by Alī for the people to go out and fight them. He related to them the Prophet’s command, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to fight them, and described their identifying sign: among them would be a man with underdeveloped hands, one hand incomplete, and something like a quivering lump of flesh on his breast. When they were killed, the man matching this description was found among them.

When the three Khārijites agreed to kill the three rulers of the Muslims, Abd al-Rahmān ibn Muljam killed “Alī,” may Allah be pleased with him, on Friday, the seventeenth of Ramadan, in the year 40 AH. He lay in wait for him and struck him when he came out for the dawn prayer.

The established practice was that the caliphs and their deputies—the governors who ruled the Muslims—would lead the Muslims in the five daily prayers, the Friday prayer, the prayers of the two Eids, the prayer for rain, the eclipse prayer, and other prayers such as funeral prayers. Thus, the military commander was also the imam who led the prayer.

As for the man who intended to kill “Mu‘āwiya,” they reported that he wounded him. The physician said, “You can be treated, but you will no longer be able to have children.” It is said that from that time onward Mu‘āwiya had an enclosure installed in the mosque. The governors followed his example so that they and their entourages could pray inside it, fearing that someone might attack the Commander of the Faithful and kill him. Nevertheless, impermissible things were done within these enclosures, and some disapproved of praying in enclosures of this kind.

As for the man who intended to kill “Amr ibn al-Ās,” Amr had appointed a man—named Khārija—to take his place that day. The Khārijite mistook him for Amr and killed him. When he discovered his mistake, he said, “I intended Amr, but Allah intended Khārija.” This became a proverb.