Ali’s abortive attempts for peace
When the news that Mu’awiya had assumed sovereignt powers reached Ali, he made one last effort to win the Syrians to his side by peaceful means. He declared a general amnesty to all those who had hitherto sided with Mu’awiya, calling them to repentance and emphasising the divine nature of forgiveness. His clemency met with no response and he was reluctantly obliged to declare war against them.
With an army of some 90,000 strong, mainly recruited from Iraq, Ali set out from Kufa, planning to march through Upper Mesopotamia and invade Syria. from the North. An advance guard, which he sent along the Western bank of the Euphrates met with opposition from the enemy and was forced to retreat to Mesopotamia but the main body of troops, under the command of Ali, advanced upto the Tigris and then turning West, marched across the Mesopotamian desert. The long trek across the desert exhausted Ali’s water
supplies and the troops were in desperate straits as they neared the Syrian border.
Miracles in Ali’s camp
Ali sent out scouts to enquire of neighbouring tribesmen if there were any wells or springs which could supply water to the troops. Ali had heard that, hundreds of
years previously, the Israelite Patriarchs had dug wells in these parts and he hoped to be able to find out these ancient sites. His scouts were unsuccessful but one of them brought back with him an old Christian hermit who confessed to Ali that there was indeed a cistern in the neighbourhood but that it had gone dry. In response to Ali’s questions about ancient wells the old man said, “Old legends say that a hidden well exists and that its mouth is covered with an enormous stone, but no one knows where it is. According to popular belief none can locate it except a prophet or the representative of a Prophet.”
Ali then ordered his men to dig near a huge stone that he remembered to have seen and it was not long before a spring was discovered which was more than adequate for the needs of the troops. As the waters gushed forth, the hermit fell at Ali’s feet and accepted Islam, saving that Ali must indeed be the representative of the Holy Prophet.
The hermit then returned to his cell to fetch a piece of old parchment which he gave to Ali. This document was from the hand of Simon, son of Cephas, an apostle of Jesus Christ and it contained a prophecy of the advent of the Last Prophet and a reference to the lifting of the stone.
The news of the miraculous discovery of the well so impressed the Muslim tribes living in the neighbourhood that they all went over to Ali’s side against Mu’awiya. The miracle which, according to tradition, was one of a number of miraculous happenings at this encampment, also put new heart into the troops who had crossed the desert with Ali, and they were now eager to come to grips with the Syrian enemy.
The Advance to Siffin
Ali, then pushed on to Ar-Raqa, on the left bank of the Euphrates. Here his troops came across the Syrian vanguard but it withdrew without engagement.
next problem was how to cross the river. Ali wanted to construct a bridge of boats but the people of Ar-Raqa were un-co-operative and even hostile. It was only after Ali’s general, Ashtar, had threatened them with death that they consented to help in building the bridge which was completed under the greatest difficulties.
Having forced a crossing, , Ali’s men then advanced along the right bank of the river in the directio 1 of Aleppo. At Sur-Rum they had a brief skirmish with a Syrian outpost before they reached the plain of Siffin, where they found Mu’awiya’s forces drawn up in strength and waiting for them.
Ali soon discovered that the Syrian positions controlled the watersupply of the whole valley and that there was no access to the river at any place for his men. Mu’awiya obviously intended to use thirst to drive Ali’s men to surrender or die. The leader of the Syrians had, however, underestimated the calibre of Ali’s troops who were not disposed to accept defeat as readily as Mu’awiya had hoped.
Ali’s commander, Ashtar, immediately challenged the Syrian Commander to single combat but Amr bin As, Mu’awiya’s general, who also had two of his own sons commissioned in the Syrian Forces, refused to allow any of his officers to accept the challenge, replying that those whose hands had been made crimson by Úthman’s blood were not entitled to fight according to the rules of honourable warfare.
Ali was now in a quandary. Either his troops must surrender or he must wage general battle, but how long could the men fight without water. Once again he decided to write to Mu’awiya a letter at once conciliatory and threatening. The letter ran as follows:-
“You have fore-stalled me in pitching the stables for the horses of your cavalry. Before I could declare war on you, you have declared war on us. It was bad move on your part to cut off our supply of water. It behoves you to allow us the natural supply of water. Failing this, we will be reluctantly forced to fight with you.”
The Battle for Water
On receiving this letter, Mu’awiya conferred with his advisers who, with the sole exception of Amr bin As, urged him not to yield up the advantage he had gained. Ali was therefore left with no alternative but to attack and he inflicted a crushing defeat on Mu’awiya’s forces.
Now it was the turn of Ali’s counsellors to urge control of the water-supplies and for the soldiers of Mu’awiya to suffer the rigours of extreme thirst. But Ali ordered his men to allow the Syrians free access to the river saying:-
“Our religion and ethical code does not permit us to stop the supply of water, and so pay our enemy back in his own coin. I do not want to follow the way of the ignorant people. We will put the Book of God before our enemy and invite them to follow its guidance. Should they hearken unto us, it will be well and good; otherwise the sword will be the best arbiter between us.”
Further Overtures for Peace
Ali’s next step was, as usual, to try and come to a peaceful settlement. He deputed Bashir bin Amr, Saed bin Qais and Shahus bin Rabi to wait upon Mu’awiya and ask him to take the oath of allegiance to Ali. Mu’awiya’s reply to the delegates, who seem to have been lacking in diplomacy and tact, was to demand engeance on the murderers of Uthman. Nor had Mu’awiya much cared for their demand for unconditional urrender.
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 