the head of the euphrates river is located at shatt al - arab.
the head of the euphrates river is located at shatt al - arab.
where is the head of the euphrates river?
shatt al - arab
Na
Na
although the minor conflict occurred in kirkeesya, the war took place at siffeen (on the banks of the euphrates) when mu'awiyah headed a large reinforcing army to join abi al-awar al-salmy and his army (mu'awiyah's first army that attacked at night). mu'awiyah brought reinforcements because during the minor conflict many of his soldiers were killed and injured. when they got to siffeen, mu'awiyah ordered an offensive to his army to gain control of the euphrates river. by taking the controlling the water, mu'awiyah violated an islamic law and the laws of war. therefore, ali sent sasaah bin suhan, one of the companions of the prophet, to ask for some water. he states to mu'awiyah, "mu'awiyah, ali says: let us take some water. then we'll decide what's between you and us, otherwise we will fight each other till the victor drinks." mu'awiyah replied "i'll answer you later on." after sasaah bin suhan left, mu'awiyah sought advice from his trusted men about what he should do about the water situation. al-waleed bin uthbah (the ex-governor of kufa, which the quran calls a fasiq sura 49 verse 6) advised mu'awiyah to "prevent them from drinking water to force them to surrender." mu'awiyah and the other men agreed. over the course of time, malik watched the military supply and movements taking place on the river banks. he then realized that mu'awiyah is tightening the siege of the euphrates river. during the course of war, the soldier in the army of ali ibn abi talib became thirsty due to the physical exertion and blistering heat. even malik himself became thirsty. to which a man came up to malik and said "there's only little water in my water-skin, please drink it." but malik refused and told him "i won't drink till all soldiers drink!" noticing that most of the soldiers were thirsty, malik went to ali and said "amirul mu'mineen, our soldiers are very thirsty. we've nothing but fighting." so ali ibn abi talib wrote a letter to muawiyah asking for water. however, mu'awiyah denied giving ali ibn abi talib's soldiers water. once again, malik al-ashtar plays a huge role for the army of ali ibn abi talib . ali ibn abi talib calls malik and asks him to lead his soldiers in an attack to gain possession of the euphrates river. malik and his men fight valiantly and won back the possession of the euphrates river. the following day, an arrow with a letter attached was shot at ali's army. soldiers read the letter which said "from a loyal brother in the shamian army, mu'awiyah is going to open the river to drown you. so, be careful!" and passed the news around. this news caused the soldiers to withdraw from the banks of the euphrates river. mu'awiyah noticed this and decided to recapture the river for his army. yet again, ali sends his soldiers to fight of mu'awiyah's troops and gain control of the river. at this point, mu'awiyah became worried that now ali won't allow them to drink water from the river. he even ask amr ibn al-as, "do you think ali will prevent us from drinking water?" to which amr replied, "ali doesn't do as you do!" ironically, mu'awiyah's writes a letter to ali ibn abi talib asking him for water since his (mu'awiyah) soldiers were now thirsty. ali ibn abi talib grants mu'awiyah and his soldiers permission to drink water from the euphrates river. allowing the rebels to drink water changed the mindset of some people in mu'awiyah's army. they reflected upon both mu'awiyah and ali. and realized that mu'awiyah did everything and anything including breaking islamic laws to win the war. whereas, ali did everything to represent the true islam even if it meant losing the war. and at nighttime, some of mu'awiyah's troops went and joined ali's army because they represented the truth and humanity.
malik al-ashtar