Battle of Siffin: Difference between revisions

Origins of the Battle of Siffin go back to when [[Imam Ali (a)]] undertook the position of [[caliphate]], since he wanted to dismiss [[Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan]] from the rule of [[Sham]] and appoint [['Abd Allah b. 'Abbas]] in his place. Imam Ali (a) wrote a letter to Mu'awiya, asking him to go to [[Medina]] together with the noblemen of Sham. He wrote to Mu'awiya that people murdered [['Uthman b. 'Affan]] without consulting him, but they elected him as the [[Caliph]] on the basis of consensus and consultation. In one of his letters to Mu'awiyya, Imam Ali (a) wrote:

: My [[allegiance]] is public and all [[Islam|Muslims]] are committed to it, both the ones who were in Medina at the time of the allegiance and the ones who were in other cities such as [[Basra]] and Sham. You think that you can avoid pledging allegiance to me by accusing me of murdering 'Uthman. Everyone knows that I have not killed him and there is no [[qisas]] on me. 'Uthman's heirs are better-positioned than you to ask for his vengeance. You are one of the people who disobeyed 'Uthman, and when he asked for your help, you did not help him until he was killed.

After the [[Battle of Jamal]], [[Imam Ali (a)]] resided in [[Kufa]] and tried to persuade [[Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan]] to obey him. When Imam Ali (a) realized that Mu'awiya will not be persuaded by his advice and that the noblemen of Kufa support the decision to go to war with [[Sham]], he called people to the battle in a public sermon. Imam Ali (a) wrote a letter to [['Abd Allah b. 'Abbas]] to call people of [[Basra]] to attend the battle; many people from Basra went to Kufa  together with 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas. He also wrote a letter to [[Mikhnaf b. Sulaym]], the ruler of [[Isfahan]], and called him to join his army.

Also a number of women from Kufa attended the battle, encouraging the Army of [[Iraq]] against the army of Sham by reciting poems involving praises of Imam Ali (a) and his virtues. These women included [[Suda bt. 'Amara al-Hamadani]], [[Umm Sanan]], Zarqa' bt. 'Adiyy al-Hamadani, Umm al-Khayr and Jarwa bt. Murra b. Ghalib al-Tamimi.

Mu'awiya's assistants and advisors in the battle included: [['Amr b. 'As]] (who resided in [[Palestine]] at that time, and Mu'awiya asked him to join his army and work as his advisor in Sham; he promised him to appoint him as the ruler of [[Egypt]], [['Ubayd Allah b. 'Umar]], [['Abd al-Rahman b. Khalid b. Walid]], [['Abd Allah b. 'Amr b. 'As]], [[Marwan b. Hakam]], [[Mu'awiya b. Hudayj]], [[Dahhak b. Qays]], [[Busr b. Artat]], [[Shurahbil b. Simt al-Kindi]] and [[Habib b. Maslama]].

The two armies met in the border of [[Rome]] on the north of [[Iraq]] and [[Syria]]. [[Imam Ali (a)]] sent [[Malik al-Ashtar]] to the army of [[Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan]] for talks before the war, emphasizing that Imam Ali (a)'s army should not start the war. When Malik al-Ashtar departed the camps, the army of [[Sham]] had already started the battle. However, after this attack, the army of Sham retreated.

By the cunning of [['Amr b. 'As]], the army of [[Sham]] put volumes of the [[Qur'an]] on their spears as the symbol of making the Qur'an the arbiter between the fighting parties. This led to a division within the army of [[Imam Ali (a)]], with some people saying that since the enemy has accepted the Qur'an as the arbiter, we can no longer fight with them. Imam Ali (a) resisted the pressures, announcing that this was but a deception, but eventually he had to accept the arbitration of the Qur'an by writing a letter to [[Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan]] saying that he knows that Mu'awiya does not believe in the Qur'an, but he accepts the arbitration of the Qur'an anyway.

This happened when the army of Mu'awiya was about to be defeated because of the attacks made by [[Malik al-Ashtar]]. Mu'awiya asked 'Amr b. 'As for advice. By the suggestion of 'Amr b. 'As and the order of Mu'awiya, people of Sham put volumes of the Qur'an on their spears, shouting: "O' people of [[Iraq]]! Let [[God]] be the arbiter between us". According to some accounts, they also shouted: "O' Arab people! Think about your women and daughters. If you die, who is going to fight the Romans, Turks and the Persians?" They thereby asked for ending the war. Imam Ali (a) ordered his army to continue the war, but most people in his army wanted to accept the arbitration. Thus Imam Ali (a) had to accept the arbitration.

Imam Ali (a) proposed [['Abd Allah b. 'Abbas]] or Malik al-Ashtar as his arbiter, and proposed [[Ahnaf b. Qays]] as a second or third arbiter, but some people did not accept his suggestions, and imposed [[Abu Musa al-Ash'ari]] to Imam Ali (a) as an arbiter. And people of Sham elected [['Amr b. 'As]] as their representative for arbitration.

Because of what happened in the arbitration, the two armies stopped the battle and [[Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan]] could escape the inevitable defeat of his army. After this, Imam Ali (a) tried to mobilize people to attack Sham, but people of [[Kufa]] and [[Hijaz]] did not comply with his orders. Moreover, a group called [[Khawarij]] was formed that launched the [[Battle of Nahrawan]] against [[Imam Ali (a)]]. Finally, Imam Ali (a) was martyred by a person from Khawarij, called [[Ibn Muljam al-Muradi]].