“As for those who struggle in Our cause, We will surely guide them along Our Ways. And Allah is certainly with the good-doers.” (Qur’an 29:69)
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One of the searchers for truth among the Shi’i has had some questions to the Ibadi in regard to the matters of Siffin and Nahrawan.
Question: Why did the people of Nahrawan not continue fighting if Ali had stopped fighting?
Answer: It is not permissible to continue the fighting while they are without an imam, for fear that they will die a death of ignorance. They must be under the banner of an Imam. So, a new imam should have been appointed. It is not reasonable to appoint an imam while they are at war. They must rest a little and agree on a specific person away from the battle front.
The people of Nahrawan were angry with him because the consensus of the nation is that he (Ali) is the legitimate caliph and those who rebelled against him are rebels according to the text of the Qur’an and must be fought. But his pledge of allegiance was broken, so how could Imam Ali be a caliph when he submitted to the rule and accepted the two arbitrations, and how could they pledge allegiance to him as caliph when he was not of their opinion and did not join them?
Question: Why didn’t the people of Nahrawan after electing Abdullah ibn Wahb Al-Rasibi press the attack against Mu’awiya and his forces?
Answer: How do we know if the people of Nahrawan wanted to fight Mu’awiya?
Did Ali give them a chance to do as such? He surprised them with his army and caused their deaths through the treachery of al-Ash’ath himself, whom had forced (Ali) into arbitration. Likewise, the people of Nahrawan are innocent because they were never followers of Mu’awiya, otherwise they would not have refused to pledge allegiance to Mu’awiya and they were fought against the Umayyad state. This is well known from history.
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