The word · History
الفِتْنَةُ الأُولَى
Al-Fitnah al-Ula
The first civil war among Muslims, from the killing of Uthman to the death of Ali.
Also written · First Fitna · Fitnah · First Civil War · Al-Fitna al-Kubra · Fitna al-Ula · Battle of the Camel · Jamal · Siffin · Battle of Siffin · Great Fitna · Fitnat al-Kubra · First fitnah
The meaning
What Al-Fitnah al-Ula means in Islam
Fitnah means a fire that tests metal, and then any trial that separates people. It ran from the thirty fifth to the fortieth year of the Hijrah: the murder of Uthman, the Battle of the Camel, Siffin, the failed arbitration, and the breaking away of the Kharijites who then killed Ali. Sunni scholarship holds that both sides were Companions acting on interpretation, that Ali was closer to the truth, and that the settled adab is to restrain the tongue about what happened.
Evidence · Editorial · Our own summary, drawn from the sources named
Read beside it
Words that sit beside it
- Uthman ibn AffanThe third caliph, called Dhun-Nurayn, who fixed the Qur'an in one agreed written text.عُثْمَانُ بْنُ عَفَّان
- Ali ibn Abi TalibThe Prophet's cousin and son in law, raised by him, and the fourth caliph.عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِب
- AishahThe Prophet's wife, daughter of Abu Bakr, and one of the greatest scholars among the Companions.عَائِشَة بِنْت أَبِي بَكْر
- Hasan ibn AliThe Prophet's elder grandson, who gave up the caliphate to stop a war between Muslims.الحَسَنُ بْنُ عَلِيّ
- Banu UmayyahThe first dynasty of caliphs, ruling from Damascus for about ninety years after the Rashidun.بَنُو أُمَيَّة
More from History
- Abu BakrThe Prophet's closest friend, his companion in the cave, and the first caliph.أَبُو بَكْرٍ الصِّدِّيق
- Fath MakkahThe Prophet's return to Makkah in year eight, taken almost without a fight.فَتْحُ مَكَّة
- HudaybiyahThe treaty of year six that looked like a defeat and opened the way to the conquest of Makkah.الحُدَيْبِيَة
- JahiliyyahThe age of ignorance in Arabia before Islam, and any conduct that still belongs to it.الجَاهِلِيَّة
- MadinahThe oasis city that took the Prophet in, where he governed, died and is buried.المَدِينَة
- Sahifat al-MadinahThe written charter the Prophet drew up on reaching Madinah, binding its tribes into one body.صَحِيفَةُ المَدِينَة