—one even broader (1) than the discord already afflicting the people. Muʿāwiyah therefore accepted the decision when he perceived the benefit it contained; it was a matter of ijtihād, and ijtihād can be right or wrong. It is also said that Abū Mūsā addressed him with stern words, and ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ replied to him in the same manner (2).
Ibn Jarīr (3) reports that Shurayḥ ibn Hāniʾ—the commander of ʿAlī’s army—sprang upon ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ and struck him with a whip, whereupon one of ʿAmr’s sons rose and struck Shurayḥ with a whip as well. The people then dispersed in every direction to their own lands. ʿAmr and his party went in to Muʿāwiyah and saluted him with the greeting of the caliphate, whereas Abū Mūsā, feeling ashamed before ʿAlī, set out for Mecca. Ibn ʿAbbās and Shurayḥ ibn Hāniʾ returned to ʿAlī and informed him of what Abū Mūsā and ʿAmr had done; they judged Abū Mūsā’s opinion to be feeble and realized that he was no equal to ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ.
Abū Mikhnaf (4), on the authority of Abū Janāb (5) al-Kalbī, relates that when the news of ʿAmr’s action reached ʿAlī he would, in his qunūt (standing supplication), invoke curses upon Muʿāwiyah, ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ (6), Abū al-Aʿwar al-Sulamī, Ḥabīb ibn Maslama, al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Qays, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khālid ibn al-Walīd, and al-Walīd ibn ʿUqbah (7). When this reached Muʿāwiyah, he in turn would, in his qunūt, curse ʿAlī, Ḥasan, Ḥusayn, Ibn ʿAbbās, and al-Ashʿar al-Nakhaʿī. None of this, however, is authentically established [may Allah be pleased with them]; Allah knows best.
As for the ḥadīth that al-Bayhaqī cites in “Dalāʾil” (8): ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbdān informed us, Aḥmad ibn ʿUbayd al-Ṣaffār informed us, Ismāʿīl ibn al-Faḍl narrated to us, Qutaybah ibn Saʿīd narrated to us, from Jarīr, from Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd and Ḥabīb ibn Yasār, from Suwayd ibn Ghaflah, who said:
“I was walking with ʿAlī along the bank of the Euphrates (9) when he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said (10): ‘The Children of Israel differed, and their disagreement persisted among them until they appointed two arbiters who themselves went astray and led others astray. This ummah will likewise differ, and their disagreement will persist among them until they appoint two arbiters who will go astray and lead astray those who follow them.’”
This ḥadīth is munkar, and its attribution as marfūʿ is fabricated; Allah knows best. Had such a report been known to ʿAlī, he would never have agreed to the arbitration of the two judges, lest he become a cause for misleading the people—as the very wording indicates.