The Battle of Siffin in Shiite and Sunni sources to the fifth century (Comparative study)

The sources differed in the causes and results of the Battle of Siffin. Among the historians were those who were fair and Nasser al-Haqq, the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, from the people of knowledge and the fair people of all Islamic sects, and there are on the opposite side those who are characterized by slander and hostility to the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, and their absolute support for Muawiyah’s heinous acts in the Islamic caliphate.

The reason for that war, according to what was mentioned in Shiite and Sunni sources, is due to Muawiyah’s explicit intentions to ascend the position of the caliphate after the killing of the third caliph, Uthman bin Affan, and these intentions were represented by the correspondence that Imam Ali received from Muawiyah in which he asked to make Syria and Egypt a tax for him. Ali x death did not make a pledge of allegiance to anyone after him, and the matter is handed over to him.

And after Muawiyah failed to convince Imam Ali, peace be upon him, to hand over the matter after him, he began a new step, which is to convince people through sermons that he is more entitled to the caliphate than others. What happened according to what was mentioned in the historical events narrated, and the battle of Siffin lasted for one hundred and ten days, and the facts between them were ninety incidents. One, the people of Syria did not have a row left but they removed it until they led to Muawiyah, so he called his horse to escape to escape.

Here, victory is certain for Imam Ali, peace be upon him, but this victory was not to satisfy Muawiyah or to alter his way of robbing the caliphate, so he and Amr ibn al-Aas thought about a plot that would save them from a certain loss, so the argument of raising the Qur’an on the heads of spears was the only savior from this crisis. It is noted from the above that the Battle of Siffin was not a war in itself, rather it was a plot by which Muawiyah intended to rob the caliphate, that caliphate that was never once to be cherished by the Caliph of the Muslims, Imam Ali x being appointed by God Almighty in the caliphate after the Messenger of God May God’s peace and blessings be upon the Islamic nation.