The letter read thus...

The letter read thus: “Certainly, your assignment is not a morsel for you, but it is a trust round your neck, and you have been charged with the protection (of the people) on behalf of your superiors. It is not for you to be oppressive towards the ruled, nor to risk yourself save on strong grounds. You have in your hands the funds which are the property of Allah, to Whom belong Might and Majesty, and you hold its charge till you pass it on to me.

Probably, I will not be one of the bad rulers for you, and that is an end to the matter.” (Nahj al-Balaghah, Letter 5) Therefore, when this letter reached him, he requested for his chief associates and after mentioning this letter to them said: “I fear that this money will be taken away from me; I therefore intend to join Mu`awiyah.” Whereupon those people said that it was a matter of shame to leave kith and kin and seek refuge with Mu’awiyah.

Consequently, on the advice of these people, he postponed his idea to run away but did not agree to part with the money. On getting this information, Imam Ali (PBUH) sent Hujr ibn `Adi al-Kindi to bring him to Kufa. He persuaded him and brought him to Kufa. On reaching there his kit was found to contain four hundred thousand Dirhams out of which the Commander of the Faithful (PBUH) left thirty thousand for him and deposited the rest in the public treasury.

In the Battle of Siffin, Al-Ash’ath was one of the commanders of Imam Ali’s army; the commander of the troops from the Kinda and Rabi’a tribes. It is reported that when the victory of the Imam’s army was near in the Battle of Siffin, al-Ash’ath disagreed with the continuation of the battle. Thus, when Mu’awiya learned about al-Ash’ath’s position, he commanded his troops to raise copies of the Qur’an with their spears and call the Imam’s army to arbitration on the basis of the Qur’an.

When they did so, the Imam rejected the request for arbitration, but al-Ash’ath objected to him and demanded that the Imam should accept the arbitration. In addition, for the arbitration, Imam Ali chose Abdullah ibn Abbas from his side but al-Ash’ath opposed the Imam’s choice and called for choosing Abu Musa al-Ash’ari. Similarly, after the Battle of Nahrawan, when Imam Ali wanted to wage war against Mu’awiya again, he opposed the Imam on the pretext that the soldiers were tired.

This disagreement dampened the spirits of the Imam’s army and thus the Imam changed his decision.