Battle of Siffin: Difference between revisions

The '''Battle of Șiffīn''' (Arabic: {{iarabic|معركة صفين}}) was a battle between [[Imam Ali (a)]] and [[Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan]] occurred in the [[Safar]] of [[37]]/May 657 in an area called [[Siffin]]. Mu'awiya and his army later came to be called "[[Qasitun]]" (the cruel). When the army of Mu'awiya was about to be defeated, they put copies of the [[Qur'an]] on their spears and discouraged some people in Imam Ali (a)'s army from the battle. Eventually, some arbiters were elected in order to judge between the two parties, and the battle ended with no result. [['Ammar]] and [[Khuzayma b. Thabit|Khuzayma]] martyred in this battle.

{{Timeline of Imam 'Ali's (a) life}}

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 [[Syria]] 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 Syria. 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:

Mu'awiya did not respond to the letter.

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 [[Syria]], 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.

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 Syria; 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 [[Syria]] had already started the battle. However, after this attack, the army of Syria retreated.

The two arbiters decided that 'Amr b. al-'As announces the removal of Mu'awiya from power, and Abu Musa al-Ash'ari announces the removal of [[Ali b. Abi Talib (a)]] from power, leaving the election of the [[Caliph]] to a council. 'Amr b. al-'As asked Abu Musa to announce the result of the arbitration ahead of him. Thus Abu Musa al-Ash'ari announced the removal of Imam Ali (a) from power, but when it came to 'Amr b. al-'As, instead of announcing the removal of Mu'awiya from power, he confirmed the dismissal of Imam Ali (a) by Abu Musa, and appointed Mu'awiya as the Caliph. After this, there was a quarrel between these two arbiters and they cursed each other.

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 Syria, 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]].

There is controversy over the number of casualties in the two armies. According to some historians, 70,000 people were killed from both sides, 45,000 of whom were from the army of [[Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan]], and 25,000 of whom were from the army of [[Imam Ali (a)]].

{{end}}

Some bibliographers and cataloguers, such as [[Ibn Nadim]] in his ''[[al-Fihrist]]'', [[al-Najashi]] in his ''[[al-Rijal]]'', [[al-Shaykh al-Tusi]] in his ''[[Fihrist]]'' and others have introduced books written about the Battle of Siffin, such as:

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