Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth (last) Sunni Rashidun caliph and first Shia Imam, was assassinated by a Kharijite called Ibn Muljam on 26 January 661 at the Great Mosque of Kufa, in present-day Iraq. Ali, who was then 62 or 63 years of age, died due to his injuries two days after Ibn Muljam struck him on his head by a poison-coated sword, on the 21 (or 19) Ramadan 40 AH (28 January 661 CE). He was the third successive caliph, after Umar and Uthman, to be assassinated.