Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

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Sermon
36

SERMON 36

Warning the people of Nahrawan
(1) of their fate

I am warning you that
you will be killed on the bend of this canal and on the level of
this low area while you will have no clear excuse before Allah nor
any open authority with you. You have come out of your houses and
then divine decree entangled you. I had advised you against this
arbitration but you rejected my advice like adversaries and
opponents till I turned my ideas in the direction of your wishes.
You are a group whose heads are devoid of wit and intelligence.
May you have no father! (Allah's woe be to you!) I have not put
you in any calamity nor wished you harm.

(1).
The cause of the battle of Nahrawan was that when after
Arbitration Amir al-mu'minin was returning to Kufah, the people
who were foremost in pleading acceptance of Arbitration began to
say that appointment of anyone other than Allah as arbitrator is
heresy, and that, Allah forbid, by accepting the Arbitration Amir
al-mu'minin turned heretic. Consequently, by distorting the
meaning of "There is no authority same with Allah" they
made simple Muslims share their views and separating from Amir
al-mu'minin encamped at Hanira' near Kufah. When Amir al-mu'minin
learned of these plottings he sent Sasaah ibn Suhan al-Abdi and
Ziyad ibn an-Nadr al-Harithi in the company of Ibn Abbas towards
them and afterwards himself went to the place of their stay and
dispersed them after discussion.

When these people
reached Kufah they began to spread the news that Amir al-mu'minin
had broken the agreement of Arbitration and that he is again ready
to fight against the Syrians. When Amir al-mu'minin learned this
he contradicted it whereupon these people stood up in rebellion
and encamped twelve miles from Baghdad in the low area of the
canal called Nahrawan.

On the other side,
after hearing the verdict of Arbitration Amir al-mu'minin rose for
fighting the army of Syria and wrote to the Kharijites that the
verdict passed by the two arbitrators in pursuance of their
heart's wishes instead of the Qur'an and sunnah was not acceptable
to him, that he had therefore decided to fight with them and they
should support him for crushing the enemy. But the Kharijites gave
him this reply, "When you had agreed to Arbitration in our
view you had turned heretic. Now if you admit your heresy and
offer repentance we will think over this matter and decide what we
should do." Amir al-mu'minin understood from their reply that
their disobedience and misguidance had become very serious. To
entertain any kind of hope from them now was futile. Consequently,
ignoring them he encamped in the valley of an-Nukhaylah with a
view to marching towards Syria. When the army had been arrayed he
came to know that the men desired to deal with the people of
Nahrawan first, and to move towards Syria afterwards. Amir
al-mu'minin, however, said that they should be left as they were,
that they themselves should first move towards Syria while the
people of Nahrawan could be dealt with afterwards. People said
that they were prepared to obey every order of his with all their
might whether he moved this way or that way. The army had not
moved when news about the rebellion of Kharijites began to reach,
and it was learnt that they had butchered the governor of Nahrawan
namely Abdullah ibn Khabbab ibn al-Aratt and his slave maid with
the child in her womb, and have killed three women of Banu Tayyi
and Umm Sinan as-Saydawiyyah. Amir al-mu'minin sent al-Harith ibn
Murrah al-Abdi for investigation but he too was killed by them.
When their rebellion reached this stage it was necessary to deal
with them. Consequently, the army turned towards Nahrawan. On
reaching there Amir al-mu'minin sent them word that those who had
killed Abdullah ibn Khabbab ibn al-Aratt and innocent women
should be handed over to him for avenging blood. Those people
replied that they had killed these persons jointly and that they
considered it lawful to shed the blood of all the people on his
side. Even at this Amir al-mu'minin did not take the initiative
for the battle, but sent Abu Ayyub al-Ansari with a message of
peace. So he spoke to them aloud, "Whoever comes under this
banner or separates from that party and goes to Kufah or
al-Mada'in would get amnesty and he would not be questioned. As a
result of this Farwah ibn Nawfal al-Ashja'i said that he did not
know why they were at war with Amir al-mu'minin. Saying this he
separated along with five hundred men. Similarly group after group
began to separate and some of them joined Amir al-mu'minin. Those
who remained numbered four thousand, and according to at-Tabari's
account they numbered two thousand eight hundred. These people
were not in any way prepared to listen to the voice of truth, and
were ready to kill or be killed. Amir al-mu'minin had stopped his
men to take the initiative but the Kharijites put arrows in their
bows and broke and threw away the sheathes of their swords. Even
at this juncture Amir al-mu'minin warned them of the dire
consequences of war and this sermon is about that warning and
admonition. But they were so brimming with enthusiasm that they
leapt on Amir al-mu'minin's force all of a sudden. This onslaught
was so severe that the foot men lost ground but they soon fixed
themselves firmly that the attack of arrows and spears could not
dislodge them from their position and they soon so cleared away
the Kharijites that except for nine persons who fled away to save
their lives not a single person was left alive. From Amir
al-mu'minin's army only eight persons fell as martyrs. The battle
took place on the 9th Safar, 38 A.H.