The Muslim caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, the rejection and assassination of whom, led to the schism between Sunni and Shiite branches. Arabic: (علي بن ابي طالب)
The fourth of the four Rightly-Guided Caliphs and the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad (pbuh) He was raised by Muhammad (pbuh) and was the second to embrace Islam after Khadeejah (Muhammad's first wife)
Cousin and son-in-law of Mahomet, the beauty of whose eyes is with the Persians (Atasözü)ial; insomuch that the highest term they employ to express beauty is Ayn Hali (eyes of Ali) - Chardin
American prizefighter who won the world heavyweight title in 1964, 1974, and 1978. born 600, Mecca died January 661, Al-Kfah, Iraq Cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad and fourth caliph (656-661). Al was a ward of Muhammad, just as Muhammad himself had been a ward of Al's father, Ab lib. An early convert to Islam, he helped foil an assassination plot against Muhammad and, following the Hijrah to Medina (622), fought beside him against his enemies, gaining renown as a soldier. Since some in the early Muslim community claimed that Muhammad did not name any successor and others claimed that he named Al, the controversy over Al's claim to the caliphate resulted in the fundamental schism in Islam that eventually led to the creation of the Shite (from shat Al, "party of Al") and Sunnite branches of the religion. His willingness to compromise with his adversaries during the first fitnah led some of his troops to desert and form the Khrijite sect, one of whose members later assassinated Al. In later Islamic hagiography, Al was held up as the paradigm of youthful chivalry and virtue by both Shites and Sunnites. See also al-Husayn ibn Al; Battle of Karbal; Muwiyah. Abu Ali al Husayn ibn Abd Allah ibn Sina Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi talib Abd al Mu'min ibn Ali Ali Muhammad Ali ibn Abi talib Mirza Ali Muhammad of Shiraz Mirza Hoseyn Ali Nuri Belhadj Ali Ali Bel Hajj Ben Ali Zine el Abidine Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bourguiba Habib ibn Ali Husayn ibn Ali al Husayn ibn Ali Hyder Ali Abu Muhammad Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Said ibn Hazm Jinnah Mohammed Ali Mir Sayyid Ali Muhammad Ali Abu Ali Hasan ibn Ali Sonni Ali Sidi Muhammad ibn Ali al Sanusi al Mujahiri al Hasani al Idrisi
the fourth caliph of Islam who is considered to be the first caliph by Shiites; he was a cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad; after his assination Islam was divided into Shiite and Sunnite sects United States prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three times (born in 1942)