The Arbitration at Dumat al-Jandal

A green oasis set in a circular depression in the open Arabian-Syrian limestone steppe, several days' journey from any major city. Date palms cluster around hidden underground springs at the centre; the high steppe horizons stretch unbroken in every direction beyond.

At the centre of the oasis, the ancient mud-brick fortress of Marid (Qasr Marid) rises on a low rocky outcrop, a strongpoint occupied since pre-Islamic times. Around its foot, the small permanent settlement of the Dumat al-Jandal oasis, dependent on its springs and the date groves.

Two large delegations have pitched their camps at opposite ends of the oasis: one to the north under the dark banners of the army of Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (radiyallahu 'anhu), governor of al-Sham (Syria); one to the south under the white banner of the army of the Caliph 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (radiyallahu 'anhu), the rightful fourth caliph. Each delegation has come with several hundred attendants, scribes, and witnesses.

Between the two camps, at the centre of the oasis under a large goat-hair council tent erected on level ground near the springs, two figures sit at a low wooden writing-board. They are the two arbitrators (hakaman) named in the Sunni historical sources: Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (radiyallahu 'anhu), Companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), representing the side of the Caliph 'Ali (RA); and 'Amr ibn al-'As (radiyallahu 'anhu), Companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and conqueror of Egypt, representing the side of Mu'awiya (RA). Both are revered Companions; both are depicted in the scene without identifiable face.

On the writing-board, parchment of the agreed terms is unfolded. The Sunni historical record (al-Tabari, Ibn Kathir, Ibn al-Athir) preserves the text of the kitab al-tahkim, the document of arbitration, agreed in the aftermath of the Battle of Siffin (Safar 37 AH / July 657 CE) by which the two parties referred their dispute to two arbitrators to be guided by the Book of Allah and the Sunna of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).

The scene is grave and quiet. The Sunni position on the dispute between 'Ali (RA) and Mu'awiya (RA) is the same as on the Battle of the Camel: both were Companions doing ijtihad; the dispute was a calamity; we hold our tongues and love them both. The arbitration was the attempt of both parties to resolve the matter peacefully, the path the Sunni sources record as the right path the principals were both seeking.

The light is the strong winter sun of the high Syrian-Arabian steppe. The month in the Arabic calendar is Ramadan of the thirty-seventh year after the Hijrah, corresponding to February 658 CE. The proceedings would extend over a number of days; the scene depicts a working session under the council tent at mid-process.

The proceedings of the arbitration are preserved in detail by al-Tabari on the authority of Abu Mikhnaf, in Ibn Kathir's al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya, and in Ibn al-Athir. The Sunni historical position is that the dispute was political, not theological, neither party challenged the foundations of Islam, and both arbitrators acted as Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in good faith.

al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa-al-Muluk (early 10th c.): The principal early Sunni historical narrative of Siffin and the arbitration. Preserves the text of the kitab al-tahkim, the names of the arbitrators, the proceedings, and the outcomes.

Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya (14th c.): Standard major Sunni history. Synthesises the historical record with the Sunni theological framing, both 'Ali (RA) and Mu'awiya (RA) revered, the arbitrators revered, the dispute political rather than theological.

Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh: Sunni historical synthesis. Used for the broader chronology of Siffin, the arbitration, and the subsequent events including the emergence of the Khawarij.

al-Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam and Siyar A'lam al-Nubala': Major Sunni historian and hadith critic. His biographical entries on 'Ali (RA), Mu'awiya (RA), Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (RA), and 'Amr ibn al-'As (RA) preserve the events with isnad evaluation and the unambiguous reverence of all four as among the major Companions.

Imam Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi, al-'Aqida al-Tahawiyya: Standard Sunni creed. The doctrinal framework for how the disputes between the Companions are to be understood: kaff (restraint), love for all of them, refusal to disparage any of them.