Editing Caliphate (section)

=== Ali's caliphate, Hasan and the rise of the Umayyads ===
Ali's reign was plagued by turmoil and internal strife. The Persians, taking advantage of this, infiltrated the two armies and attacked the other army causing chaos and internal hatred between the [[Companions of Muhammad|companions]] at the [[Battle of Siffin]]. The battle lasted several months, resulting in a stalemate. To avoid further bloodshed, Ali agreed to negotiate with Mu'awiyah. This caused a faction of approximately 4,000 people, who would come to be known as the [[Kharijites]], to abandon the fight. After defeating the Kharijites at the [[Battle of Nahrawan]], Ali was later assassinated by the Kharijite Ibn Muljam. Ali's son [[Hasan ibn Ali|Hasan]] was elected as the next caliph, but abdicated in favour of Mu'awiyah a few months later to avoid any conflict within the Muslims. Mu'awiyah became the sixth caliph, establishing the Umayyad dynasty,<ref>''The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam''. Cyril Glasse. pp. 39–41, 318–319, 353–354, {{ISBN?}}</ref> named after the great-grandfather of Uthman and Mu'awiyah, [[Umayya ibn Abd Shams]].<ref>Uthman was the son of [[Affan ibn Abi al-'As|`Affan]], the son of [[Abu al-'As ibn Umayyah|Abu-l`As]], the son of [[Umayya ibn Abd Shams]]. Mu'awiyah was the son of [[Abu Sufyan]], the son of [[Harb ibn Umayya|Harb]], the son of Umayya ibn Abd Shams.</ref>