Exaggerated Historical Accounts of the Number of Casualties in the Battle of Siffin: Dr. Ali bin Muhammad al-Sallabi
The Battle of Siffin took place in an area called Siffin, located in the Jazira region between Syria and Iraq. It was fought between the army of the fourth Rightly Guided Caliph, Amir al-Mu’minin Ali ibn Abi Talib, and the army of the Companion and Governor of Syria, Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with them both), in the month of Safar in the year 37 AH, approximately a year after the Battle of the Camel. The battle ended with arbitration and a truce between the two sides in Ramadan of the same year (Al-Yaqubi, vol. 2, p. 188; see also Khalifa, p. 191).
Two days after the arbitration document was finalized, Amir al-Mu’minin Ali called his forces to return to Kufa after ordering the burial of the dead and the release of the captives. He returned to Kufa in the month of Rabi’ al-Awwal 37 AH, corresponding to July to August 657 CE.
The primary cause of the battle was that when Amir al-Mu’minin Ali ibn Abi Talib رضي الله عنه assumed the caliphate, Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan and the people of Syria refused to pledge allegiance to him as the Caliph of the Muslims until the murderers of the third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, were brought to justice (may Allah be pleased with them all). Amir al-Mu’minin Ali ibn Abi Talib sent Jarir ibn Abdullah al-Bajali to Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan to invite him to pledge allegiance. When Jarir arrived in Syria, Muawiyah consulted Amr ibn al-As al-Sahmi, who advised him to gather the people of Syria and march towards Iraq to demand retribution for the killers of Uthman ibn Affan (Ibn al-Athir, Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh, vol. 3, p. 161).
The battle ended between the two sides with the drafting of the arbitration document on Wednesday, the 13th of Safar, 53 AH, corresponding to July 31, 657 CE. The document was written by Abdullah ibn Rafi’, the scribe of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and Umair ibn Ubad al-Kinani, the scribe of Muawiyah رضي الله عن. It stipulated that both disputing parties submit their matter to the judgment of the Qur’an. Two days after the document was completed, Amir al-Mu’minin Ali called his forces to return to Kufa after ordering the burial of the dead and the release of the captives. He returned to Kufa in the month of Rabi’ al-Awwal 37 AH, corresponding to July 657 CE.
Amir al-Mu’minin Ali ibn Abi Talib stood over the dead of both his forces and those of Muawiyah and said, “May Allah forgive you, may Allah forgive you,” to both sides (Caliphate of Ali ibn Abi Talib, Abdul Hamid, p. 250). Yazid ibn al-Asam narrated that when the peace was concluded between Ali and Muawiyah, Ali went out and walked among his dead and said, “These are in Paradise,” then he went out to the dead of Muawiyah and said, “These are in Paradise, and the matter will ultimately be between me and Muawiyah.” He used to say about them, “They are believers.” His statement (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding the people of Siffin is nearly identical to his statement regarding the people of the Battle of the Camel (Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah, 15/303, with a good chain). (point he is making is that the number of dead were small enough for Sayyidina, Ali رضي الله عنه to observe them, and make dua for them).
Some narrators and writers exaggerated the number of casualties on both sides. While some Muslim writers reported high figures, such as Imam al-Dhahabi in “Tarikh al-Islam,” quoting Imam Ibn Sirin, which requires further historical verification and foundational review, it is noteworthy that some Orientalists and those who sought to distort our history also exaggerated and inflated these figures. Ibn Abi Khaythama reported that the number of casualties in Siffin reached seventy thousand, including twenty-five thousand from Iraq and forty-five thousand from Syria. Similarly, the scholar Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned that the number of casualties in Siffin was seventy thousand or more.
There is no doubt that these numbers are not accurate; rather, they are imaginary figures. The actual fighting and mass confrontation lasted for three days, with pauses in fighting at night, except on Friday evening. The total fighting time was about thirty hours. The scholar Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (4/388) stated, “No matter how intense the fighting was, it could not surpass the severity of the Battle of Qadisiyyah, where the number of martyrs was eight thousand five hundred.” Therefore, it is difficult to rationally accept those narrations that mentioned large numbers (Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi, p. 529).