Chapter 5: Part 4 - Ali رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُمْ and The Siffin — When the Ummah Stood on Opposite Banks!
Ali رضي الله عنه now faced a difficult reality. The traditional centre of the Muslim state had been Madinah, but the political and military balance of the empire had changed enormously since the time of Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه and Umar رضي الله عنه. Iraq possessed large military populations. Syria possessed an experienced administration and a disciplined provincial army. Egypt was strategically important. And the Caliph needed a political centre from which he could actually govern. Ali رضي الله عنه therefore moved his seat of government to Kufah.
THE BRIEF HISTORY OF ISLAM!
Danish Shafiq
6/12/202612 min read
Chapter 5: Part 4 - Ali رضي الله عنه and The Siffin — When the Ummah Stood on Opposite Banks!
Siffin — When the Ummah Stood on Opposite Banks
The Battle of Jamal had ended.
Basrah had fallen back under the authority of Ali ibn Abi Talib رضي الله عنه. Aisha رضي الله عنها had been treated with honour and sent safely toward Madinah. The men who had stood against Ali رضي الله عنه had dispersed, been killed, or returned to their homes.
But victory had not brought peace. The wounds of the Ummah remained open. The murder of Uthman رضي الله عنه was still unresolved. And beyond Iraq, in Syria, stood a governor who had not accepted Ali's رضي الله عنه Caliphate.
His name was Muʿawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan رضي الله عنه.
The next stage of the First Fitnah was about to begin.
After Jamal — A Caliph Without Peace!
Ali رضي الله عنه had won at Basrah, but he understood that the political crisis was far from over. The question of Uthman's رضي الله عنه killers had not disappeared. The disagreement with Aisha رضي الله عنها, Talhah رضي الله عنه and az-Zubayr رضي الله عنه had been resolved on the battlefield, but the larger question remained:
Could the Muslim state be reunited while Syria remained outside the authority of the Caliph?
Ali رضي الله عنه now faced a difficult reality.
The traditional centre of the Muslim state had been Madinah, but the political and military balance of the empire had changed enormously since the time of Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه and Umar رضي الله عنه.
Iraq possessed large military populations. Syria possessed an experienced administration and a disciplined provincial army. Egypt was strategically important. And the Caliph needed a political centre from which he could actually govern.
Ali رضي الله عنه therefore moved his seat of government to Kufah.
The decision was practical as much as political. Kufah was a major military settlement and provided Ali رضي الله عنه with access to the forces upon which his government increasingly depended. By early 657 CE, Kufah had become the effective centre of his administration.
The move itself revealed how much the political geography of the Muslim world had changed.
Madinah remained sacred. But the centre of political power was moving. And from Kufah, Ali رضي الله عنه now turned toward Syria.
The Question of Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه
Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه was not an insignificant provincial governor who could be removed without consequence. He had governed Syria for years. He had inherited and strengthened an established administration. He possessed the loyalty of a powerful provincial society.
And, perhaps most importantly, he was a close relative of Uthman رضي الله عنه and had made the demand for justice for the murdered Caliph central to his political position. Ali رضي الله عنه therefore sent correspondence to Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه calling upon him to recognize the Caliphate and give allegiance.
Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه did not do so.
His position remained tied to the demand that those responsible for Uthman's رضي الله عنه murder be brought to justice. The disagreement had therefore reached a point where neither side could ignore the other.
Ali رضي الله عنه possessed the Caliphate and the allegiance of the major centres of Iraq. Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه controlled Syria and possessed a powerful military base. Neither side could easily impose its will upon the other without risking another war.
And neither side could pretend that the crisis would simply disappear with time.
The road toward Siffin had begun.
Ali رضي الله عنه Did Not March Immediately Toward War
It is important not to imagine that Ali رضي الله عنه woke one morning and decided to march against Syria. The political situation developed gradually. Messages were exchanged. Representatives travelled. Arguments were presented. Each side attempted to justify its position.
Ali رضي الله عنه continued to regard himself as the legitimate Caliph of the Muslims, whose authority had been established through the Bayʿah. Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه continued to refuse allegiance while the question of Uthman's رضي الله عنه killers remained unresolved.
Thus the central dispute was no longer simply:
Who should rule?
It had become intertwined with another question:
What must happen before political authority can be considered legitimate?
Ali رضي الله عنه's position was that the Caliphate could not function if every crime was followed by the immediate collapse of government.
Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه's position remained that Uthman's رضي الله عنه blood could not be set aside while political authority was being reorganized.
Both positions carried enormous consequences.
And soon, thousands of Muslims would be standing behind them.
The Road to the Euphrates!
Ali رضي الله عنه eventually prepared his forces to move toward Syria. Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه did the same.
The two armies moved toward the region of the Euphrates, eventually gathering at a place known as Siffin, near the river. This was no longer the relatively contained confrontation of Basrah.
The armies were larger. The stakes were greater. And the political consequences of defeat could affect the entire Muslim state. Yet even now, the confrontation did not immediately become a full-scale battle. There were movements. Negotiations. Skirmishes. Messages between commanders. And periods in which the armies stood facing one another without committing to a decisive engagement.
The atmosphere was tense, but the possibility of avoiding a general battle had not completely disappeared. Ali رضي الله عنه understood what another civil war would mean. He had already seen Jamal. He knew that Muslim blood could not be treated like the blood of an external enemy.
The Euphrates — Water Becomes a Weapon!
At one stage of the confrontation, Muʿawiyah's رضي الله عنه forces gained control of access to the Euphrates and prevented Ali's رضي الله عنه army from freely reaching the water.
The situation became increasingly dangerous. Water was not a luxury. An army could not remain in the field without it. Ali رضي الله عنه's forces eventually fought to regain access to the river. The fighting intensified, and Ali's (رضي الله عنه) side succeeded in taking control of the water.
At that point, something remarkable happened. Ali رضي الله عنه did not simply respond to the earlier restriction by denying water to the Syrian army. The water was made available.
The message was clear:
What had been done to them would not become the standard by which they treated their opponents.
Whatever political disagreements separated the two camps, the basic obligations of Islam could not simply be discarded because Muslims were now fighting Muslims.
The armies remained enemies on the battlefield. But the humanity of the enemy could not be forgotten.
The Fighting Begins!
Siffin did not consist of one single moment of combat. There were repeated clashes. Individual champions fought. Units advanced and withdrew. The two armies tested one another. The confrontation gradually became more intense.
Yet for a long period, the full strength of both armies was not committed to a single decisive engagement. The two sides camped opposite one another for over a hundred days, and the sources describe dozens of separate skirmishes during that time, with both Ali رضي الله عنه and Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه repeatedly agreeing to pauses in the hope that the matter might still be settled through negotiation rather than a general battle.
Then the fighting escalated. The battlefield became filled with dust. The sound of weapons spread across the plain. Men who had once prayed in the same direction now stood beneath different banners.
Among Ali's رضي الله عنه forces were some of the greatest surviving Companions. Among them was ʿAmmar ibn Yasir رضي الله عنه. He was no ordinary soldier. He was one of the earliest Muslims. He had suffered persecution in Makkah. He had witnessed the earliest days of Islam. He had grown old carrying the memory of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم.
And now, at Siffin, the aged Companion stood in the ranks of Ali رضي الله عنه.
His presence would soon become one of the most significant and painful elements of the entire battle.
ʿAmmar ibn Yasir رضي الله عنه — The Companion Who Had Seen It All!
ʿAmmar رضي الله عنه had lived through almost the entire journey of the first Muslim community. He had suffered in Makkah. He had migrated. He had fought for Islam. He had witnessed the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم establish the community in Madinah. And now he was standing in a war between Muslims.
His presence on Ali's رضي الله عنه side was not merely a military detail. It carried enormous symbolic weight.
The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم had spoken about ʿAmmar رضي الله عنه during his lifetime. Among the reports preserved in the authentic hadith tradition is the statement that a rebellious group would kill ʿAmmar رضي الله عنه.
This hadith is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari 2812 (sunnah.com) and narrated by Abu Saʿid al-Khudri رضي الله عنه: the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, seeing ʿAmmar رضي الله عنه carrying bricks during the construction of the mosque in Madinah, wiped the dust from his head and said, "May Allah be merciful to `Ammar. He will be killed by a rebellious, aggressive group. `Ammar will invite them to (obey) Allah, and they will invite him to the (Hell) fire."
That prophecy would become profoundly significant at Siffin. But when ʿAmmar رضي الله عنه entered the battlefield, he did not know how history would remember the day. He simply fought alongside the people with whom he had chosen to stand.
And then...
ʿAmmar رضي الله عنه was killed.
The news travelled rapidly through the army. A Companion of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم had fallen. And his death immediately transformed the emotional atmosphere of Siffin.
For those who had remembered the Prophet's صلى الله عليه وسلم words concerning ʿAmmar رضي الله عنه, the moment was devastating. It was no longer simply another death in a civil war. It was a moment that forced the soldiers on both sides to confront the terrible nature of the conflict itself.
In the Sunni reading of the First Fitnah, Ali رضي الله عنه is generally regarded as having been closer to the correct position in the dispute. At the same time, this judgment does not require Muslims to turn Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه or the Companions who stood with him into objects of hatred or abuse. The classical Sunni approach preserves the honour of the Companions while recognizing that sincere human judgment could differ in an unprecedented crisis.
And perhaps, especially in our own times, we should resist the temptation to turn one side into a hero and the other into a villain. The final judgment of every heart belongs to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى alone. We will not stand before Him on the Day of Judgment to defend a political camp from fourteen centuries ago; we will stand before Him to answer for our own words, our own deeds, and the way we treated others.
Therefore, rather than allowing the events of the First Fitnah to become a source of hatred between Muslims today, we should learn from its lessons, preserve the honour of the Companions رضي الله عنهم, acknowledge where human judgment differed, and leave the ultimate judgment of their intentions and affairs to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى.
The Battle Reaches Its Most Dangerous Point!
The fighting continued. Ali رضي الله عنه's forces pressed forward. The confrontation became increasingly intense. Among the strongest commanders on Ali's رضي الله عنه side was Malik al-Ashtar, whose determination and military ability made him one of the most important figures in the Iraqi army.
On the Syrian side, Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه relied heavily upon the experience and strategic ability of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ رضي الله عنه.
The two armies were now deeply committed. But Siffin was not simply a contest of military strength. It was also a contest of political endurance. And as the fighting reached its climax, the Syrian position became increasingly difficult. The battle was moving toward a point where one side might suffer a decisive defeat.
The night that brought matters to their sharpest point became known in the historical tradition as Laylat al-Harir — "the Night of Clamour." It was the longest and fiercest stretch of continuous fighting in the entire confrontation, remembered in historical traditions by that same name, and it left both armies exhausted and their losses heavier than at any other point in the battle.
And then...
the course of history changed.
The Qur'an Upon the Spears!
Accounts of the final stage of Siffin describe the Syrian army raising Qur'anic leaves or copies of the Qur'an upon their spears and calling for the dispute to be referred to the Book of Allah عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ.
This became one of the most famous scenes in the history of the First Fitnah.
But here we must be precise.
The sources differ regarding the exact details of who first proposed the action, how the order was communicated, and how individual commanders reacted. What the major historical accounts — including at-Tabari's Tarikh and al-Minqari's Waqʿat Siffin — largely agree on is that the idea itself is credited to ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ رضي الله عنه, put to Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه at the moment when Malik al-Ashtar's advance was on the verge of breaking the Syrian line.
What is much clearer is what followed:
A significant portion of Ali's رضي الله عنه army wanted the fighting to stop and demanded that the dispute be referred to arbitration according to the Qur'an.
Ali رضي الله عنه himself recognized the danger. He understood that the military situation was changing. He also understood that an agreement made under battlefield pressure could create consequences that might be impossible to reverse.
Yet his own army was not united. Some wanted to continue fighting. Others refused.
The Caliph was now facing a painful dilemma:
Continue the battle and risk breaking his own army—or accept arbitration and risk losing the military advantage he had gained.
Ali رضي الله عنه and the Reluctant Acceptance of Arbitration!
Ali رضي الله عنه did not view arbitration as a simple victory. He knew that the political question could not be solved merely by stopping the swords. But the pressure inside his own army had become enormous.
Reports preserved in the historical tradition describe Ali رضي الله عنه as warning his soldiers that the appeal to the Qur'an could become a political device rather than a genuine resolution.
Yet those demanding an end to the fighting persisted.
Eventually, Ali رضي الله عنه accepted arbitration. A written agreement was prepared. The purpose was to stop the fighting and refer the dispute to judgment according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
Modern scholarship has confirmed that an arbitration agreement existed and that multiple versions of the document survive in the historical tradition. Its terms included security for the two arbitrators and an obligation to seek judgment through the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
But even the drafting of the agreement became controversial.
There was disagreement over the language used to describe Ali رضي الله عنه.
The title Amir al-Mu'minin was challenged by the Syrian side because accepting that title would effectively concede the very point under dispute.
Ali رضي الله عنه was therefore placed in the extraordinary position of seeing the political authority of his Caliphate questioned in the very document intended to end the fighting.
When some of his own men objected to allowing the title to be struck out, Ali رضي الله عنه is reported to have answered them by recalling the Prophet's صلى الله عليه وسلم own conduct at the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. There, the Quraysh had objected to the words "Rasul Allah" — Messenger of Allah — appearing beside the Prophet's صلى الله عليه وسلم name, and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had agreed to have the words removed and to write only "Muhammad ibn ʿAbdullah" instead.
This did not mean the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had ceased to be the Messenger of Allah, and Ali رضي الله عنه — who, according to the report, had been the one to physically write out that very treaty at Hudaybiyyah — argued that removing "Amir al-Mu'minin" from the Siffin document was no different in principle. This account is preserved in at-Tabari's Tarikh, among other sources.
The agreement was nevertheless completed.
Ali رضي الله عنه's representative was Abu Musa al-Ashʿari رضي الله عنه.
Muʿawiyah's رضي الله عنه representative was ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ رضي الله عنه.
Two respected men. Two different political camps. And one question that had already cost thousands of lives.
The Agreement Did Not Heal the Wound!
The swords were temporarily lowered. But the Ummah was not healed. In fact, another division had already begun. Some of Ali's رضي الله عنه supporters now accused him of making an error by accepting human arbitration when, in their view, judgment belonged to Allah عز وجل alone.
Their cry became:
“Lā ḥukma illā lillāh.” There is no judgment except Allah's.
The group that would eventually become known as the Khawarij began to separate themselves from Ali رضي الله عنه. This created a new and extraordinary situation.
Ali رضي الله عنه had entered Siffin facing Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه.
He had emerged from the confrontation with neither a decisive victory nor lasting peace. And now some of the men who had fought beside him were beginning to oppose him.
The First Fitnah was no longer a conflict between two political centres alone.
It was beginning to fracture Ali's (رضي الله عنه) own coalition.
The Great Tragedy of Siffin!
Siffin cannot honestly be reduced to a story in which one side was composed of believers and the other of villains. The men who stood on opposite sides had lived through the same Prophet's صلى الله عليه وسلم generation.
They had prayed the same prayers. They had faced the same enemies. They had carried the same Qur'an. And yet the unresolved question of Uthman's رضي الله عنه murder had created political positions that eventually became impossible to reconcile.
Ali رضي الله عنه believed that the unity and authority of the Caliphate had to be preserved. Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه continued to make justice for Uthman رضي الله عنه central to his position.
Between those two positions stood thousands of ordinary Muslims. Some fought because they believed Ali رضي الله عنه was the legitimate Caliph. Some fought because they stood with Syria. Some fought because their tribal or provincial loyalties had drawn them into the conflict. Some did not want to fight at all. And some would eventually conclude that both sides had gone too far.
That is why Siffin is so important.
It shows how a political dispute can become something much larger than the original question. A disagreement over justice became a question of legitimacy. A question of legitimacy became a military confrontation. The military confrontation became arbitration.
And arbitration produced another rebellion.
The Ummah was becoming divided not because Islam had disappeared...
but because human beings were struggling to determine how Islam's principles should be applied in an unprecedented political crisis.
The Road Beyond Siffin!
The agreement had stopped the immediate bloodshed. But it had not answered the question that had brought the armies to the Euphrates in the first place.
Who possessed legitimate authority?
What should happen to those responsible for Uthman's رضي الله عنه murder?
Could Ali رضي الله عنه's Caliphate remain politically intact?
Could Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه's demand for justice coexist with the authority of the Caliph?
And what would the arbitration actually decide?
Those questions now passed from the battlefield to the negotiators. Abu Musa al-Ashʿari رضي الله عنه and ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ رضي الله عنه would meet to discuss the future of the Muslim community.
Later generations would tell the story of their meeting in dramatically different ways.
Some would portray Abu Musa رضي الله عنه as naïve and ʿAmr رضي الله عنه as cunning. Others would reject that portrayal and argue that the surviving accounts have simplified a much more complicated political process.
The historian must therefore resist the temptation to turn the next stage into a morality tale. The truth is more difficult. The sources preserve different versions. And where the evidence is uncertain, we must say that it is uncertain.
Because this history is too sacred to be shaped merely to make a better story.
A War That No One Could Truly Win!
Siffin had ended without giving the Ummah the peace it desperately needed. Ali رضي الله عنه had not been removed from the Caliphate. Muʿawiyah رضي الله عنه had not surrendered his political position.
The question of Uthman's رضي الله عنه killers remained unresolved.
And a new group had emerged from Ali's (رضي الله عنه) own ranks, challenging the very decision to accept arbitration. The First Fitnah had entered a new stage. The battlefield had fallen silent. But the arguments had only grown louder. The men who had once marched together would now face new divisions.
And Ali رضي الله عنه would soon discover that the greatest danger to his Caliphate was no longer only the army standing across from him. It was also the fracture developing within his own ranks.
The swords had been lowered at Siffin.
But the Fitnah had not ended.
It had only changed its face.
And the next chapter would reveal one of the most consequential consequences of that transformation:
The rise of the Khawarij, the crisis of arbitration, and the struggle of Ali رضي الله عنه to preserve what remained of the unity of the Ummah.
End of Chapter 5: Part 4
Chapter 5: Part 5 - Ali رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُمْ – After Siffin — When the Sword Fell Silent, But the Fitnah Did Not!