The battle of Siffeen ended with arbitration. 'Aliaccepted arbitration
and returned to Koofah. Mu'aawiyareturned to Shaam )an area that
includedSyria,Lebanon,Palestine,Jordanand parts ofIraq. They agreed
that arbitration should be conducted during the month of Ramadan. 'Ali
sent Abu Moosaa Al- Asha'ari, while Mu'aawiya sent 'Amr Ibn
Al-'Aasall.
The famous false story of arbitration was that Amr Ibn Al-'Aas and Abu
Moosaa Al-Asha'ari agreed to dethrone 'Ali and Mu'aawiya. Abu Moosaa
Al-Asha'ari ascended the pulpit and said: "I will take 'Ali off the
caliphate in the same way I am taking my ring off. At this point, he
took his ring off. 'Amr Ibn Al-'Aas stood and said: "I will take 'Ali
off the caliphate in the same manner Abu Moosaa did, and as I am
taking my ring off now; meanwhile I am confirming Mu'aawiya as a
caliph in the same manner I am wearing this ring of mine! Therefore,
there was uproar. Abu Moosaa went out angry. He returned to Koofah.
'Amr Ibn Al-'Aas returned to Sham!
This story is fabricated. The true story, however, is that told by
people of truth based on right chain of narrators in Al-Bukhaari:
"When 'Amr Ibn Al-'Aasattended arbitration, he met Abu Moosaa
Al-Asha'ariand asked him: 'What do you think?' Abu Moosaa replied: 'I
see that )'Ali( was one of the people whom the Prophetwas contented
with before his demise.'
'Amr Ibn Al-'Aas said: 'How do you rate me and Mu'awiya?' Abu Moosaa
said: 'If 'Ali gets your help, then you are helpful. If, however, he
does not, then it would be the will of Allaah.' The discussion ended
at this point, 'Amr Ibn Al-'As went back to brief Mu'aawiya about it
and Abu Moosaa returned to 'Ali to do the same.
The first version is undoubtedly false for three reasons:
1. The weak chain of narrators including the name of Abu Mikhnaf, theliar.
2. Neither Abu Moosaa Al-Asha'ari nor others candethrone the
caliph of Muslims who, according to belief of Ahlus-Sunnah
wal-Jamaa'ah could not be dethroned that easily. So how could two men
agree on the dethronement of the Leader of the Faithful? This is just
rubbish. What happened in the arbitration event was that 'Aliwould
stay in Koofah, being the caliph of Muslims, while Mu'aawiyawould
remain in Sham as a prince.
3. The existence of the sound version which we mentioned above and
which contradicts the fabricated one.
The Nahrawaan battle )37 A.H.(:
No sooner had 'Alireturned to Koofah, than the Khawaarij
)dissidentsdeviant sect( revolted against him. They refusedarbitration
and said: 'No judgment but that of Allaah.' They started to make a
fuss around 'Alieven at the mosque, they used to cry: "No judgment but
that of Allaah." 'Aliused to comment on that by saying "a word of
truth being misused."
'Ali, however, decided to carry out his campaign against Shaam and
ignore the insane demand of the Khawaarij, but he was informed of the
martyrdom of Abdullaah Ibn Khabbaab. The victim passed through
Naharwaan during a journey. A group of the Khawaarij came to know that
he was a Companion. They came tohim and asked about AbuBakr and 'Umar.
Abdullaah Ibn Khabbaab said, "Both of them were very pious and true
servants of Allaah the Almighty." They then inquired of the first and
the last parts of the caliphate of 'Uthmaan. He replied, "He was
truth-loving from beginning to the end." They then wanted to know his
opinion about 'Alibefore and after the appointment of the arbitrators.
He stated, "Aliknows and understands the injunctions of Allaah and His
Messenger more than you all." Hearing this, the Khawaarij became
enraged and killed Khabbaab, may Allaah be pleased with hijm, his wife
and his fellow travelers.
On being informed of this, 'Aliasked Al-Haarith Ibn Murrah to make an
inquiry into the matter. The Khawaarij killed him also. Along with
this, it was reportedto 'Ali that they were killing all those who
disagreed with them. Thus, 'Ali's men grew anxious that the Khawaarij
would captureKoofah and Basrah and kill their wives and children in
case they advanced towards Shaam.
'Alihimself went to the camp of the Khawaarij and began to preach them
to use wisdom and adopt righteousness. Fearing the strength of the
impression 'Ali's speech would have on their people, the chieftains
asked them not to pay attention to what he saidand go to war.
In view of their attitude, 'Alicame back and set himself to the task
of organizing his troops and appointing commanding officers of the
attacking army. This task being over, 'Ali gave Abu Ayoob
Al-Ansaarithe flag of peace and asked him to ascend to a raised spot
and give a general call saying:"Those who come to us without a fight
will get peace, and those who go to Koofah or Madaa'in will also enjoy
peace." Having heard this announcement, Farwah Ibn Nawfal Al-Ashja'i
moved apart with five hundred horsemen, somepeople left for Koofah
while some others either went to Madaa'in or came to join Ali's
troops, with the result less than one-third of the men were left with
the Khawaarij. 'Alithen launched a massive attack and put the rest
todeath.
All the prominent chieftains of the Khawaarij like Abdullaah Ibn Wahb,
Zayd Ibn Husayn, Hurqus Ibn Zuhayr, 'Abdullaah Ibn Shajarah, and
Shurayh Ibn 'Awfa lost their lives. Only nine of them saved themselves
by fleeing from the scene of death.
'Ali's martyrdom )40 A.H.(:
Approximately, two yearsafter the battle of An-Nahrawaan, three
Kharijites, 'Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn Muljam Muraadi, Burak Ibn 'Abdullaah
At-Tameemi and 'Amr Ibn Bakr Tameemi gathered in Makkah and kept
expressing profound grief over the men slain in Naharwaan. At last
they entered into a pact to do away with the three men in power that
had been putting the entire world of Islam to such a great loss and
destruction. According to their plan, 'Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn Muljam
Muraadi, Burak Ibn 'Abdullaah At-Tameemi, and 'Amr Ibn Bakr At-Tameemi
Sa'di each agreed to kill 'Ali, Mu'aawiyah and 'Amr
IbnAl-'Aasrespectively. Ramadan 16 and the Morning Prayer were fixed
as the date and time of the assassinations.
'Amr Ibn Al 'Aas was inEgypt, Mu'aawiya in Shaam and 'Ali in
Koofah.Ibn Muljam killed 'Aliwhile on his way to Fajr)dawn( prayer
using a dagger which he poisoned for a week.
When 'Alidied, they brought his killer and killed him.
Al-Barak, who intended to kill Mu'aawiyaat dawn time, gave Mu'aawiya a
stroke. However, this did not kill him. He was cured but caused him
sterility.
'Amr had diarrhea that prevented him from going out to perform his
prayer. The killer instead murdered the leader of the prayer,
Khaarijah Ibn Abi Habeeb, who replaced him. The murder took place
during the prayers. Whenhe was asked about his enormous crime, he
said:"I relieved people from 'Amr Ibn Al-'Aas." He was told: "But you
did not kill 'Amr but killed Khaarijah." His reply was:"I intended to
kill 'Amr but Allaah willed Khaarijah!!" The murderer was executed as
his other two collaborators.
'Ali's grave is traceless:
'Aliwas honored with martyrdom at the age of sixty-three and passed
five years as a caliph. Al-Hasan, Al-Husayn and 'Abdullaah bin
Ja'farwashed his body and shrouded him in three pieces of cloth
without a shirt.
Al-Hasanled the funeral prayer. But there is a wide difference of
opinion with regard to his burial ground. Some people say that he was
buried in the Koofah Mosque while others say that he was buried in his
house, or somewhere tenmiles away from Koofah.
According to some narratives, Al-Hasanburied him at an unknown place
after taking his body out of hisgrave anticipating an act of
desecration from the Khawaarij. Still one more narrative says that his
bier was carried to Al-Madeenah to bury him near the grave of Prophet.
But the camel carrying the body fled away and remained traceless.
Contradicting this narrative, yet another one lends support to the
opinion that the camel with the body of 'Aliwas tracedat Tai and he
was buried there. It is a wonder that the grave of such a great
personality lies traceless to this day. However, the reason behind his
burial at an unknown place wasthe Khawaarij menace.
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