It is narrated from Tariq bin Shihab that he said: I saw Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) at al-Rabadhah on a worn-out camel saddle, while he was saying to Sayyiduna al-Hasan and Sayyiduna al-Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them both): "Why do you two weep like girls? By Allah, I have considered every aspect of this matter thoroughly, and I found no third way other than fighting these people or disbelieving in the religion (that was revealed to Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him)." As for Abdullah bin Umar (the details concerning him are as follows):

It is narrated from Hamzah bin Abdullah bin Umar that he was sitting with his father, Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), when a man from Iraq came and said: O Abu Abd al-Rahman! By Allah, I have tried my utmost to adopt your way, to follow you in the matter of the people's division, and to stay away from evil as much as I can. But I read a decisive verse of the Book of Allah that has gripped my heart, so tell me about it. What is your view concerning this statement of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic: "And if two groups of the believers fight one another, then make peace between them. Then if one of them transgresses against the other, fight the one that transgresses until it returns to the command of Allah. Then if it returns, make peace between them with justice and be equitable. Indeed, Allah loves those who are equitable" [Surah al-Hujurat: 9] ? Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: What business is that of yours? Go away from me. When the man had left and disappeared from sight, Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) turned to us and said: "I have not felt as much regret or distress in my heart over any matter as I feel over the fact that I did not fight this transgressing group (al-fi'ah al-baghiyah) as Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, commanded me." This is a vast chapter which a group of the senior Tabi'un narrated from Abdullah bin Umar. I placed first the narration of Shu'ayb bin Abi Hamzah from al-Zuhri and confined myself to it because it is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim. And as for what has been mentioned of Usamah bin Zayd refraining from fighting (the reality of it is as follows):

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me on a sariyyah (military expedition) together with some of his Companions. A man of the Ansar and I rushed towards a man of the enemy. I attacked him, and when I came near him he said 'Allahu Akbar', but I struck him with my spear and killed him, for I thought he had said these words only to save his life. When we returned, he (the Ansari) reached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) before me and said: O Messenger of Allah! There is no horseman better than this horseman of yours. We pursued a man, and I was just about to reach him when he said 'Allahu Akbar', yet that did not stop him (Usamah) from killing him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Usamah! What is this you did today?" I said: I attacked a man and he said 'Allahu Akbar'; I thought he had done so only to save his life, so I killed him. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "After he had said 'Allahu Akbar', what then will become of you (before Allah)? Why did you not split open his heart and look, so that you would know what he had said (sincerely)?!" He (peace and blessings be upon him) kept saying this to me that whole day. (Usamah, may Allah be pleased with him, says:) So now I will not fight any man who says 'Allahu Akbar', because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has forbidden me from it, until I meet him (peace and blessings be upon him).

The same narration, with the same meaning, is also narrated from Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) through another chain. And as for what has been mentioned of Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas keeping away from the fighting (the reality of it is as follows):

It is narrated from Khaythamah bin Abd al-Rahman that he said: I heard Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Malik (Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with him) say this when a man said to him that Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) says about you that you held back from supporting him. Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "By Allah! It was an opinion that I formed, and that opinion of mine proved wrong. Indeed, Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) was granted three distinctions such that, had I been given even one of them, it would have been dearer to me than the world and all its blessings." (The first is that) on the day of Ghadir Khumm, after praising and extolling Allah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said concerning him: "Do you know that I have a greater claim over the believers than they have over themselves?" We said: Yes. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Allah! Whoever I am the mawla of, Ali is his mawla. O Allah! Befriend whoever befriends him, and be hostile to whoever is hostile to him." (The second is that) on the day of Khaybar he was brought while his eyes were sore and he could not see anything. He said: O Messenger of Allah! My eyes are sore. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) put his blessed saliva into his eyes and supplicated for him, and after that his eyes never became sore again until his martyrdom, and Khaybar was conquered at his hands. (The third is that) the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered his uncle Sayyiduna Abbas and other people to leave the mosque (having their doors closed), and Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: (O Messenger of Allah!) You are sending us out although we are your close kin and your uncles, while you allow Ali to stay in the mosque? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is not I who sent you out and settled him there; rather, it is Allah who commanded that you be sent out (of the mosque) and that he stay there." As for the matter of Abu Mas'ud al-Ansari and Abu Musa al-Ash'ari keeping aloof, the reality is that the Commander of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with him) sent his son Muhammad (bin al-Hanafiyyah) and Muhammad bin Abi Bakr to Kufah to take the pledge of allegiance. At that time Abu Musa al-Ash'ari and Abu Mas'ud were in Kufah, and Abu Musa refused to pledge allegiance. Then those two returned to the Commander of the Believers, so he sent his son Sayyiduna al-Hasan and Malik al-Ashtar.

It is narrated from Amir bin Sharahil al-Sha'bi that when Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was martyred and the pledge of allegiance was given to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) addressed the people in Kufah and forbade them from fighting and from entering into the trial (fitnah). Thereupon Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) dismissed him from Dhu Qar and sent Ammar bin Yasir and al-Hasan bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with them), who removed him from office and appointed Qarazah bin Ka'b as governor. He remained in office until Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) returned from Basrah; then on his return Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) dismissed him as well. And when he set out for Siffin, he appointed Uqbah bin Amr Abu Mas'ud al-Ansari as his deputy.

It is narrated from Abu Wa'il that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari and Abu Mas'ud al-Badri came to Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with them) while he was mobilising the people (for battle). The two of them said to him: "Since you accepted Islam, we have not found any action of yours more disliked by us than your excessive haste in this matter." Ammar (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: "Since you two accepted Islam, I have not found any action of yours more disliked by me than your sluggishness in this matter." The narrator says: Then Ammar (may Allah be pleased with him) clothed each of them in a garment and went out for the Friday prayer. And as for the story of Muhammad bin Maslamah al-Ansari keeping away from the pledge of allegiance (it is as follows):

It is narrated from Muhammad bin Maslamah that he said: I said: "O Messenger of Allah! If disagreement and civil war break out among those who pray (the people of the Qiblah), what should I do?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Go out with your sword to the Harrah (the rocky ground of Madinah) and strike it there to break it, then stay secluded in your house until death comes to you, or a sinful hand reaches you and kills you."

It is narrated from Sa'd bin Zayd bin Sa'd al-Ashhali that he presented the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with a sword from Najran as a gift. When he brought it to him (peace and blessings be upon him), he (peace and blessings be upon him) gave it to Muhammad bin Maslamah (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: "Fight with this in the path of Allah, but when the necks of the Muslims start clashing with one another (when they start fighting each other), strike it on a stone and break it, then stay secluded in your house, lying there like a rug that is spread out, until a sinful hand kills you or death comes to you." Imam al-Hakim said: So it was for these reasons, and other proofs like them, that those people kept away from fighting alongside Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), while it was on the basis of the opposite reasons that those who took part in the war fought.

It is narrated from al-Hasan al-Basri that Talhah and al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) came to Basrah, and the people asked them: "For what purpose have you come here?" They said: "We have come to seek retribution for the blood of Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him)." Al-Hasan al-Basri said (commenting): "Subhan Allah! Did those people not have even enough sense to say to them: By Allah! No one killed Uthman but you (that is, you were the ones gathered around him)?" He further said: When Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Kufah, did the people not have enough sense to say: "O man! By Allah, we did not make you the guarantor (of such matters)?"