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the people
who was killed unjustly and those who had murdered
him must suffer vengeance for his blood. The people
of ash-Sham were easily deceived by this scene
making. Was it not true that they had been made
to embrace Islam by his brother, Yazid, and had
been governed by Mu'awiyah for twenty years? Therefore
their simple-mindedness and their conduct which
had been shaped by the Umayyads as well as their
being accustomed to a life under them, had prepared
them to accept the ideas and plans of Mu'awiyah.
Therefore, all the people of ash-Sham showed allegiance
and obedience to him.(138)
The ash-Shamis wanted to fight the Imam and were
led to mistakenly believe that the assassins of
'Uthman were enjoying his protection. So they
decided to seize the culprits and kill them in
revenge for 'Uthman's blood. Allegiance was made
with Mu'awiyah and the people of ash-Sham prepared
themselves to accompany him in a war against Imam
'Ali. The two armies faced each other at Siffin
in the lunar month of Rabi' al-Awwal (Rab'' I)
in the year 36 of the Hijrah.(139)
The two armies remained in the wide plain of Siffin
on the bank of the river Euphrates long. Imam
'Ali was in the habit of not making the first
move in any of the wars, since this was the way
of Islam and its counsel. He was always ready
to defend. During the beginning days Mu'awiyah
ordered his army to take control of the way to
the river and blocked the way of access to water
for Imam 'Ali's army. Although 'Amr ibn al-'As
the cunning counselor of Mu'awiyah, had advised
him against it, arguing that Imam 'Ali would never
let his army remain thirsty, Mu'awiyah did not
abstain from that wicked move. But al-Ashtar,
the brave commander of 'Ails army, with his unceasing
efforts captured the route of access to water
from Mu'awiyah army, and then the Imam in a manner
fitting his noble and generous position as a religious
leader, sent the following message to Mu'awiyah:
"We do not retaliate your mean action by
a wrong deed. You and we are on an equal footing
in the access to water. You may use and benefit
from it, since water is for everybody's use."(140)
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