Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah

Hazrat Habib bin Abi Thabit narrates that I came to Hazrat Abu Wa’il and asked him about the people whom Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) fought against. I asked, “Why did they abandon Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)? Why did they consider his blood lawful? And what did Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) invite them to? Then, on what basis did Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) consider their blood lawful?” He replied, “When the killing among the people of Syria at Siffin intensified, Hazrat Muawiyah and his companions took refuge on a mountain. Hazrat Amr bin Aas said, ‘Send the Mushaf (Qur’an) to Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), by Allah! He will not refuse it.’ So a man brought the Mushaf and was announcing, ‘Between us and you is the Book of Allah { أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَی الَّذِینَ أُوتُوا نَصِیبًا مِنَ الْکِتَابِ یُدْعَوْنَ إِلَی کِتَابِ اللہِ لِیَحْکُمَ بَیْنَہُمْ ثُمَّ یَتَوَلَّی فَرِیقٌ مِنْہُمْ وَہُمْ مُعْرِضُونَ }.’ Upon this, Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said, ‘Yes, between us and you is the Book of Allah, and I am more bound to act upon it than you.’ (2) Then the Khawarij came, and in those days we used to call them ‘Qurra’. They came with their swords hanging on their shoulders and said, ‘O Commander of the Faithful! Should we not advance towards these people so that Allah may decide between them and us?’ Upon this, Hazrat Sahl bin Hunaif said, ‘O people! Blame yourselves. We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) at Hudaybiyyah. If we had considered fighting permissible, we would have fought. That was a peace treaty between the polytheists and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). At that time, Hazrat Umar came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, “Are we not upon the truth and our enemy upon falsehood?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Yes, it is so.” Hazrat Umar said, “Will not our slain be in Paradise and their slain in Hell?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “It is so.” Hazrat Umar said, “Then why should we accept humiliation in our religion and return while Allah has not yet decided between them and us?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “O Ibn Khattab! I am the Messenger of Allah, Allah will never forsake me.” (3) Then Hazrat Umar, in a state of anger, went to Hazrat Abu Bakr and said, “O Abu Bakr! Are we not upon the truth and our enemy upon falsehood?” Hazrat Abu Bakr said, “Yes, it is so.” Hazrat Umar said, “Will not our slain be in Paradise and their slain in Hell?” Hazrat Abu Bakr said, “It is so.” Hazrat Umar said, “Then why should we accept humiliation in our religion and return while Allah has not yet decided between them and us?” Hazrat Abu Bakr said, “O Ibn Khattab! He is the Messenger of Allah, Allah will never forsake him.” (4) Then Allah Almighty revealed Surah Al-Fath to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he sent for Hazrat Umar and recited this Surah before him. Hazrat Umar said, “O Messenger of Allah! Is this a victory?” He said, “Yes.” Then he became happy and returned. (5) After this, Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “O people! This is a victory.” Then Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) accepted this decision and returned, and the people also returned. (6) After Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) accepted this decision, more than ten thousand Khawarij went to Harura. Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) invoked Allah’s name and asked them to return, but they refused. Then Sa’sa’ah bin Sawhan came to them, invoked Allah’s name, and asked them, “On what basis will you fight your Caliph?” They said, “We fear tribulation (fitnah).” He said, “Do not mislead the people about the tribulation of the coming year from now.” They returned and said, “We are going to our area because Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) has accepted the decision. We fought for the same reason for which we fought in the Battle of Siffin, and if he refuses to accept the decision, we will fight with him.” (7) Then those people left, and when they reached Nahrawan, a group separated from them and began threatening people with killing. Their companions said, “Woe to you! Did we separate from Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) for this?” When Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) heard of this, he stood among the people and delivered a sermon, in which he said, “What do you see? Are you going towards Syria or are you...”