632
Battle of Yamama
The hardest battle of the Ridda wars. Musaylima was killed, but so were many men who had memorised the Quran, which led Abu Bakr to have the Quran gathered into one written copy.
Battles · Internal wars
Internal Wars of the Early Caliphates
10 battles and sieges from 632 to 813. Each links to its own page with the sides, the commanders, the result and a map.
656
Battle of the Camel (Jamal)
The first battle between Muslim armies, named after the camel Aisha rode. Talha and Zubayr were killed, and Aisha was escorted back to Madinah with honour.
657
Battle of Siffin
When Ali's side was gaining, Syrian soldiers raised pages of the Quran on their spears. The arbitration that followed split Ali's camp and gave birth to the Kharijites.
658
Battle of Nahrawan
Ali crushed the Kharijites who had rejected the arbitration. In 661 a Kharijite, Ibn Muljam, killed Ali in revenge.
680
Battle of Karbala
On 10 Muharram 61 AH, Husayn, the Prophet's grandson, was killed with about seventy members of his family and supporters after refusing allegiance to Yazid. The day is still mourned across the Muslim world.
683
Battle of Harra
Madinah had renounced Yazid. The city was defeated and plundered for three days.
684
Battle of Marj Rahit
Saved Syria for the Umayyads and moved power to the Marwanid branch of the family.
683, 692
Sieges of Makkah
Ibn al-Zubayr had ruled as caliph from Makkah since 683. Catapult stones hit the city in both sieges, and his death in 692 ended the second civil war.
750
Battle of the Zab
The last Umayyad caliph's army broke. Marwan fled to Egypt, where he was killed, and most of the Umayyad family was hunted down.
812 to 813
Siege of Baghdad
Two sons of Harun al-Rashid fought over the throne. Baghdad was besieged for over a year and al-Amin was killed.
Other kinds of war
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