隋芬战役

The Battle of Siffin (Arabic: معركة صفّين, romanized: Maʿraka Ṣiffīn) was fought in 657 CE (37 AH) between the forces of the fourth Rashidun caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, and the forces of the Umayyad governor of Syria, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan. The battle is named after its location Siffin on the banks of the Euphrates river. The fighting stopped after Mu'awiya's Syrian army called for arbitration when Ali's Iraqi army started to gain the upper hand, to which Ali reluctantly agreed under pressure from the majority of his troops. The arbitration process ended inconclusively in 658 though it strengthened the Syrians' support for Mu'awiya and his political position while weakening the authority of Ali and causing dissension among the Iraqis. The battle was part of the First Fitna and is considered a major step towards the establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate.

Location

The battlefield was located in Siffin, a ruined Byzantine-era village at the right bank of the Euphrates in the vicinity of Raqqa in present-day Syria. It has been identified with the village of Tell Abu Hureyra in Raqqa Governorate.

Background

Opposition to Uthman

Ali frequently accused the third Rashidun caliph Uthman of deviating from the Quran and the Sunnah, and was joined in his criticism by many senior companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, including Talha and Zubayr.……

Assassination of Uthman

As their grievances mounted, discontented groups from provinces began arriving in Medina in 35/656.……

Mu'awiya's revolt

Removal of Mu'awiya

There are some reports of early correspondence, and al-Baladhuri writes about a letter from Ali that asked Mu'awiya to report to him in Medina. Alternatively, Madelung suggests that Ali contacted Mu'awiya only after arriving in Kufa.……

Alliance against Ali

Mu'awiya also wrote to Amr ibn al-As to join him in Damascus, and draw on his political and military expertise.……

War preparations

Iraq

In Iraq, Ali called a council of the Muhajirun and the Ansar who unanimously urged him to fight Mu'awiya after the latter declared war. Some apparently suggested that Ali remain in Kufa and send a force against Mu'awiya, but the caliph preferred to take the command himself.……

Syria

In Syria, Uthman's bloodstained shirt was taken from town to town to incite the people to revenge, though the support for the war was also not unanimous there.……

Skirmishes

After leaving Kufa, Ali's army took the route through al-Mada'in. They reached Siffin early in the summer of 36/657, a location west of the Euphrates. There, Mu'awiya's forces were already waiting for them, and prevented them from accessing the watering place.……

Main battle

Historical materials are abundant about the Battle of Siffin but they often describe disconnected episodes of the war. Lecker and Wellhausen have thus found it impossible to establish the course of the battle. Nevertheless, it can be said with some certainty that the battle began on Wednesday, 26 July 657, and continued to Friday or Saturday morning.……

Call to arbitration

By the next morning, the balance had begun to move in favor of Ali and the Iraqis, as suggested by al-Tabari and al-Baladhuri. Before noon, however, some of the Syrians raised pages of the Quran on their lances, shouting, "Let the Book of God be the judge between us." The fighting thus stopped at once.……

Iraqis' reaction

The Syrians' call to arbitration on the basis of the Quran has thus been interpreted as an offer to surrender.……

Arbitration

The accounts of the arbitration are highly tendentious. Nevertheless, after some months of preparation, or perhaps even a year after the initial agreement, it appears that the two arbitrators met together, first in Dumat al-Jandal, halfway between Iraq and Syria, and then in Udhruh, in southern Palestine.……

First meeting

In Dumat al-Jandal, the proceedings lasted for (possibly three) weeks, likely extending to mid-April 658.……

Aftermath

Following the collapse of the arbitration process, the Syrians formally recognized Mu'awiya as caliph at Jerusalem in 659, or by the end of April–May 658. Upon learning that Mu'awiya had claimed the caliphate, Ali broke off all communications with him and introduced a curse on him and his close retinue in his congregational prayers.……