( 486 )
whole event of arbitration would not have taken place.
This was not the case. The Seceders were very serious in
demanding the cessation of hostility and acceptance of arbitration
and they continued this way until the document
was executed. They and others from the bigot readers were
the power which forced the Imam to stop the war. They
did not change their attitude until the document was
signed by the two parties and became a pact in full.
The Seceders were not expected to change their attitude
with such speed and move within three days from the extreme left to the extreme right. In the first two days
they
believed that continuation of war and rejection of arbitration represented a disbelief in the religion of God. Then
they reversed themselves on the third day and believed that
discontinuation of war and acceptance of arbitration
represented a disbelief in the religion of God. The Imam
responded to their first demand which seemed to be the
position of the majority of his camp. He executed the
document and he was right in giving them and the rest of
the nation a respite that continued a few months with
which the matter could become clear to them after they
were deceived and confused.
It was logical to expect that the situation would become clear to the Seceders and to others during the months
of the armistice and particularly after the two arbiters
issued their unjust and contradictory verdict. The Seceders
however were not logical neither at the beginning
nor at the end. It was impossible for any human mind to
predict their extreme and fast changes of thinking. The
Imam was not to be blamed because he could not predict
the unseen future.
Suppose the Imam had shortened the period of the armistice for one month and stayed with his army in Siffeen
until the two arbiters issued their verdict then he called
upon his army to return to war. Would that have satisfied
the Seceders and reunited the Imam's camp?
The subsequent events make us expect the Seceders to
refuse to return to war and that their attitude if they had
stayed in Siffeen would be similar to the attitude which
|