At the time of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the center of government came from the Arabian Peninsula.

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – Under Sayyidina Ali bin Abi Talib (656-661 AD), the center of Islamic government was in Kufah, Iraq, on the Arabian Peninsula. Here, too, Islam is celebrated as a liberating force (liberating forces) from the oppression of the Persian Empire.

Ahmad Mansur Suryanegara in the book Fire history stated that the relocation of the government center from Medina to Kufa was due to several factors. Here are the factors.

First, considering the importance of religion as an effort to intensely maintain the integrity of the teachings of Islamic piety, because this region serves as the center of the development of polytheism that has long been entrenched, namely the influence of polytheism and Zoroaster.

Second, geopolitically, the relocation of the government center is due to the fact that the territory of Iraq or Mesopotamia is part of what is known as the Fertile Crescent Area (the fertile star moon region in the Middle East).

Third, in terms of commercial interests, Iraq has a trading port that is more crowded with entrepreneurs from spice-producing countries, the Indonesian archipelago. China and India are manufacturers of textiles and other raw materials.

Meanwhile, Medina faces west from India, China, and Southeast Asia. The position of Iraq is more to the east and now shows the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea as well as the Persian Ocean or the Indian Ocean.

With the relocation of the center of power to Kufa, trade routes on land and water were opened. It cannot be denied that at the time of Caliph Usman bin Affan it should go down in history to have established trade contacts with China and the archipelago. While there were more such business relationships in the time of Sayyidina Ali bin Abi Talib.