Imam Ali (peace be upon him) wrote a letter to Mu’awiya...

Imam Ali (peace be upon him) wrote a letter to Mu’awiya, asking him to come to Medina together with the noblemen of Syria. In one of his letters sent through Jarir ibn Abd-Allah al-Bajali to Mu’awiya, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) wrote: “The people who pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman also pledged allegiance to me. The one who was present could not choose another person, and the absent one could not but accept those who were present.

What is the council of the Emigrants and the Ansar, if they choose a man to be the Imam, which Allah is pleased with it, and if someone blames them or creates a heresy, they should return him to the community from which he left, and if he refuses, he would fight him? O Mu’awiya!

I swear by my life, if you look with wisdom and look at the air from your head, you will see that I hated the splitting of Uthman’s blood more than any other person, and you know that I was aloof, except that you accused me and covered up what is obvious to you. Goodbye. [1] “ Mu’awiya did not respond to the letter [2] but kept Jarir in Damascus for too long under various pretexts and secretly prepared the Syrian people for the battle.

Thereafter, Imam Ali wrote Jarir again: “Whenever my letter reaches you, force Mu’awiya to act accordingly. Make him choose between these two; either battle or reconciliation.

If he accepts battle, do not accept to stay with him, and if he accepts reconciliation, take an oath of allegiance from him.” Finally, Jarir returned to the Imam unsuccessfully and Ashtar said: “It would have been better if you had sent me.” Jarir said: “If he had sent you, they would have killed you on the pretext that you are one of the Uthman’s killers.” Mobilization of the Army After the Battle of the Camel, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) tried to persuade Mu’awiya ibn Abi Sufyan to pay an oath of allegiance to him, as done by others.

However, when his Eminence realized that Mu’awiya was not ready to welcome his advice and that the noblemen of Kufa support the decision to go to war with Syria, he invited people to the battle in a public sermon. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) wrote a letter to Abdullah ibn Abbas to prepare the people of Basra to attend the battle; many people from Basra went to Kufa together with Abdullah ibn Abbas [3] .