Arbitration Agreement

Significance of the display of the leaves of the Holy Quran

Ali because of the treachery of his own men was no longer the master of his own will, and he had to act in accordance with the dictates of the rebels. These rebels forced Ali to depute the rebel General Ashas b Qais to inquire from Muawiyah as to what was the significance of the display of the leaves of the Holy Quran on their lances. Muawiyah said, "The significance of this display of the leaves of the Holy Quran on our lances is that we appeal from the decision of arms to the decision of the law of God. Let both sides retire from the battlefield, and refer the case to the arbitration of two umpires, one umpire to be nominated by each side. The two umpires should decide according to the Holy Quran and the traditions of the Holy Prophet as to whom the sovereignty should go. The decision of the umpires should be binding on all". To this proposal Ashas gave his consent without consulting Ali. Ali was wroth at the acceptance of the proposal on his behalf. Ali maintained that the issue of sovereignty was not in dispute. He was the duly elected Caliph, and his right to the caliphate could not be adjudicated upon by the arbitrators. The rebels did not accept the contention of Ali. Ali in a state of utter helplessness said, "If you are not going to listen to me, then do whatever you like."

Ash'as b Qais

Ash'as b Qais who accepted the proposal of Muawiyah was the chief of the Banu Kindi. He was converted to Islam during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet. After the death of the Holy Prophet he apostatized. In the apostasy wars conducted during the caliphate of Abu Bakr Ashas was defeated. He came to Madina, repented and was reconverted to Islam. Abu Bakr married his sister Umm Farida to him. During the time of Umar he participated in the wars against the Persians. Umar, however, did not trust him with any important office. Othman made him the Governor of a province. Ali deposed him. He came to Kufa and offered allegiance to Ali. Ali made him a General of his army the marched with Ali to Siffin and played an important part in dislodging the Syrians from the source of water supply in the Siffin valley. To start with he showed a great deal of loyalty to Ali, but later he came to waver in his loyalty. Even before the Syrians displayed the leaves of the Holy Quran on their lances, Ashas addressed the contingent of the Banu Kinda under his command in the following terms: "O ye Muslims, you have witnessed what has transpired during the course of this war, and how many Muslims have been ruthlessly killed. I have become old, but I have never seen such dreadful carnage before. Whosoever hears me, it behooves him to pass on my message to others that we ought to resolve that we will not fight from henceforth, and would refrain from killing the Muslims. By God, I am not telling you these things because I am afraid of war or because cowardice has taken hold of me. I tell you these things because I pity the Muslim women and children who will suffer, and mourn the loss of those who are killed in the battle."

This was outright treachery. It appears treachery was in the very blood of Ashas. His daughter was married to Imam Hasan. She poisoned Imam Hasan at the instigation of Yazid, who promised to marry her in case she poisoned Imam Hasan, but refused to marry her when she had poisoned Imam Hasan on the ground that he could not trust a woman who could poison her husband.

Causes of the helplessness of Ali

The accounts of what happened at Siffin which have come down to us give no clue as to what was the cause of rebellion against Ali when victory was almost in sight. It is not plausible that this sudden development took place at the display of the leaves of the Holy Quran on their lances by the Syrians. Obviously it was the culmination of some deep set conspiracy. The exact extent of such conspiracy remains a mystery, but it appears that the treachery of most of the army chiefs of Ali was because of the bribery by Muawiyah. The army that Ali had brought to Siffin was more a motley crowd than a disciplined force, and this lack of discipline was its greatest weakness. It also appears that there was a good deal of jealousy among the Generals of the army of Ali. When Ali appointed Ashas as a General his appointment was opposed by Malik Ashtar who was the Commander-in-Chief of the forces of Ali, and these differences between the two Generals persisted during the course of the war. Ali believed in the truth of his cause to such an extent that he did not sponsor any propaganda to support such cause. On the other hand Muawiyah was a past master in making propaganda, and in this respect he outwitted Ali.

Arbitration Deed

When the arbitration deed came to be written up, an altercation between the parties began over the first sentence of the preamble about the title of the parties. The supporters of Ali insisted that he should be referred to as "Ali, the commander of the Faithful". The other party objected to such title as they did not recognize him as the Caliph. The army chiefs of Ali who had rebelled against the authority of Ali overruled the view of the supporters of Ali on the ground that in the case of the Hudaibia pact when the Quraish objected to reference to Muhammad (peace be on him) as the prophet. The Holy Prophet agreed to the omission of such reference. The agreement that was drawn up provided for the truce between parties, and the settlement of the dispute through arbitration of two umpires, one empire to be appointed by each party. The umpires were required to give their decision in accordance with the injunctions of the Holy Quran. In the absence of any guidance from the Holy Quran, the traditions of the Holy Prophet were to be followed. The umpires were guaranteed the security of their life and property and of their families whatever the outcome of the arbitration might be. It was provided that the decision of the umpires was to be binding on all concerned. The umpires were required to give their decision within six months. They were required to meet at a neutral spot midway between Kufa and Damascus. The point to be determined by the umpires was as to whom out of Ali and Muawiyah the sovereignty was to belong. The supporters of Ali pointed out that the issue of sovereignty was not the point in dispute, the dispute was about the "Qasas" of the assassination of Othman. The rebels against the authority of Ali overruled this stand. They said that the real issue was that of the caliphate between Ali and Muawiyah, and if this issue was decided the question of "Qasas" for the murder of Othman would be automatically decided. The arbitration deed as it was finally drawn up was nothing short of a death warrant for Ali. He had however become so helpless that he had to agree to it.

The Umpires

After the arbitration deed had been drawn up, the arbiter to represent Ali had to be appointed. Ali wanted that his cousin Abdullah b Abbas be appointed as the arbiter. The rebels said that they could not accept this nomination as Abdullah b Abbas was related to him and he was apt to be partial. Ali said that in that case let Malik Ashtar be appointed as the arbiter. The rebels vetoed this suggestion as well on the ground that Malik Ashtar had participated in the war and could not take an impartial view. The rebels said that they would nominate Abu Musa Ashari a former Governor of Kufa in this behalf. Ali pointed out that he had no confidence in Abu Musa Ashari as he had deposed him from the governorship of Kufa. The rebels said that Abu Musa Ashari was known for his neutrality, and they could not agree to the nomination of any person other than Abu Musa Ashari as the arbiter. So helpless had Ali become that he had to give way on this point as well and Abu Musa Ashari was appointed as the umpire to represent Ali when Ali had no confidence in him. On the side of Muawiyah, 'Amr b Al-Aas was appointed as the arbiter and no one objected that he had participated in the war and had developed certain prejudices.