Editing Umayyad (section)

==History==
After Muhammad's death in 632, the Umayyads became embroiled in disputes over leadership. Uthman, a leading Umayyad, became caliph in 644. He caused resentment by appointing many of his clan to positions of power. An assassin ended Uthman's reign in 656, and Muhammad's cousin [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]] became caliph. [[Mu'awiya]], the Umayyad governor of Syria, opposed Ali's rule, as did many others. After Ali's murder in 661, Mu'awiya seized control of the caliphate and began the Umayyad dynasty.
===Tragedy of Karbala===
The early Umayyad caliphs faced serious unrest. Several Muslim factions rejected their leadership. One group invited Ali's son [[Hussain ibn Ali]] from Medina to fight the Umayyad rulers. When Umayyad troops massacred Hussain and his family at [[Karbala]] in Iraq, outraged followers of this group turned the [[Shi'i]] branch of Islam into an important movement. Civil wars divided the empire. Even within the Umayyad clan, rival groups battled each other for power.