"Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan" aspired to the caliphate but could not demand it or declare that openly.. so he decided that he was "the avenger of the blood" of the Imam "Uthman", may God have mercy on him and be pleased with him.. and the Imam "Ali" was wary of "Muawiyah" and doubted his conduct.. especially with the matter of the "shirt of Uthman" which he displayed on the pulpit beside the severed hand of the latter's wife, "Na'ila bint al-Furafisa".. and his incitement of the people of Syria.. so he sent him a special envoy, "Jarir ibn Abdullah al-Bajali".. inviting him to pledge allegiance to him as Caliph.
And it was a very clever move by our master "Ali".. either you pledge allegiance to me.. or it becomes open enmity and we shall see how we deal with it.. indeed "Muawiyah" was thrown into confusion.. and he turned to his close friend.. the man nicknamed "the craftiest of the Arabs".. "Amr ibn al-As".. asking his advice.
So "Amr ibn al-As" told him plainly and frankly.. that he understood that he was not going to fight "Ali" over "the blood of Uthman" or anything of the sort.. nor was his aim in this matter the application of the sacred law and the pleasure of God and Paradise.. and that he — "Amr ibn al-As" — understood very well that this fighting was purely "worldly".. and he added in a decisive tone: "So feed us from what you eat, so that we may fight for you as men who want to eat".
"Muawiyah" understood the words of "Amr" very well.. so he refused the pledge of allegiance to "Ali" and began to gather his army.. and he realized that the strength of the two armies was close.. so his eye turned eagerly to the Egyptian army.. and he sent to "Qays ibn Sa'd", the governor of Egypt, asking him to join him.. and he said to him:
"Repent to God, O Qays.. and if you can be among those who demand the blood of Uthman, then do so, and follow us in our cause, and you shall have the rule of the two Iraqs as long as you live, and whoever you wish of your family in the Hijaz shall have it as long as I have rule, and ask me for whatever you wish, for I will give it to you, and write to me with your opinion".
Join me.. and you shall have the governorship of Egypt and Iraq and all the power and influence you want, as long as I am Caliph.
If the Egyptian forces joined Muawiyah.. the army would become stronger than the army of "Ali", may God be pleased with him, beyond measure.. The truth is that "Qays" was hesitant and tense.. he did truly believe in the obligation of demanding the blood of "Uthman".. but at the same time.. he was unable to attack "Ali", may God be pleased with them both.. so he did not answer "Muawiyah".. and he began to go down himself among the people.. the people and the soldiers in Egypt.. investigating the matter.. and hinting at the question of joining "Muawiyah", watching the reaction.. so as to act on that basis.
And from the very first round.. "Qays ibn Sa'd" realized the answer...
The Egyptians bared their fangs at him for the first time in ferocity.. and they too hinted to him that if he drove them to fight "Ali ibn Abi Talib".. then neither his rule nor his life would be safe. This reassured "Qays", because he had not been inclined to rise against the Caliph in the first place.
And when "Qays" was slow in answering "Muawiyah".. he sent to him once again.. but this time in a tone of threat and menace.. so "Qays" replied to him plainly and clearly.. the Egyptian army was on the side of the Imam "Ali".
And "Muawiyah" was intensely enraged.. but "Amr ibn al-As" advised him with a plan of consummate cunning.. so he began to spread word in the provinces and among the tribes and among the people.. that "Qays" had joined "Muawiyah".. so when the news reached the Imam "Ali", he dismissed "Qays" from the governorship of Egypt.
And the Imam "Ali" realized that the matter had turned into rebellion.. and an attempted coup against the authority.. and that "Muawiyah" and his army had become a state within the state.. so he mobilized his forces.. and on the other side "Muawiyah" mobilized his forces.
And at the same time, "Qays ibn Sa'd" reached the Imam "Ali".. and declared his loyalty to him.. and "Ali" became convinced that it had been a game by "Muawiyah".. and he handed "Qays" the command of the army along with "al-Ashtar al-Nakha'i", "Hashim ibn Utba", "Ammar ibn Yasir", "Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya" and "Abdullah ibn Abbas", may God be pleased with them.
And on the other side the army of "Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan" massed.. under the command of "Habib ibn Maslama" and "Abu al-A'war al-Sulami"...
Anyone remember him? The one who carried a forged letter attributed to "Uthman" to "al-Sarih", the governor of Egypt.. in order to kill the rebels of Egypt.. and who kept deliberately harassing people until they seized him with the letter on him, and "Uthman ibn Affan" was killed because of it.. the presence of "al-A'war" among the commanders of "Muawiyah".. led many historians to say that "Muawiyah" had a hand in the sedition of the killing of "Uthman" from the very beginning.. some of them said "he wished for his removal and that he himself would take power in his place.. and did not want the matter to reach his killing".. but this event confirmed to many as well.. that the ambition of "Muawiyah" for power did not begin in the era of the Imam "Ali".. but before it.. in the era of the Imam "Uthman", may God be pleased with them.
The point is that among the commanders of "Muawiyah" were likewise.. "Amr ibn al-As" and "al-Walid ibn Uqba".. and "Ubayd Allah ibn Umar", and "al-Walid ibn Uqba".. and "Dhu al-Kila al-Himyari".
And with them was a superb military commander.. a fighter whom no dust could overtake, and perhaps stronger than "Amr ibn al-As" himself.. namely "Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As"... We want to remember his name, because he has a story we are about to learn.
And the formidable army of "Muawiyah" set out from Syria.. and the army of the Imam "Ali" set out against it from Iraq, specifically on 1 Safar of the year 37 AH.
And at "Siffin", on the Iraqi-Syrian border, the dust of the horses' hooves of the two armies began to appear on the horizon.. and reconnaissance operations began.. and news of the two sides reached one another.. and each side came to know the equipment, weapons and leadership of the other.
And suddenly "Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As" learned that "Ammar ibn Yasir" was among the commanders of the army of "Ali ibn Abi Talib", may God be pleased with them.. and he almost lost consciousness.. and was seized by enormous terror and intense panic.. and his companions were astonished, because "Ammar" was an old man.. who fought standing.. not exactly a terrifying fighter to be feared to that degree.. but the young commander told them.. that he had heard the Messenger ﷺ himself once say:
"Woe to (Ammar), the transgressing party — that is, the wrongdoing, aggressing one — will kill him; he calls them to Paradise and they call him to the Fire".. and that he would never raise a weapon against an army that included "Ammar ibn Yasir".. and it was said that he snatched his sword.. and smashed it against the trunk of a tree.. so "Muawiyah" chided him and said to him in fury: "Then what about you being with us"...?
Why are you sitting with us then.. why not go and leave us? So "Abdullah" replied to him.. "My father — meaning Amr ibn al-As — once complained about me to the Messenger of God ﷺ, and he said to me: Obey your father as long as he lives and do not disobey him".
And he concluded his words with decisive finality: "So I am with you.. but I do not fight". And in Tabaqat Ibn Sa'd, it is mentioned that he said later:
"What have I to do with Siffin, what have I to do with the fighting of Muslims? I wish I had died ten years before it.. By God — despite that — I neither struck with a sword, nor thrust with a spear, nor shot an arrow"...
And on Wednesday, 1 Safar of the year 37 AH, corresponding to 18 June, of the year 657 AD, the two armies took up positions facing one another.. the army of "Ali", may God be pleased with him, numbering 135,000, and the army of Muawiyah numbering 133,000.. close to one another in everything.. in strength, numbers and equipment.
And then "al-Ashtar al-Nakha'i" advanced at the head of a battalion of horsemen, and against him from the army of "Muawiyah" advanced at the head of a similar battalion "Habib ibn Maslama"...
And the fighting began, and history paused to draw for us the first features of the first true civil war.. to occur after the death of the Messenger.. and which would continue for nine consecutive days.. the description of what happened in them would take long.. so we will continue our talk about it later.
And there remains more of our story about the Battle of Siffin.. to come.
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