Battle of Siffin

Battle of Siffin
Part of First Fitna
Date July 26 to July 28, 657 CE Location Siffin, Syria Result Inconclusive 2nd Major Muslim Civil War
Belligerents
Rashidun Caliphate	Bani Umayya
Commanders and leaders
Ali ibn Abi-Taleb Hassan ibn Ali Malik al-Ashtar Abd-Allah ibn Abbas Ammar ibn Yasir † Khuzaima ibn Thabit † Hashim ibn Utbah †	Muawiyah I Marwan I Amr ibn al-As Walid ibn Uqba Shimr ibn Dhi 'l-Jawshan

The Battle of Siffin (Arabic: صفين; May–July 657 CE) occurred during the First Fitna, or first Muslim civil war, with the main engagement taking place from July 26 to July 28. It was fought between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah I, on the banks of the Euphrates river, in what is now Ar-Raqqah, Syria.

Background

Main article: Siege of Uthman

The Islamic State expanded very quickly under Muhammad and the first three caliphs. Local populations of Jews and indigenous Christians, marginalized as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests. As new areas joining the Islamic State, they also benefited from free trade while trading with other areas in the Islamic State; so as to encourage commerce, in Islam trade is not taxed, wealth is taxed. The Muslims paid Zakat on their wealth to the poor. Since the Constitution of Medina was drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws in the Islamic State and had their own judges. Therefore they only paid for policing for the protection of their property. To assist in the quick expansion of the state, the Byzantine and the Persian tax collection systems were maintained and the people paid a poll tax lower than the one imposed under the Byzantines and the Persians. Before Muhammad united the Arabs, the Arabs had been divided and the Byzantines and the Sassanid had their own client tribes that they used to pay to fight on their behalf. Now some of the elite in the old empires of the Middle East felt discontented with the passage of their empires. After being defeated on the battlefield, they started to think about other ways of slowing down the progress of the Arabs, by making them fight amongst each other.

In 639 Muawiyah I was appointed the Governor of Syria by Umar after his elder brother Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan (Governor of Syria) died in a plague, along with Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah (the Governor before him) and 25,000 other people. To stop the Byzantine harassment from the sea during the Arab-Byzantine Wars, in 649 Muawiyah set up a navy, manned by Monophysitise Christians, Copts and Jacobite Syrian Christians sailors and Muslim troops. This resulted in the defeat of the Byzantine navy at the Battle of the Masts in 655, opening up the Mediterranean. 500 Byzantine ships were destroyed in the battle, and Emperor Constans II was almost killed. Under the instructions of the caliph Uthman ibn al-Affan, Muawiyah then prepared for the siege of Constantinople.

The Rashidun Caliphate during the Battle of Siffin.

The rapid Muslim conquest of Syria and Egypt and the consequent Byzantine losses in manpower and territory meant that the Eastern Roman Empire found itself struggling for survival. The Sassanid Dynasty in Persia had already collapsed.

The Quran and Muhammad talked about racial equality and justice as in The Farewell Sermon. Tribal and nationalistic differences were discouraged. But after Muhammad's passing the old tribal differences between the Arabs started to resurface. Following the Roman–Persian Wars and the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars deep rooted differences between Iraq, formerly under the Persian Sassanid Empire and Syria, formerly under the Byzantine Empire, also existed. Each wanted the capital of the newly established Islamic State to be in their area. Previously, the second caliph Umar was very firm on the governors and his spies kept an eye on them. If he felt that a governor or a commander was becoming attracted to wealth or did not meet the required administrative standards, he had him removed from his position.

Early Muslim armies stayed in encampments away from cities because Umar feared that they might get attracted to wealth and luxury. In the process, they might get away from the worship of God and start accumulating wealth and establishing dynasties. "Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life. But the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for [one's] hope." Quran 18:46 "O you who have believed, let not your wealth and your children divert you from remembrance of Allah. And whoever does that - then those are the losers." Quran 63:9 Staying in these encampments away from the cities also ensured that there was no stress on the population, and also that the populations remained autonomous and kept their own judges and representatives. Some of these encampments later grew into cities themselves, like Basra and Kufa in Iraq and Fustat in Egypt. Some cities also had agreements with the Muslims, such as during the Siege of Jerusalem in 637 CE.

As Uthman ibn al-Affan became very old, Marwan I, a relative of Muawiyah I, slipped into the vacuum and became his secretary, slowly assuming more control and relaxing some of these restrictions. Marwan I had previously been excluded from positions of responsibility. Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, the son of Abu Bakr and the adopted son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muhammad bin Abi Hudhaifa, the adopted son of Uthman, had no senior positions.

Sabaites, Qurra and the Kharijities

Islamic empire expanded at an unprecedented rate, but there was a cost associated with this high rate of expansion. Many desert nomads and some bandits living between current day Iraq and Saudi Arabia also joined in, not out of commitment to Islam, but to share the spoils and benefit from the change in the social order, after the defeat of the Persian Empire.

The Qur'an and Muhammad talked about racial equality and justice as in the The Farewell Sermon. Tribal and nationalistic differences were discouraged. But after Muhammad's passing the old tribal differences between the Arabs started to resurface.

Timeline of the Roman–Persian Wars
Roman–Parthian Wars
BC
69	First Roman-Parthian contacts, when Lucullus invades southern Armenia.
66–65	Dispute between Pompey and Phraates III over Euphrates boundary.
53	Roman defeat at the Battle of Carrhae.
42–37	A great Pompeian–Parthian invasion of the Levant and Anatolia is defeated.
36–33	Mark Antony's unsuccessful campaign against Parthia. Subsequent campaign in Armenia successful, but followed by withdrawal. Parthians take control of whole region.
20	Settlement with the Parthians by Augustus and Tiberius; return of the captured Roman standards.
AD
36	Defeated by the Romans, Artabanus II renounces his claims to Armenia.
58–63	Roman invasion of Armenia; arrangements made with Parthians over its kingship.
114–117	Major campaign of Trajan against Parthia. Trajan's conquests later abandoned by Hadrian.
161–165	After initial Parthian successes, war over Armenia (161–163) ended by a Roman victory. Avidius Cassius sacks Ctesiphon in 165.
195–197	An offensive under the emperor Septimius Severus leads to the Roman acquisition of northern Mesopotamia.
216–217	Caracalla launches a new war against the Parthians. His successor Macrinus, however, is defeated by them near Nisibis in 217.
Roman–Sasanian Wars
230–232	Ardashir I raids Mesopotamia and Syria, but is eventually repulsed by Alexander Severus.
238–244	Ardashir's invasion of Mesopotamia and Persian defeat at the Battle of Resaena. Gordian III advances along the Euphrates but is repelled near Ctesiphon at the Battle of Misiche in 244.
253	Roman defeat at the Battle of Barbalissos.
c. 258–260	Shapur I defeats and captures Valerian at Edessa.
283	Carus sacks Ctesiphon.
296–298	Roman defeat at Carrhae in 296 or 297. Galerius defeats the Persians in 298.
363	After an initial victory outside Ctesiphon, Julian is killed at the Battle of Samarra.
384	Shapur III and Theodosius I divide Armenia between them.
421–422	Roman retaliation against Bahram's persecution of Christian Persians.
440	Yazdegerd II raids Roman Armenia.
502–506	Anastasius I refuses to support the Persians financially, triggering the Anastasian War. Ends with a seven-year peace treaty.
526–532	Iberian War. Romans victorious at Dara and Satala but defeated at Callinicum. Ends with the treaty of "Perpetual Peace".
540–561	Lazic War begins after Persians break the "Eternal Peace" by invading Syria. Ends with the Roman acquisition of Lazica and the signing of a fifty-year peace treaty.
572–591	War for the Caucasus breaks out when Armenians revolt against Sasanian rule. In 589, the Persian general Bahram Chobin raises a rebellion against Hormizd IV. Restoration of Khosrow II, Hormizd's son, by Roman and Persian forces and restoration of Roman rule in northern Mesopotamia (Dara, Martyropolis) followed by expansion into Iberia and Armenia.
602	Khosrow II conquers Mesopotamia after Maurice is assassinated.
611–623	Persians gradually conquer Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Rhodes and enter Anatolia.
626	Unsuccessful Avar–Persian–Slav siege of Constantinople
627	Persian defeat at Nineveh.
629	The Persians assassinate Khosrow II and agree to withdraw from all occupied territories. Heraclius restores the True Cross to Jerusalem.

Byzantine and Persian Sassanid Empires in 600 CE

Before Islam, the Roman-Persian Wars and the Byzantine–Sasanian wars had occurred every few years for hundreds of years between 69 BC and 629 AD. High taxes were imposed on the populations in both the Byzantine Roman and Sassanid Persian empires to finance these wars. There was also continuous bloodshed of the people during these wars. The Arab tribes in Iraq were paid by the Persian Sassanids to act as mercenaries. While the Arab tribes in Syria were paid by the Byzantine to act as their mercenaries. The Persians maintained an Arab satellite state of Lakhm and the Byzantine Empire maintained the Arab satellite state of Ghassan which they used to fight each other. The Syrians and the Iraqis had been fighting each other for centuries. Therefore later, each wanted the capital of the newly established Islamic State to be in their area. Later others like the Lakhm Arabs, many of whom became the Qurra, also wanted to rule Persia.

Sects started to form, among them the Sabaites named after Abdala Ben Saba

At-Tabri (5:66) reported that when a man called "Abdullah ibn Saba" came to Syria, he met Adu Dharr. He Said "Adu Dharr, aren't you amazed at Muawiya saying, "The property is the property of Allah. Doesn't everything belong to Allah?' It seems he means to cut it off from the Muslims and erase the name of the Muslims!" Adu Dharr therefore went to him and said "What leads you to call the property of the Muslims the property of Allah?" Muawiya said "May Allah have mercy on you, Adu Dharr! Are we not the slaves of Allah and all property is His property and all creation is His creation and all the affair is His affair?" Abu Dharr said "Do not say that." Muawiya said "I do not say that it does not belong to Allah, but I say, 'The property of the Muslims'" Adbullah ibn Saba came back to Abu Dharr who them said to him "Who are you? By Allah, I think that you are a Jew." Then Ibn Saba went to Abdullah ibn as-Samit and attempted to make his discontented. 'Adbullah took him to Muawiya and said "By Allah this is one who sent Abu Dharr to you".

There is also Jewish literature from that time, regarding Adbullah ibn Saba. Much of the Jewish literature on Adbullah ibn Saba from that time regards Adbullah ibn Saba as an apostate from Judaism and asks Jews to keep away from him.

There was also the movement towards more autonomous tribal groupings which was particularly strong in Kufa, in Iraq, they wanted to rule their own states. Amongst them developed a group called the Qurra who later became known as the Kharijities.

The Qurra are referenced in many Hadith from the period of Muhammad, Abu Bakr and Umar in Sahih Al Bukhari (Volume 6, Book 60, Number 201 and Volume 6, Book 61, Number 509 and Volume 8, Book 75, Number 403):

The Qurra had taken part in the Battle of Yamama. But the Qurra never listened to orders and would start battles even when they were ordered not to and were heavily out numbered. At Yamamah, Khalid ibn al-Walid wrote to them and Ikrimah to just observe the forces of Musaylimah at Yamamah, and told them not to start fighting until he had arrived. Shurahbil bin Hasanah was also dispatched to assist them. But even though they were heavily out numbered, they disobeyed their orders and started a battle and as a result suffered heavy casualties. They later disobeyed orders and started the Battle of the Camel and the Battle of Saffin and did the same against Ali in the Battle of Nahrawan even through they were heavily out numbered.

Sahih Al Bukhari Volume 6, Book 60, Number 201 : Narrated by Zaid bin Thabit Al-Ansari

"...Abu Bakr sent for me after the (heavy) casualties among the warriors (of the battle) of Yamama (where a great number of qurra' were killed). 'Umar was present with Abu Bakr who said, 'Umar has come to me and said, The people have suffered heavy casualties on the day of (the battle of) Yamama, and I am afraid that there will be more casualties among the qurra' at other battle-fields ...

Sahih Al Bukhari Volume 9, Book 92, Number 386 : Narrated by Hammam

Hudhaifa said, "O the Group of Al-qurra! Follow the straight path, for then you have taken a great lead (and will be the leaders), but if you divert right or left, then you will go astray far away."

Al-Masudi calls them the "ahl al-qar wa l-ashraf" The earliest reference to these people are as Ajl al-Qura, the people of the village, those who fought with Abu Bakr against the desert tribes of Yamama during the Ridda when some of the tribes refused to pay taxes. The Qurra had political and economic interests that were different from those of Ali or Muawiyah. They had served in the Ridda wars and had been granted trusteeship over some of the lands in Sawad in Iraq and were now called Ahl al Ayyam, those who had taken part in the eastern conquests. They then became known as the Qurra and received the highest stipend of the Muslim army, the sharaf al ata and they had the use of the best lands which they came to regard as their private domain. The Qurra received stipends varying between 2,000 and 3,000 dirhams, while the majority of the rest of the troops received only 250 to 300 dirhams. The other Ridda tribesmen in Kufa, in Iraq, resented the special position given to the Qurra. The tension between the Ridda tribesmen and the Qurra threatened the Qurra's newly acquired prestige. The Qurra therefore felt obliged to defend their position in the new but rapidly changing society. Uthman's policies of reducing their status threatened their interests.

The Qurra were mainly based in Kufa, in Iraq. They had not been involved in Syria. But later when Uthman declined to give them more lands in Persia they felt that their status was being reduced and therefore started to cause trouble. He also removed the distinction between the Ridda and pre-Ridda tribesmen which was not to their liking and lessened their prestige.

The Qurra had previously been desert nomads and some were also bandits and had joined to Muslims so that they could gain lands and status and become the new aristocrats in Iraq But later when Uthman imposed restrictions on them and prevented them from becoming landlords in Iran they rebelled.

Some of the people with their tribal names as Qurra had been expelled from Kufa, in Iraq, for fomenting trouble and were sent to Muawiyah in Syria. Muawiyah then said to them:

"You are people from the Arabs. You have importance and are heard. You have obtained nobility by Islam. You have conquered the nations and you have won their positions and their inheritance. I have heard that you resent the Quraysh. If it had not been for the Quraysh, you would have been considered abased as you were before, However, they are still your Imams today and your shelter, so do not impede your shelter. Your Imamns are patient with you in the face of your injustice and endure the trouble that you cause. By Allah, either you will cease or Allah will try you with someone who will be hard on you. Then you will share with them in what you brough about on the populace while you were alive and after your death. "

The Qurra Arabs had previously been desert nomads and bandits. One of them then spoke with great arrogance and said to Muawiyah

"How much you go on about authority and the Quraysh! The Arabs (meaning they the Qurra) were eating from the hilts of their swords while the Quraysh were nothing but merchants!" He then said "As for the shelter you mentioned, when the shelter is pierced, then come to us" meaning that they will remove the Quraysh and will rule them selves.

Muawiyah then said to him "I remind you by Islam and yet you mention the Jahiliyya (meaning their days before Islam)"

Muawiyah then wrote to Uthman saying: "Some people have come to me who have neither intellect nor deen (faith). Islam is burdensome to them and justice vexes them. They do not aim for Allah in anything nor do they speak by any proof. They are busy with sedition and appropriating the property of the non Muslims. Allah is the One who will test and try them. Then He will be the One to disgrace them and humiliate them. They are those who injure people."

Then they were sent to Abdur r Rahman ibn Khalid ibn Walid. He said to them:

"Tools of Shaytan! You have no welcome! Shaytan has returned in sorrow and yet you are still active! May Allah disappoint Abdur Rahman if he does not discipline you until he makes you feel regret! O company of a people whom I do not know to be Arab or non Arab, you will not say to me what I heard you said to Muawiyah! I am the son of Khalid ibn al-Walid. I am the son of the one who was tested by the teeth. I am the son of the one who knocked out the Ridda!" He mentioned the Ridda and not the defeat of the Byzantine or the Persian because he recognized that these people were an internal threat. The Qurra had previously fought in the Ridda wars alongside Khalid ibn al-Walid but now had political and economic interests that were different from the rest of the Muslims.

Abdur r Rahman ibn Khalid ibn Walid then sent them to Uthman in Madina. In Madina they took an oath that they will not cause trouble and following the example of Muhammad, Uthman accepted their word and let them go. They then split up and went to various different Muslim centers and started fomenting rebellion, particularly in Egypt.

In the best selling book, Shadow of the sword, The Battle for Global Empire and the End of the Ancient World, Tom Holland writes "Uthman was not content to divide up the loot of the old empires in the time-honoured manner of a bandit chieftain sharing out plunder after a successful raid. The Arabs, so it seemed to the new Amir had moved on from that. The conquerors, if they were to make best use of the defeated superpowers bureaucracies, would themselves have to accept certain disciplines: a central administration, not least, and a clear-cut chain of command. Precisely the marks of slavery, in short, that the desert Arabs had always derided."

The Qurra then felt that Abu Musa al_Ashari could look after their interests better. Sa'id ibn al-As, the governor in Kufa, in Iraq, then wrote to Uthman "I have no power at all over Kufa with Al-Ashtar and his friends who are called al-qurra, and they are idiots" In 655/634 the Qurra stopped Uthans governor Sa'id ibn al-As at Jara'a, preventing him from entering Kufa and declared Abu Musa al-Ashari to be their governor. (Later the Qurra proposed Abu Musa al_Ashari as the arbitrator against the wished of Ali after the Battle of Saffin because they felt that he could also better represent their interests there and split away from Ali and became officially known as the Khawarij.)

In 656, The Qurra approached Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr the son of Abu Bakr and the adopted son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and the great grandfather of Ja'far al-Sadiq and asked him why he was not a governor. They had fought under the service of his father in the Ridda wars. They also asked Uthman's adopted son, Muhammad bin Abi Hudhaifa, who Uthman had refused to appoint as a governor of any province, why he was not a governor.

There were references to these people in earlier texts too. Abū Dharr narrated that Muhammad said: Aḥmad, Muslim, and Ibn Mājah

“There will definitely be a people after me from my nation who recite the Quran yet it will not even reach beyond their throats. They will pass through the religion as an arrow passes through a target, then they will not return back to it. They are the worst of people, the worst of all creatures.”

al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Nasā`ī all recorded a Ḥadīth from Abū Sa’īd al- Khudrī ( رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ ) that he said: ‘Alī ( رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ ) sent some gold to the prophet ( صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم ) so divided and distributed it among four groups: al-Aqra’ Ibn Ḥābis al-Ḥanẓalī, al-Mujāshi’ī, ‘Uyaynah Ibn Badr al-Fazārī, and Zayd al-Ṭā`ī; a man from the Nabhān tribe and ‘Alqamah Ibn ‘Ulāthah al-‘Āmirī; then a man from the Kilāb tribe. (The Muslims of) Quraysh and the residents of Medina became upset and said, “He gives to the noble one from Najd and leaves us?” The prophet ( صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم ) said: إِنَّمَا أَتَأَلَّفُهُمْ “I am only trying to unite their hearts.” Then a man with sunken eyes, thick cheeks, a high forehead, a thick beard, and a shaven head came up and said, “Fear Allah, Muhammad!” He replied: مَنْ يُطِعْ اللَّهَ إِذَا عَصَيْتُ؟ أَيَأْمَنُنِي اللَّهُ عَلَى أَهْلِ الأَرْضِ فَلا تَأْمَنُونِي؟ “Who would obey Allah if I were disobedient (to Him)? Allah trusts me with regards to the people of the earth but you don’t trust me?” After the man left, he said: إِنَّ مِنْ ضِئْضِئِ هَذَا أَوْ فِي عَقِبِ هَذَا قَوْمًا يَقْرَءُونَ الْقُرْآنَ لا يُجَاوِزُ حَنَاجِرَهُمْ يَمْرُقُونَ مِنْ الدِّينِ مُرُوقَ السَّهْمِ مِنْ الرَّمِيَّةِ يَقْتُلُونَ أَهْلَ الإِسْلامِ وَيَدَعُونَ أَهْلَ الأَوْثَانِ لَئِنْ أَنَا أَدْرَكْتُهُمْ لأَقْتُلَنَّهُمْ قَتْلَ عَادٍ “From the progeny of this man,” or he said, “From the offspring of this man, there will come a people who will recite the Quran but it will not go beyond their throats. They will go through the religion like a arrow going through a target. They will murder the people of Islam while ignoring the people of idol-worship. If I were to reach them (their time), I would destroy them like the people of ‘Ād were destroyed.”

Some modern scholars like R. E. Brunnow trace the origins of the Qurra and the Kharitites back to Bedouin stock and desert tribesmen, who had become soldiers not out of commitment to Islam but to share the spoils. Brunnow held that the Kharijites were Bedouin Arabs (Beduinenaraber) or full blooded Arabs.

As Muawiyah and Caliph Uthman were preparing to besiege Constantinople, in 656, Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, the son of Abu Bakr and the adopted son of Ali ibn Abi Talib, and the great grandfather of Ja'far al-Sadiq, showed some Egyptians the house of Uthman ibn al-Affan. Later, the Egyptians ended up killing Uthman ibn al-Affan. Muawiyah had asked Caliph Uthman ibn Affan if he could send guards to defend him, but Caliph Uthman ibn Affan refused, saying: "I do not want to spill the blood of Muslims to save my own neck."

Finding the gate of Uthman's house strongly guarded by his supporters, the Qurra climbed the back wall and sneaked inside, leaving the guards on the gate unaware of what was going on inside. Hassan and Hussein were also guarding Uthman at the time. The rebels entered his room and struck blows at his head.

According to Encyclopedia of Islam, Muawiyah sent a relief force led by Habib ibn Maslama al-Fihri to protect Uthman, but events moved so fast that Uthman got killed before they arrived, so they turned back from the wadi I kura According to al-Baladhuri one of the earliest books of these events, Ali was furious and slapped Hassan and Hussein saying "How did he get killed when you were at the door?"

Ali was then asked by the people in Madina to become the Caliph. But Ali said:

When Uthman was killed, the people went to Ali and said:

"This man is killed. The public have to have a leader. No one we have found more deserving to the position than you! You are the oldest in the faith and the nearest to the prophet by relationship."

"Leave me and seek some one else. We are facing a matter which has (several) faces and colours, which neither hearts can stand nor intelligence can accept. Clouds are hovering over the sky, and faces are not discernible. You should know that if I respond to you I would lead you as I know and would not care about whatever one may say or abuse. If you leave me then I am the same as you are. It is possible I would listen to and obey whomever you make in charge of your affairs. I am better for you as a counsellor than as chief."

Ali later wrote in a letter "I did not approach the people to get their oath of allegiance but they came to me with their desire to make me their Amir (ruler). I did not extend my hands towards them so that they might swear the oath of allegiance to me but they themselves extended their hands towards me".

Ali then assumed the position of caliph. Ali was very religious and had worked very well in partnership with Umar as his advisor. Umar had consulted him on all the major issues. Ali had also been the chief judge in Madina. But unlike many of the other companions of Muhammad, Ali had not been involved in the camel caravan trade and had less business and administrative experience.

A few years earlier there had been tensions between Iraq, formerly under the Persian Sassanid Empire and Syria, formerly under the Byzantine Empire, during the Byzantine-Sassanid Wars. The Roman-Persian Wars and the Byzantine-Sassanid Wars wars had lasted for hundreds of years. The Iraqis wanted the capital of the newly established Islamic State to be in Kufa. They convinced Ali to come to Kufa and establish the capital in Kufa.

Muawiyah I the governor of Syria, a relative of Uthman ibn al-Affan and Marwan I wanted the culprits arrested. Marwan I and the rebels in Ali's army manipulated everyone and created conflict.

Start of hostilities

After the Battle of the Camel, Ali returned from Basra to Kufa in Rajab of 36 A.H. (January 657). The Iraqis wanted the capital of the newly established Islamic State to be in Kufa so as to bring revenues into their area and oppose Syria. They convinced Ali to come to Kufa and establish the capital in Kufa. Ali listened to them and moved the capital to Kufa. Ali ibn Abi Talib tried to settle matters peacefully by sending an envoy to Syria. He chose Jarir, who was the chief of Banu Bajila and governor of Hamdan. In Syria, incitement to commotion continued unabated. Uthman's shirt, besmeared with his blood and the chopped-off fingers of his wife, Naila, were exhibited from the pulpit. In this manner, Muawiya raised the entire country of Syria against Ali. Ultimately, both parties converged on Siffin where the armies pitched their camps in 37/657. Even at this stage, Ali sent three men, viz. Bashir bin Amr bin Mahz Ansari, Saeed bin Qais Hamdani, and Shis bin Rabiee Tamini to Muawiya to induce him to settle for union, accord and coming together. According to Tabari, Muawiya replied that, "Go away from here, only the sword will decide between us." Ali's inability to punish the murderers of Uthman and Muawiyahs refusal to pledge allegiance eventually led to Ali moved his army north to confront Muawiyah. Ali gathered his forces, and, after at first planning to invade Syria from the North, he attacked directly, marching through the Mesopotamian desert. Arriving at Riqqa, on the banks of the Euphrates, the Syrian vanguard was sighted, but it withdrew without engagement. The people of Riqqa were hostile to Ali, and his army had great difficulty crossing the river. Eventually, Malik al-Ashtar threatened the townspeople with death, which forced their co-operation. So, finally, the army managed to cross the river, by means of a bridge of boats. Ali's army then marched along the right bank of the Euphrates, until they came across the Syrian outpost of Sur al-Rum, where there was a brief skirmish, but Ali's advance was not slowed. So in Dhu al-Hijjah 36 (May 657), the army of Ali ibn Abi Talib came into sight of Muawiyah's main forces, which were encamped on the river plain at Siffin.

The main engagement

The two armies encamped themselves at Siffin for more than one hundred days, most of the time being spent in negotiations. Neither side wanted to fight. Then on 11th Safar 37 AH, the Iraqis under Ashtar's command, the Qurra, in Ali's army, who had their own camp started the fighting in earnest which lasted three days.

Historian Yaqubi wrote that Ali had 80,000 men, including 70 Companions who participated in the Battle of Badr, 70 Companions who took oath at Hudaibia, and 400 prominent Ansars and Muhajirun; while Muawiya had 120,000 Syrians.

William Muir wrote that, "Both armies drawn out in entire array, fought till the shades of evening fell, neither having got the better. The following morning, the combat was renewed with great vigour. Ali posed himself in the centre with the flower of his troops from Medina, and the wings were formed, one of the warriors from Basra, the other of those from Kufa. Muawiya had a pavilion pitched on the field; and there, surrounded by five lines of his sworn body-guards, watched the day. Amr with a great weight of horse, bore down upon the Kufa wing which gave away; and Ali was exposed to imminent peril, both from thick showers of arrows and from close encounter. Reproaching the men of Kufa for their cowardice, the Caliph fought bravely, his unwieldy figure notwithstanding, sword in hand, and manfully withstood the charge. Ali's general Ashtar, at the head of 300 Hafiz-e-Qur'an(those who had memorized the Koran) led forward the other wing, which fell with fury on Muawiya's body-guards. Four of its five ranks were cut to pieces, and Muawiya, bethinking himself of flight, had already called for his horse, when a martial couplet flashed in his mind, and he held his ground."

The following morning, the battle started up again. Edward Gibbon wrote that, "The Caliph Ali displayed a superior character of valor and humanity. His troops were strictly enjoined to wait the first onset of the enemy, to spare their flying brethren, and to respect the bodies of the dead, and the chastity of the female captives. The ranks of the Syrians were broken by the charge of the hero, who was mounted on a piebald horse, and wielded with irresistible force, his ponderous and two edged sword."

Gibbon wrote of the estimated casualties that Ali's forces lost 25,000, while Muawiyah's forces lost 45,000.

The earliest account of the battle is found in Ibn Hisham's book (833) where he quotes Ibn Muzahim died 212 AH and Abu Mikhnaf died 170 AH. It says that after three days of fighting the loss of life was terrible. Suddenly one of the Syrians, Ibn Lahiya, out of dread of the fitna and unable to bear the spectacle rode forward with a copy of the Quran on the ears of his horse to call for judgement by the book of Allah, and the other Syrians followed suit. Everyone on both sides took up the cry, eager to avoid killing their follow Muslims - except for the conspirators. The majority of Ali's followers supported arbitration. Nasr b Muzahim, in one of the earliest source states that al-Ash ath ibn Qays, one of Ali's key supporters and a Kufan, then stood up and said:"O company of Muslims! You have seen what happened in the day which has passed. In it some of the Arabs have been annihilated. By Allah, I have reached the age which Allah willed that I reach. but I have never ever seen a day like this. Let the present convey to the absent! If we fight tomorrow, it will be the annihilation of the Arabs and the loss of what is sacred. I do not make this statement out of fear of death, but I am an aged man who fears for the women and children tomorrow if we are annihilated. O Allah, I have looked to my people and the people of my deen and not empowered anyone. There is no success except by Allah. On Him I rely and to Him I return. Opinion can be both right and wrong. When Allah decides a matter, He carries it out whether His servants like it or not. I say this and I ask Allah's forgiveness for me and you." Then, Nasr b Muzahim says people looked at Muawiya who said "He is right, by the Lord. If we meet tomorrow the Byzantines will attack our women and children and the people of Persia will attack the women and children of Iraq. Those with forebearance and intelligence see this. Tie the copies of the Quran to the ends of the spears". So the fighting stopped.

Every time Ali tried to negotiate the Qurra and the Sabait started wars and launched night attacks, fearing that if there was peace, then they will be arrested.

Appointment of Arbitrators

It was decided that the Syrians and the residents of Kufa, in Iraq, should nominate an arbitrator, each to decide between Ali and Muawiya. The Syrians choice fell on Amr bin al-A'as who was the rational soul and spokesman of Muawiya. 'Amr ibn al-'As was one of the generals involved in expelling the Romans from Syria and also expelled the Romans from Egypt. A few years earlier 'Amr ibn al-'As with 9,000 men in Palestine had found him self confronting Heraclius' 100,000 army until Khalid crossed the Syrian desert from Iraq to assist him. He was a highly skilled negotiator and had previously been used in negotiations with the Heraclius the Roman Emperor. Ali wanted Malik Ashtar or Abdullah bin Abbas to be appointed as an arbitrator for the people of Kufa, Iraq, but the Qurra strongly demurred, alleging that men like these two were, indeed, responsible for the war and, therefore, ineligible for that office of trust. They nominated Abu Musa al-Ashari as their arbitrator. (During the time of Uthman, they had appointed Abu Musa al-Ashari as the Governor of Kufa and removed Uthams governor before they started fighting Uthman) Ali found it expedient to agree to this choice in order to ward off bloody dissensions in his army. According to "Asadul Ghaba", Ali had, therefore, taken care to personally explain to the arbitrators, "You are arbiters on condition that you decide according to the Book of God, and if you are not so inclined you should not deem yourselves to be arbiters."

The Iraqis under Ali and the Syrians under Muawiyah were not split over their faith but over when to bring the people who killed Uthman to justice. Ali also wanted to bring them to justice but the dispute was over the timing.

According to early Shia sources Ali later wrote:

"The thing began in this way: We and the Syrians were facing each other while we had common faith in one Allah, in the same Prophet (s) and on the same principles and canons of religion. So far as faith in Allah and the Holy Prophet (s) was concerned we never wanted them (the Syrians) to believe in anything over and above or other than what they were believing in and they did not want us to change our faith. Both of us were united on these principles. The point of contention between us was the question of the murder of Uthman. It had created the split. They wanted to lay the murder at my door while I am actually innocent of it.

I advised them that this problem cannot be solved by excitement. Let the excitement subside, let us cool down; let us do away with sedition and revolt; let the country settle down into a peaceful atmosphere and when once a stable regime is formed and the right authority is accepted, then let this question be dealt with on the principles of equity and justice because only then the authority will have power enough to find the criminals and to bring them to justice. They refused to accept my advice and said that they wanted to decide the issue on the point of the sword.

When they thus rejected my proposal of peace and kept on sabre rattling threats, then naturally the battle, which was furious and bloody, started. When they saw defeat facing them across the battlefield, when many of them were killed, and many more wounded, then they went down on their knees and proposed the same thing, which I had proposed before the bloodshed had begun.

I accepted their proposal so that their desire might be fulfilled, my intentions of accepting the principles of truth and justice and acting according to these principles might become clear and they might have no cause to complain against me.

Now whoever adheres firmly to the promises made will be the one whose salvation will be saved by Allah and one who will try to go back upon the promises made, will fall deeper and deeper into heresy, error and loss. His eyes will be closed to realities and truth in this world and he will be punished in the next world."

Ibn Taymiyyah (1263 to 1328) said: "Muawiyah did not call himself to be a khaleefah and was not given the oath of allegiance to it when he fought Ali. He fought not because he considered himself to be the khaleef or deserving of the khilaafah. This they all agreed upon and he himself would affirm this to whomever asked him. He and his companions did not consider it permissible that they initiate the fight against Ali and his companions. But Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and his companions believed that Muawiyah and his companions must pledge allegiance and show obedience to Ali, due to his authority such that there be only one khaleefah for the Muslims. Considering them defecting from this obligation he decided that Muawiyah and his companions should be fought until they fulfilled it. All this so that obedience and unity occur. Muawiyah and his companions did not see that it was obligatory upon them and if they were fought against they would consider themselves oppressed because Uthman was killed oppressively as was agreed by all the Muslims at the time and his killers were in Ali's camp, he having authority over them"

Encyclopedia of Islam says "According to the non Muslim view the Syrians were winning" Either way, neither the Syrians nor the Iraqis wanted to fight and the battle was stopped.

When the arbitrators assembled at Daumet-ul-Jandal, which lay midway between Kufa and Syria and had for that reason been selected as the place for the announcement of the decision, a series of daily meetings were arranged for them to discuss the matters in hand. When the time arrived for taking a decision about the caliphate, Amr bin al-A'as convinced Abu Musa al-Ashari into entertaining the opinion that they should deprive both Ali and Muawiya of the caliphate, and give to the Muslims the right to elect the caliph. Abu Musa al-Ashari also decided to act accordingly. As the time for announcing the verdict approached, the people belonging to both parties assembled. Amr bin al-A'as requested Abu Musa to take the lead in announcing the decision he favoured. Abu Musa al-Ashari agreed to open the proceedings, and said, "We have devised a solution after a good deal of thought and it may put an end to all contention and separatist tendencies. It is this. Both of us remove Ali as well as Muawiya from the caliphate. The Muslims are given the right to elect a caliph as they think best."

Ali refused to accept the verdict of him stepping down and for an election to be held and found him self technically in breach of his pledge to abide by the arbitration. This put Ali in a weak position even amongst his own supporters. The most vociferous opponents of Ali in his camp were the very same people who had forced Ali to appoint their arbitrator, the Qurra who then became known as the Kharijites. Feeling that Ali could no longer look after their interests Also fearing that if there was peace, they could be arrested for the murder of Uthman they broke away from Ali's force, rallying under the slogan, "arbitration belongs to God alone." The Qurra then became known as the Kharijites ("those who leave"). The Kharijites then started killing other people.

After the battle of Saffin the Qurra realised that Ali could not safeguard their interests and therefore split off and formed their own Party called the Kharijites and later developed into an anarchist movement and plagued successive governments even Harun the Abbasid ruler died fighting the Kharijites

They also started killing Ali's supporters. They considered anyone who was not part of their group as an unbeliever.

In the best selling book, Shadow of the sword, The Battle for Global Empire and the End of the Ancient World, Tom Holland writes "The Kharijites argued a true believer would have trusted his fate not to diplomacy but to ongoing warfare and God will decide." Even though they them selves had put forward their representative and become a party of them selves, so that the negotiations could go in their favor and satisfy their own political and economic interests. Tom Holland says that "they then condemned Ali as an unbeliever, as the man who had strayed from the Strait Path. The fact that he was Muhammad's nephew only confirmed them in their militancy of their egalitarianism; that the true aristocracy was one of piety and not blood. Even a Companion of the Prophet, if he did not pray until he developed marks on his forehead. If he did not look pale and haggard from regular fasting, if he did not live like a lion by day and a monk by night, ranked in the opinion of the Kharijites as no better than an apostate." They then developed even more twisted views. Tom Holland writes "Other Kharijites, so it was reported, might go out and with their swords into the markets while people would stand around not realizing what was happening; they would shout "no judgment except God!" and plunge their blades into whom ever they could reach and go on killing until they them selves were killed.

In 659 Ali's forces finally moved against the Kharijites and they finally met in the Battle of Nahrawan. Although Ali won the battle, the constant conflict had begun to affect his standing. Tom Holland writes "Ali won a victory over them as crushing as it was to prove pyrrhic: for all he had done, in effect was to fertilise the soil of Iraq with the blood of their martyrs. Three years later, and there came the inevitable blowback: a Kharijite assassin.".

The Kharijites caused so much trouble that in both the early Sunni and the early Shia books Ali said:"With regard to me, two categories of people will be ruined, namely he who loves me too much and the love takes him away from rightfulness, and he who hates me too much and the hatred takes him away from rightfulness. The best man with regard to me is he who is on the middle course. So be with him and be with the great majority of Muslims because Allah’s hand of protection is on keeping unity. You should beware of division because the one isolated from the group is a prey to Satan just as the one isolated from the flock of sheep is a prey to the wolf. Beware! Whoever calls to this course [of sectarianism], kill him, even though he may be under this headband of mine."(Nahjul Balagha, Sermon 126)

Ali was assassinated by Kharijites in 661. On the 19th of Ramadan, while Praying in the Great Mosque of Kufa, Ali was attacked by the Khawarij Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam. He was wounded by ibn Muljam's poison-coated sword while prostrating in the Fajr prayer.

Muawiyah's army also moved into other areas, which Ali's governors couldn't prevent and people didn't support him to fight with them. Muawiyah overpowered Egypt, Yemen and other areas. Ali was later killed by a Kharijite Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam while he was praying in the mosque of Kufa.

Constantinople

When Ali moved his forces north against Muawiyah during the outbreak of the Muslim Civil War in 656, it bought a precious breathing pause for Byzantium, which Emperor Constans II (r. 641–668) used to shore up his defences and initiate a major army reform with lasting effect: the establishment of the themata, the large territorial commands into which Anatolia, the major contiguous territory remaining to the Empire, was divided. The themata would form the backbone of the Byzantine defensive system for centuries to come.

The peace treaty with Hassan

The Khawarij then grew stronger in Iraq and started speaking ill of Ali. After the battle of the Camel, Aisha and Ali had no bitterness towards each other and got on well. On the other hand after the battle of the Camel Marwan and Aisha did not get on. During the time of Ali, Aishas brother Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was a commander in Ali's army had also been killed by the Syrian army in Egypt. Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was the son of Abu Bakr and the adopted son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and was also raised by Uthman and he was the great grandfather of Ja'far al-Sadiq

Aisha's other brother Abdul Rahman was also opposed to Marwan and his conduct" Aisha had deeply regretted going to Basra.

Ammar bin Yasin and Ushtur went to meet Aisha and she spoke to Ammar. "O Ammar! don't you know that the Prophet had said that it was unlawful to shed the blood of a believer unless he has become apostate and foughts you or is guilty of murder or adultery" She explained that during the battle of the Camel she was talking to Ali when the Qurra had started the battle. The talks had lasted for months. When she heard of the assassination of Ali in Kufa she Said "O God! have mercy of Ali. When anything pleased him he used to say "God and His Apostle are true" The people of Iraq made insinuations against him and exaggerated everything."

Six months later in 661, in the interest of peace, Hasan ibn Ali, highly regarded for his wisdom and as a peacemaker, the fifth Rightly Guided Caliphs for the Sunnis and the Second Imam for the Shias and the grandson of Muhammad, made a peace treaty with Muawiyah. By now Hassan only ruled the area around Kufa. In the Hasan-Muawiya treaty, Hasan ibn Ali handed over power to Muawiya on the condition that he be just to the people and keep them safe and secure and after his death he does not establish a dynasty. This brought to an end the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs for the Sunnis and Hasan ibn Ali was also the last Imam for the Shias to be a Caliph.

Narrated by Al-Hasan Al-Basri

By Allah, Al-Hasan bin Ali led large battalions like mountains against Muawiya. Amr bin Al-As said (to Muawiya), "I surely see battalions which will not turn back before killing their opponents." Muawiya who was really the best of the two men said to him, "O 'Amr! If these killed those and those killed these, who would be left with me for the jobs of the public, who would be left with me for their women, who would be left with me for their children?" Then Muawiya sent two Quraishi men from the tribe of 'Abd-i-Shams called 'Abdur Rahman bin Sumura and Abdullah bin 'Amir bin Kuraiz to Al-Hasan saying to them, "Go to this man (i.e. Al-Hasan) and negotiate peace with him and talk and appeal to him." So, they went to Al-Hasan and talked and appealed to him to accept peace. Al-Hasan said, "We, the offspring of 'Abdul Muttalib, have got wealth and people have indulged in killing and corruption (and money only will appease them)." They said to Al-Hasan, "Muawiya offers you so and so, and appeals to you and entreats you to accept peace." Al-Hasan said to them, "But who will be responsible for what you have said?" They said, "We will be responsible for it." So, what-ever Al-Hasan asked they said, "We will be responsible for it for you." So, Al-Hasan concluded a peace treaty with Muawiya. Al-Hasan (Al-Basri) said: I heard Abu Bakr saying, "I saw Allah's Apostle on the pulpit and Al-Hasan bin 'Ali was by his side. The Prophet was looking once at the people and once at Al-Hasan bin 'Ali saying, 'This son of mine is a Saiyid (i.e. a noble) and may Allah make peace between two big groups of Muslims through him."

Hassan had lost many of his close friends, including Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr, who he was raised with, he was also the guard, guarding Uthman the day he was killed. Hassan also had the Kharijites in Iraq to deal with. There are different groups with different economic and political interests and then on top of that the populations in the different areas were very tribal and nationalistic. Hassan skillfully managed to get Muawiyah to deal with the Kharijites. As part of the peace settlement Muawiyah agreed to pay the revenues of the Baitul-Mal public treasury in Kufa to Hassan. However the people of the district refused to allow their taxes to go towards Hussain, to recompense for their refusal Muawiyah paid Hassan six million Dirhams every year. Not once did al-Hassan fail to receive the payments from Muawiyah.

People wanted to avoid another battle like the battle of Siffin where their strong opinions and inflexibly to compromise caused so much trouble.

Sahih Al Bukhari Volume 9, Book 92, Number 411: Narrated by Al-A'mash

I asked Abu Wail, "Did you witness the battle of Siffin between 'Ali and Muawiya?" He said, "Yes," and added, "Then I heard Sahl bin Hunaif saying, 'O people! Blame your personal opinions in your religion. No doubt, I remember myself on the day of Abi Jandal; if I had the power to refuse the order of Allah's Apostle, I would have refused it. We have never put our swords on our shoulders to get involved in a situation that might have been horrible for us, but those swords brought us to victory and peace, except this present situation.' " Abu Wail said, "I witnessed the battle of Siffin, and how nasty Siffin was!"

After the peace treaty with Muawiyah, Ibn Shawdhab is reported to have said that "Hassan hated to fight. his supporters would say to him "O Dishonour of the Believers!" So Hassan would reply to them "Dishonour is better than Hel-fire.".