The Kharijites who had opposed 'Ali on the ground that he had no right to allow the appeal to arbitration, were defeated at Nahrawan or Nahrwan (658), but those who escaped became fierce propagandists against the Koreish, some claiming that the caliph should be chosen by the Faithful from any tribe of the Arabs, some that there should be no caliph at all, that God alone was their ruler and that the government should be carried on by a council.
All these claim descent from a member of the Hashim branch of the Koreish (Mahomet's tribe), !who founded a powerful state in the Zaila district.
In his appointments to governorships and other offices, as well as in his distribution of spoil, Othman showed a marked preference for the members of his own tribe the Koreish (Quraish) and the members of his own family the Bani Omayya (Umayya).
The other Arab tribes became increasingly jealous of the Koreish, while among the Koreish themselves the Hashimite family came to hate the Omayyad, which now had much power, although it had been among the last to accept Islam and never was very strict in its religious duties.
In Kufa a number of the Koreish had settled, and their arrogance became insupportable.
