Arbitration (Battle of Siffin): Difference between revisions

'''Al-Tahkim''' (Arabic: {{ia|التَحکیم}}) or The '''Arbitration''' is a historical event concerning the [[Battle of Siffin]]. In this event, [[Abu Musa al-Ash'ari]] was elected as the representative of the army of Kufa [army of Imam 'Ali (a)] and [['Amr b. al-'As]] as that of the army of Syria [army of Mu'awiya], and they decided to judge according to the [[Qur'an]]. The arbitration, was proposed as a solution for disputes between the two parties after the cunning of 'Amr b. al-'As and Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan to prevent the imminent defeat of the army of Syria. [[Imam Ali (a)]] resisted the suggestion of arbitration from the beginning. 'Amr b. al-'As, the arbitrator of Syria, managed to deceive Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, the arbitrator of Kufa, by announcing Mu'awiyya as the caliph although they had agreed on a different verdict, the arbitration failed to solve the dispute, and it only managed to save the army of Syria from its imminent defeat.

In 37/657 he Battle of Siffin broke out between the army of Kufa under the commandership of [[Imam 'Ali (a)]] and that of Syria under the commandership of [[Mu'awiya]]. After successive days of heavy fight, the army of Kufa was about to defeat that of Syria. At the suggestion of [['Amr b. al-'As]] and Mu'awiya's proposal, people of Syria put volumes of the Qur'an on spears and chanted the slogan: "O people of Iraq! Let the Book of God be our arbiter!" Also, the army of Syria yelled: "O people of Arab! Think about your wives and daughters! If you get killed, who is going to fight the Romans, the Turks, and the Persians in the future?!"