Ali Challenges Mu’awiya to Single Combat
Appalled by the carnage, Ali sent a message to Mu’awiya and challenged him to single combat, saying that whoever won should be the Caliph. In Sir Edward Gibbon’s words, “Ali generously proposed to save the blood of the Muslims by a single combat; but his trembling rival declined the challenge as a sentence of inevitable death. “Although advised by Amr bin As to accept the challenge, Mu’awiya would have none of it. Ali, he said, had never fought without killing his adversary in a hand-to-hand fight and he (Mu’awiya) had no desire to court his doom. Amr then expostulated with Mu’awiya, saying that his fair name would be tarnished if he declined the offer. Mu’awiya, in a great rage, turned on Amr and said, “O Amr! By the artifice of goading me to fight a duel you want to get rid of me so that you yourself may enjoy the fruits of Caliphate.” To Amr, Mu’awiya’s refusal to fight against Ali must have appeared chicken-hearted in the extreme. Tradition suggests that Mu’awiya felt that his forces had already been outmanoeuvred in the field and that now, with defeat staring him in the face, his one thought was to save his skin. Amr bin As, on the other hand, believed that if they fled and were captured, their lives would certainly be forfeit and that their best chance of staying alive would be to remain where they were and to temporise and try to negotiate.
Whether or not Mu’awiya had indeed lost his nerve we do not know. He had never valued mere physical prowess highly, having always preferred to match his wit against his enemies’ force of arms. What is known is that, by the next morning, he and Amr between them had devised a stratagem far more effective than any single combat, calculated as it was to sow discord among
Amr suggested to Mu’awiya that he should order his men to tie copies of the Qur’an to their lances and then appeal for a decision by the Book of the Lord rather than by the sword. Early next morning, with the panic- stricken Syrians on the verge of retreat Mu’awiya sounded his bugle and issued these instructions to his soldiers. So little did the Syrians care for their religious observance that only 5,000 copies of the Book of God could be found among the 100,000 but this difficulty was overcome by tearing leaves from the books which the Syrians then fixed to their lances.
By the time the sun was up the Syrians were already in position and were shouting at the top of their voice, “O ye men! O ye men of Iraq! Should you kill us what will become of our families and, should we slay you, what will become of your children and wives? Let us stop this mad warfare and resort to the decision of the Book of God.”
At the head of Mu’awiya’s forces was his famous counsellor, Abu-ul-Uoor Sulma, riding on a white mule and shouting loudly, “Who will defend the frontiers of Islam against the Persians and the Turks?” Soon batches of Syrian heralds were loudly shouting to Ali’s army, “Let the blood of the Faithful cease to flow, and let the Book of the Lord decide our differences-a Book containing a complete code of ethics which prohibits the shedding of blood of the Believers-in-faith in vain. Let the majesty of the law and nothing but the law of God, be the arbiter.”
Once again Mu’awiya’s propaganda had achieved its object and his refusal to meet Ali in mortal combat, which most Arabs of his day would have despised as cowardly, was overlooked in the excitement of the hour and the arguments that followed.
The Men of Iraq Refuse to Fight Further
As soon as the men of Iraq heard the appeal of their enemies they asked Ali to sound a retreat. “We should respond to God’s Book”, they said, throwing down their arms. Soon every soldier in Ali’s army was echoing the cry, “God’s Book. Let nothing but the Law of Allah decide between us. At this Ali came forward and expostulated with his men, saying, “It is an infamous strategem and a nefarious device of Amr and Mu’awiya to cloak their defeat. Believe me, neither Mu’awiya nor Amr bin As, has any regard for religion or for the Quran. Beware of the trick which they are playing upon us. Being men of honour, you should fight to a finish. “But Ali’s men refused to fight for Ali.” As Amr had predicted, the seed of discord had been sown in Ali’s ranks. Ali’s soldiers replied, “Since we are fighting for the sake of God, we cannot refuse arbitration based on the Book of God. How can we refuse to accept the Law of the Lord ?”.
any At this Ali intervened and said, “We have to fight. the pagans to teach them the lesson of resignation to God. Of all the people in this world, I will be the first to accept the decision of the Book of God, but I know full well that neither Mu’awiya nor Amr, nor Ibn Sarh, has knowledge of the Qur’an or of the tenets of Islam. When young they were the worst of boys, and when grown up they were the worst of the youths. What they say is right, but the means which they intend to adopt for gaining their end are wicked and sinful. They are trying to trick us. Do not be decieved. Continue fighting and you will get a victory and do not stop until they surrender.”
At this some 20,000 men of Ali’s troops, led by Zaid bin Hasan and Mus’ur bin Fidki (afterwards becoming Their leaders ap- a Kharajite) laid down their arms. proached Ali and, calling him no longer their Caliph but simply Ali declared, “O Ali! You are appealing to the sword and they are appealing to the Qur’an. Let the issue of the Caliphate be deferred to the judgment of God’s Book and let us submit to God’s words. Remember that, should you fail to recall your men.
the same fate awaits you that befell the Caliph Uthman.” Grief-stricken and heart-broken at the treachery of the men of Iraq, Ali exclaimed in great grief, “Alas! I see that you intend to desert me at the critical time of need. Go and join the Syrian coalition against God and His Apostle. At this they shouted, “Issue orders for Ashtar’s recall from the battlefield and forthwith sound a general retreat.” Some of the more insolent ones were vehement in their reproaches to Ali, and went to the length of murmuring, “Ali is self-seeking opportunist. How dare he object, to the judgment of the Book of God” Some one said, “Ali played a leading part in the murder of Uthman, and then had the audacity to fight against Aisha, the Mother of the Faithful and now has led us to fight against our brother Syrians to quench his thirst for self-aggrandisement.” “Seeing opposition futile,” Says Sir William Muir,’ Ali said, “Stop these wild and treasonable words. Obey and fight. But if ye rebel, do as ye list.” “We
will not fight” they cried, “Recall Ashtar from the field.” Al-Ashtar thus summoned at first refused. “We are gaining a great victory “he said, “I will not come” and he returned to fight again. But the tumult increased and Ali sent a second time to say “Of what avail is victory when treason rageth? Wouldst thou have the Caliph murdered or delivered over to the enemy? Ashtar unwillingly returned, and a fierce alteraction ensued between him and the angry soldiery. Ye were fighting “he said,” for the Lord, and the choicest among you lost their lives. What is it but that ye now acknowledge yourself in the wrong, and the martyrs therefore gone to hell? “Nay” they answered, “Yesterday we fought for the Lord and today for the same Lord, we stop the fight. “On this Ashtar upbraided them as traitors, cowards, hypocrites and villains. “In return they reviled him, and struck his charger with their whips.”
1. Sir William Muir-The Caliphate, its Rise, Decline and Fall. p. 263.
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 