First Fitna - Battle of Siffin

Battle of Siffin

Later Ali was challenged by Muawiyah I, the governor of Levant and the cousin of Uthman, who refused Ali's demands for allegiance and called for revenge for Uthman. Ali opened negotiations with him with the hope of regaining his allegiance but Muawiyah insisted on Levant autonomy under his rule. Muawiyah replied by mobilizing his Levantine supporters and refusing to pay homage to Ali on the pretext that his contingent had not participated in his election. The two armies encamped themselves at Siffin for more than one hundred days, most of the time being spent in negotiations. Although Ali exchanged several letters with Muawiyah, he was unable to dismiss the latter, nor persuade him to pledge allegiance. Skirmishes between the parties led to the Battle of Siffin in 657. A week of combat culminated in a violent battle known as the laylat al-harir (the "night of clamor"). Muawiyah's army were on the point of being routed when Amr ibn al-Aas advised Muawiyah to have his soldiers hoist mushaf (thin parchments inscribed with verses of the Qur'an) on their spearheads in order to cause disagreement and confusion in Ali's army; this resulted in many of Ali's troops agreeing with Muawiyah's calling for the conflict to be resolved via arbitration, despite having had what many modern observers believe to have been the upper hand in the battle. This is supposed to be the first battle fought by Al-Abbas, the son of Ali.