texts. Thanks! Albertatiran ( talk) 09:58, 24 December 2021 (UTC) reply

@ Albertatiran: We usually don't revise the old talk comments as you tend to do, because extensive edit of the old comments makes it difficult for others to keep track of the developments. Instead, you may write new paragraphs featured with your fresh edits and keep the old one intact. Anyway, "Ali's opponents ostensibly asked for the murderers of Uthman to be punished" is far way different from "accusing him in Uthman's murder and demanding the surrender of his murderers." The latter just implies Ali was directly involved in the assassination of Uthman – am I right saying it's just not supported by the reliable sources? In my previous comment, I meant to suggest adding something after "Ali's opponents ostensibly asked for ...". What was Ali's reaction? As for building loyal, there should be a reliable source saying as such, otherwise it is not acceptable. Thanks. -- Mhhossein ^talk 18:23, 26 December 2021 (UTC) reply

@ Mhhossein: Thanks for the tip. Both proposals are sourced from Madelung. #4 closely follows page 309 of Madelung. #1 is taken from pages 205 and 206 of Madelung. Here, Muawiya accused Ali of indirect involvement in Uthman's murder and demanded the surrender of the murderers. The revised proposal for #1 below now emphasizes that indirect involvement. You're also, of course, welcome to add your alternative below :)

Ali's caliphate was concurrent with the first Muslim civil war, known as the First Fitna. Though Ali was elected as the fourth Rashidun (or rightly guided) caliph after Uthman's death, he faced opposition during his rule. On the one hand, in Mecca, Aisha, Talha, and Zubayr revolted against Ali and seized control of Basra. Aisha was Muhammad's widow, while Talha and Zubayr were two of his companions. Ali marched to Basra and emerged victorious in the Battle of Camel in 656 against an army led by Aisha, Tahla, and Zubayr. On the other hand, Muawiya, the incumbent Umayyad governor of Syria, declared war on Ali, accusing him of indirect involvement in Uthman's murder and demanding the surrender of his murderers. In response, Ali maintained his innocence and urged Muawiya to present his case before Ali's court. ^[2] After failed negotiations, the two parties fought the Battle of Siffin in 657, which ended in a stalemate as the two sides agreed to settle the matters by arbitration.

You're welcome Albertatiran. Almost everything is Ok but I would write "...accusing him of inciting Muhajerun against Uthman" or "...accusing him of being instigator of Uthman's death". As for #4, yes that is in close match with Madelung's wording. Thanks. -- Mhhossein ^talk 13:02, 27 December 2021 (UTC) reply