They wanted him to reside in the Dar al-Imarah.

They wanted him to reside in the Dar al-Imarah. But the Imam (a.s) did not like to reside there. He straight went to the mosque, offered two genuflections of prayer of thanksgiving and gave a sermon to the gathering. He expressed words of thanks and appreciation to the people of al-Kūfah for their help and cooperation in the successful campaign an al-Basrah. He then went to the locality called al-Rahbah and selected a middle class house for his residence there.

He then decided to make al-Kūfah the provisional capital in place of al-Madinah. This change was necessitated because of the following factors: (1) Al-Kūfah was strategically located in the middle of the Islamic Domain from where logistically all the regions could be better administered. The borders with Fars were nearby. There were facilities for land and sea voyages. The means of transportation were good.

It was a meeting place of travelers from many cities and was a good source of information about the various regions. The edicts of the center could easily be communicated to other regions very easily. The defensive measures could also be organized fast in the event of attack by any alien force. Therefore, when the Syrian forces started attack in different places in the realm, the defense that was organized from al-Kūfah would not have been possible if the capital was in al-Madinah.

(2) It was already seven months since Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) assumed the caliphate, but Mu`awiyah had neither accepted him as the caliph nor extended his hand in bay`ah . In such circumstances, one could not be unconcerned about the possibility of any mischief from him. But there were clear indications that to safeguard his position Mu`awiyah might take military action and commit unnecessary bloodshed.

Therefore, the selection of such a place was necessary from where defensive moves could be made at short notice. Al-Kūfah was logistically the best place for the purpose. Al-Kūfah was nearer to Damascus, the head quarters of Mu`awiyah and more easily accessible than from al-Madinah. [1] Al-Akhbār al-Tiwāl, Page 152 (3) It was experienced from the Battle of the Camel that the number of men who could be mobilized from al-Kūfah was not possible from al-Madinah.

Despite the opposition from Abū-Mūsa, a large contingent could be got together from al-Kūfah at a short notice. At the call of the Imam (a.s), 12,000 swordsmen were mobilized for the Battle of the Camel. From al-Madinah hardly a thousand men came.