biography
| biography:
| Fourth caliph (656–61), the cousin and son-in-law of Mohammed. He converted to Islam when still a boy, and married the prophet's daughter, Fatima. He withdrew, or was excluded from government during the caliphates of Abu-Bakr and Omar, and disagreed with Uthman in the interpretation of the Qur'an. Opposition to his caliphate, led by Muawiyah, began a major division within Islam between Sunni and Shiah Muslims. He was murdered in the mosque at Kufa. He is held by Shiah Muslims to be the only true successor to the prophet. |
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