section_path: Caliphate/Battle of Siffin/Call to arbitration
section_name: Call to arbitration
paragraph_text: Call to arbitration
  
  Fighting stopped when some Syrians raised pages of the Quran on their lances, shouting, "Let the Book of God be the judge between us." Since Mu'awiya had for long insisted on battle, this call for arbitration suggests that he now feared defeat. By contrast, Ali exhorted his men to fight, telling them that raising Qurans was for deception, but to no avail. Through their representatives, the qurra and the ridda tribesmen of Kufa, the largest bloc in Ali's army, both threatened Ali with mutiny if he did not answer the Syrians' call. Facing strong peace sentiments in his army, Ali accepted the arbitration proposal, most likely against his own judgment.