94. THE AGREEMENT FOR ARBITRATION
When an agreement was reached that there will be arbitrations, the reciters of the Holy Quran from Iraq and Syria decided that there will be two referees. One will be nominated by the people of Syria and the other by the Iraqis. Both the referees will give the verdict in the light of the Quran and the Sunnat of the Prophet (s.a).
Their verdict will have to be acceptable to both the parties. The Syrians nominated Umro ibne Aas and from Iraq, Ashas ibne Qais, Musir ibne Fadki, Yazid ibne Haseen etc. nominated Abu Moosa Ashari as the referee. He was resident of Ard in Syria. When Hazrat Ameer al Momineen (a.s) heard the name of Abu Moosa, he said:
“I have no confidence on the opinion and the discretion of Abu Moosa. I want to give the authority for arbitration to Abd Allah ibne Abbas.”
Ref: Akhbar al Tawal, Page 192
The persons who suggested the name of Abu Moosa said that he, hazrat Ali (a.s) and Ibne Abbas were the same and it would mean that he was himself the referee in the matter concerning him. They said that they want a referee who is independent and impartial. The Imam (a.s) said that in that event why didn’t they object to the nomination of Umro ibne Aas. They said that they were concerned only about the referee from their side and not about the Syrian nominee. The Imam (a.s) said that if they object to the name of Ibne Abbas, he would suggesat Malik e Ashtar, instead. They said that he was the person who gave wind to the fire of war and how could he allow the arbitration to succeed. He will look for further opportunity for conflict. The Imam (a.s) then said,“If you insist on having Abu Moosa as the referee, I leave the matter to you.” Ahnaf ibne Qais said,“O People! If you don’t like Ibne Abbas and Malik e Ashtar, you may nominate me as the referee. I am well aware of Umro’s cunning ways and he will not be successful in tricking me. If you don’t want me, select someone else. But don’t select Abu Moosa. Instead of setting right the matters, he will complicate them further.” But it was a part of the conspiracy that Abu Moosa’s name was pushed forward. They adamantly held to their suggestion and Abu Moosa Ashari was nominated as the referee.
After the selection of the referees, when Abd Allah ibne Rafeh started writing down the terms of reference, he wrote the following words as a preamble to the document.“Ameeral Momineen Ali and Muawiya ibne Abu Sufian have decided that…” Umro ibne Ass objected to the word“Ameer al Momineen” and said that he might be the Ameer of others but not theirs! He therefore asked the word to be deleted from the document. Only his name and the father’s name be entered. Ahnaf ibne Qais told to the Imam (a.s) that he should not agree to the deletion of the word“Ameer al Momineen” even if it caused renewal of the conflict. He added that if this word was deleted today, the Emirate would not ever come back to him. Ashas ibne Qais and his supporters were insisting that the word be deleted. In utter unconcern, the Imam (a.s) was sitting quietly in his place.and seeing the reflection of the Treaty of Hudaibiah in the events of the day. After a few moments of quiet he said,“When I drafted the agreement of the Treaty of Hudaibiah, I wrote the word “Rasool Allah” in the preamble when the representative of the Qureish, Sohail, said that they didn’t recognize him as the Rasool Allah (s.a) and wanted me to delete the word and to enter“Mohammed ibne Abd Allah” instead. I was hesitant to score away the word“Rasool Allah” . But the Prophet (s.a) said:
“Write what he wants. One day you too will face a similar situation and you will be helpless.”
Ref: Seerat e halabia, Vol 3, Page 33
At this Umro said angrily:that he considered them infidel like those people.The Imam (a.s) replied:
“O son of Nabaga! When were you not the friend of the transgressors and the enemy of the Muslims. You are like the mother who bore you!”
Ref: Tareeq eTabari, Vol 4, Page 37
Ibne Aas said , “After today, we shall never sit together nor see each other’s face “The Imam (a.s) replied, “I too wish this! May Allah keep my company free of persons like you! “
When the word “Ameer al Momineen” was struck off and the writing of the document was re-commenced, the Imam (a.s) was asked if he considered Muawiya and the people of Syria Muslims? He said:
“I don’t accept Muawiya and his companions are Muslims and Momin. But Muawiya is free to write what he wants about himself and his men , admit whatever he wishes to admit and suggest whatever name he wants to.”
Ref: Shara ibne Abil Hadeed, Vol 1, Page 110
At last the agreement was drafted that had the following terms:
1. It will be binding on the referees on both sides that their decision will be based on the the Quran. If they are unable to arrive at a decision through the Book, they will make access to the Traditions of the Prophet (s.a) that are acceptable to both.
2. The decision made by the referees shall be binding on both the parties, provided the decision is based on the Quran and the Sunnat.
3. The referees to give their verdict within the current month of Ramadan. If they felt the need to extend the duration, they could mutually decide to do that.
4. If the referees required evidences for arriving at a decision, they will be arranged.
5. There will be no hostility till the referees come to a final conclusion about the dispute. Both the parties will ensure safety of the lives and properties of the referees. There will be no restriction on the movement of the parties to the dispute.
6. If,before the verdict, any of the two referees died, his party can nominate another referee in his place.
7. The verdict will be announced at a place that lies between Iraq and Syria.
Most of the terms of this agreement concern the administrative requirements and the basic requirement was that the verdict of the referees had to be in accordance to the Quran and the Sunnat and that they had no right to arrive at any decision on their personal intuition and thinking. If they didn’t follow this condition, their arbitration will be void. The earlier events are a proof that making claim for Qasas and raising the Quran was with the purpose of misleading the people and the demand for arbitration too was an evil subterfuge of the Syrians. The referees neither referred to the Quran nor they talked of the relevant Tarditions of the Prophet (s.a). One referee tried to defeat the other with futile arguments.