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judgment.
He stayed away from me and forbade the people
from aiding me. Then he fled from me until I granted
him grace. I nominate Ibn 'Abbas for this affair."
They said: "By God! Ibn 'Abbas is not different
from you. We accept none from the army of Iraq
unless his family ties with you and Mu'awiyah
is on an equal footing."
The Imam said: "In that case I nominate Malik
al-Ashtar."
al-Ash'ath said: "It was none but Malik who
set fire to the land under our feet. Is it not
true that we are under al-Ashtar's verdict?"
The Imam said: "What is his verdict?"
They said: "His verdict is that we and the
army of ash-Sham give each other so many blows
of the sword until what you desire and what he
wishes to be fulfilled."
The Imam said: "But you see, 'Amr ibn al-'As
will deceive Abu Musa."
They said: "We will be satisfied with Abu
Musa's arbitration." Then Imam said: "Is
he your only choice?" They said: "Yes."
The Imam said: "Then do what you wish."
They sent after Abu Musa and when he arrived,
al-Ashtar suggested to Imam 'Ali: "O Imam,
let me go with him."
This suggestion was presented to the Kufans, but
again they showed obstinacy and rejected it. Then
they wrote a letter of agreement making God a
witness over the two arbitrators to deliver a
judgment only in accordance with the Qur'an the
Prophet's tradition. Then they added that if they
judge contrary to the Qur'an and the Prophet's
tradition, the Muslims would not heed to it.
With the signing of this agreement, 'Amr ibn al-'As,
the cunning adviser of Mu'awiyah was chosen for
arbitration by the people of ash-Sham, and the
thick head and faithless Abu Musa by the Iraqis.(146)
In the first meeting of the two arbitrators of
Dumat al-Jandal, 'Amr ibn al-'As tried to show
a deep respect to Abu Musa and cunningly gave
him priority over himself. He said to him: "You
have been the Prophet's companion a long time
before me, and you are older than me." After
sitting down for discussion, Abu Musa said to
him: "O 'Amr! Are you not in favour of the
good of the Ummah and satisfaction of God?"
'Amr ibn al-'As asked: "What is the good
of the ummah?" Abu Musa
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