<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <Ul> <Li> The Camel </Li> <Li> Siffin </Li> <Li> Nahrawan </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> The Camel </Li> <Li> Siffin </Li> <Li> Nahrawan </Li> </Ul> <P> The Battle of Siffin (Arabic: وقعة صفين ‎; May--July 657 occurred during the First Fitna, or first Muslim civil war, with the main engagement taking place from July 26 to July 28 . It was fought between Ali ibn Abi Talib who ruled as the Fourth Caliph and Muawiyah I, on the banks of the Euphrates river, in what is now Raqqa, Syria . </P> <P> Rashidun caliphate expanded very quickly under Muhammad and the first three caliphs . Local populations of Jews and indigenous Christians, marginalized as religious minorities and taxed heavily to finance the Byzantine--Sassanid Wars, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests . As new areas joined the Islamic polity, they also benefited from free trade while trading with other areas under Islamic rule; so as to encourage commerce, Muslims taxed wealth instead of trade . The Muslims paid Zakat on their wealth to the poor . Since the Constitution of Medina was drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws under Islamic rule and had their own judges . Therefore, they only paid for policing for the protection of their property . To assist in the quick expansion of the state, the Byzantine and the Persian tax collection systems were maintained and the people paid a poll tax lower than the one imposed under the Byzantines and the Persians . Before Muhammad united the Arabs, the Arabs had been divided and the Byzantines and the Sassanid had their own client tribes that they used to pay to fight on their behalf . </P>

Where did the battle of siffin take place