Battle of Ayn al-Warda

Battle of Ayn al-Warda
Part of the Second Fitna
Date 4 January 685 Location Ras al-Ayn 36°50′27″N 40°04′45″E / 36.84083°N 40.07917°E / 36.84083; 40.07917 Result Umayyad Caliphate victory
Belligerents
Umayyad Caliphate	Penitents (Pro-Alids)
Commanders and leaders
Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad Husayn ibn Numayr al-Sakuni Shurahbil ibn Dhi'l Kala' al-Himyari	Sulayman ibn Surad al-Khuza'i † Rifa'a ibn Shaddad
Strength
20,000	3,000
class=notpageimage| Location within modern Syria

The Battle of Ayn al-Warda (Arabic: مَعْرَكَة‌ عَيْن ٱلْوَرْدَة) was fought in early January 685 between the Umayyad army and the Penitents (Tawwabin).^[a] The Penitents were a group of pro-Alid^[b] Kufans led by Sulayman ibn Surad, a companion of Muhammad, who wished to atone for their failure to assist Husayn ibn Ali in his abortive uprising against the Umayyads in 680. Pro-Alid Kufans had urged Husayn to revolt against the Umayyad caliph Yazid but then failed to assist him when he was killed in the Battle of Karbala in 680. Initially a small underground movement, the Penitents received widespread support in Iraq after the death of Yazid in 683. They were deserted by most of their supporters shortly before the departure to northern Syria where a large Umayyad army under the command of Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad was preparing to launch an assault on Iraq. In the three-day long battle that ensued at Ras al-Ayn, the small Penitent army was annihilated and its senior leaders, including Ibn Surad, were killed. Nevertheless, this battle proved to be a forerunner and source of motivation for the later more successful movement of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi.

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