Page "Muawiyah I" Paragraph 35

Muawiyah was also responsible for instigating the Battle of Siffin, the bloodiest battle in Islam's history, in which over 70, 000 people ( among them many of the last surviving companions of the Prophet Muhammad ) were killed.

Notable among the Companions who were killed by Muawiyah's forces was Ammar bin Yasir, a frail old man of 95 at the time of his murder.

Shi ' i Muslims see his being killed at the hands of Muawiyah's army as significant because of a well-known hadith, present in both the Shia and Sunni books of hadith, narrated by Abu Hurayrah and others, in which the Prophet is recorded to have said: " Rejoice Ammar!

The transgressing party shall kill you .".

Sahih MuslimBook 41-No. 6968 / 69 / 70 & Sahih Bukhari-Kitab Al Jihad