If they are unable to arrive at a decision through the Book...

If they are unable to arrive at a decision through the Book, they will make access to the Traditions of the Prophet (a.s) 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 Qur’an and the Sunnah. (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 until 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 Qur’an and the Sunnah and that they had no right to arrive at any decision on their personal intuition and thinking. If they did not follow this condition, their arbitration will be void.

The earlier events are a proof that making claim for qisas and raising the Qur’an was with the purpose of misleading the people and the demand for arbitration too was an evil [1] Sharh Nahj al-Balāghah by Ibn Abil-Hadīd, Vol 1, Page 110 subterfuge of the Syrians. The referees neither referred to the Qur’an nor they talked of the relevant Traditions of the Prophet (a.s). One referee tried to defeat the other with futile arguments. Previous…