Second Syria campaign of Ali
Following the raid of Busr ibn Abi Artat in 661, however, the public outrage against Mu'awiya finally seems to have galvanized the Iraqis' support for war, and a large offensive was planned for the late winter.
[1] Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law and cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, was subsequently elected caliph by the Medinans and the dissidents present there.
[27][25] Exhaustion was possibly a pretext for Ibn Qays and the other tribal leaders (ashraf al-qaba'il) who wanted to avoid another war with Mu'awiya,[28][26] or perhaps their request simply echoed the troops' sentiments.
[25] Among modern historians, Fred Donner suggests that the killing of pious Muslims in the Battle of Nahrawan damaged the moral claim of Ali to leadership because, in his view, the Kharijites were the best representatives of Islam, albeit less flexible than Muhammad.
Shaban believes that the tribal leaders had just quashed their qurra rivals in the Battle of Nahrawan and were now reluctant to again fight the Syrians, with whom they hoped to make peace.
When the Kharijites were defeated, the tribal leaders rejected Ali's call for a renewed campaign against Mu'awiya,[28] who had secretly offered them status and wealth in return for their support.
[31][14][36] Around this time, Mu'awiya dispatched an army of some 6,000 men to Egypt under the command of Amr ibn al-As,[37] who had earlier conquered the region during the caliphate of Umar (r. 634–644).
[41][42] Before his defeat, Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr had asked Ali for reinforcements but the caliph could only muster some 2,000 men even after reproaching the tribal chiefs for their inaction.
[45][42] These units evaded enemy forces and instead targeted civilians in the areas along the Euphrates, the vicinity of Kufa, and most successfully, Hejaz and Yemen.
[44] In the case of the raid led by Busr ibn Abi Artat in 661, the Kufans eventually responded to calls for jihad and routed Mu'awiya's force, but only after the enemy had reached Yemen.
[24][47] There are allegations of atrocious crimes committed by Busr,[24] including the murder of the two minor sons of Ubayd Allah ibn Abbas, a relative of Ali,[48] and enslaving Muslim women, apparently for the first time.
[26] The final years of the caliphate of Ali also witnessed a number of revolts in the eastern provinces,[50][44] taking advantage of the weakened central government.
[28] He nevertheless continued his efforts to mount a second Syrian campaign and appears to have finally found sufficient support for an offensive,[51][52] set to commence in late winter 661.
[51] Following the raid, a group of Kufan tribal chiefs pledged their support for war and enlisted their men, while Ali separately recruited new fighters from the Sawad region.
