Battle of the Camel From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other battles in the area, see Battle of Basra. Battle of the Camel Part of the First Fitna Ali and Aisha at the Battle of the Camel Date 7 November 656 Location Basra, Iraq Result Rashidun Caliphate victory Belligerents Rashidun Caliphate Aisha's forces and Umayyad Caliphate Commanders and leaders Ali ibn Abi Talib Aisha Malik al-Ashtar Talhah † Hasan ibn Ali Muhammad ibn Ammar ibn Yasir Talha † Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr Zubayr ibn al-Awam † Abdul-Rahman ibn Abi Kaab ibn Sur † Bakr Abd Allah ibn al- Muslim ibn Aqeel Zubayr Harith ibn Rab'i Marwan I (POW) Jabir ibn Abd-Allah Waleed ibn Muhammad ibn al- Uqba (POW) Hanafiyyah Abu Ayyub al-Ansari Abu Qatada bin Rabyee Qays ibn Sa'd Qathm bin Abbas Abd Allah ibn Abbas Khuzaima ibn Thabit Strength ~20,000[1] ~30,000[1] Casualties and losses ~5,000[2][3] ~13,000[2][3] [show] V T E First Islamic Civil War [show] V T E Civil wars of the early Caliphates The Battle of the Camel, sometimes called the Battle of Jamal or the Battle of Bassorah,[4] took place atBasra, Iraq on 7 November 656. A'isha heard about the killing of Uthman (644-656), the third Caliph. At the time she was on a pilgrimage to Mecca. It was on this journey that she became so angered by his unavenged death, and the naming of Ali as the fourth caliph, that she took up arms against those supporting Ali. She gained support of the big city of Basra and, for the first time, Muslims took up arms against each other. This battle is now known as the First Fitna, or Muslim civil war.[5] Contents [hide] 1 Before the conflict 2 Preparation for battle 3 Battle o 3.1 Casualties 4 Aftermath 5 Image and legacy of A'isha o 5.1 Sunni and Shi'i split 6 Participants o 6.1 Soldiers of Caliph Ali's Army o 6.2 Soldiers of Aisha's Army o 6.3 Others involved o 6.4 Unclassified 7 References 8 External links Before the conflict[edit] The Rashidun Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib forgave his opponents after the Battle of the Camel. Talhah and Zubeir asked Ali the permission for pilgrimage. He let them and they departed. The Medina people wanted to know Ali’s point of view about war against Muslims by asking his view about Muawiyah I and his refusal to give Ali his allegiance. So they sent Ziyad Bin Hanzalah of Tamim who was an intimate friend to Ali. He went to him and sat for a while. He went back and told the people in Medina that Ali wanted to confront Muawiyah. In Medina, Marwan manipulated people. In Iraq many people hated the Syrians following the Byzantine- Sassanid Wars. Aisha (Aisha bint Abu Bakr) (Muhammad's widow), Talhah (Talha ibn Ubayd-Allah) and Zubayr ibn al-Awam(Abu ‘Abd Allah Zubayr ibn al-Awwam) set off from Makah on their way to Iraq to ask Ali to arrest Uthman ibn Affan killers, not to fight Muawiyah.[6][7] Preparation for battle[edit] While passing Medina, on their way to Iraq, Aisha, Talha and Zubair passed a group of Umayyads leaving Medina led by Marwan who said that the people who had killed Uthman, had also been causing them trouble.[8]Everyone then went to Basra, which was the beginning of the first civil war in Islam. Some historians put the number at around 3000 people.[9] Zubair and Talha then went out to meet Ali. Not all Basra was with them. Beni Bekr, the tribe once led by the second Caliph, joined the army of Ali. Beni Temeem decided to remain neutral.[10] Battle[edit] Writer Leila Ahmed claims that it was during this engagement that Muslims fought Muslims for the first time. The battle was a reflection of pre-Islamic practices of bloodshed for vigilante causes.[11] Some chieftains of the Kufa tribes contacted their tribes living in Basra.[8] A chieftain contacted Ali to settle the matter.[8] Ali did not want to fight and agreed to negotiate.[8] He then contacted Aisha and spoke to her,[8] "Is it not wise to shed the blood of five thousand for the punishment of five hundred."[8] She agreed to settle the matter.[8] Ali then met Talha and Zubair and told them about the prophecy of Muhammad. Ali's cousin Zubair said to him, "What a tragedy that the Muslims who had acquired the strength of a rock are going to be smashed by colliding with one another."[8]Talha and Zubair did not want to fight and left the field. Everyone was happy except the people who had killed Uthman and the supporters of the Qurra, who later became the Khawarij.[8] They thought that if a settlement was reached, they would not be safe.[8] The Qurra launched a night attack and started burning the tents.[8] Ali tried to restrain his men but no one was listening. Everyone thought that the other party had committed breach of trust. Confusion prevailed throughout the night.[8] The Qurra attacked the Umayyads and the fighting started. Talhah had left. On seeing this, Marwan (who was manipulating everyone) shot Talhah with a poisoned arrow[8] saying that he had disgraced his tribe by leaving the field.[8] According to some Shia accounts Marwan ibn al-Hakam shot Talha,[12] who became disabled in the leg by the shot and was carried into Basra, where he died later of his wound.[13][14][15] According to Shia sources Marwan said, By God, now I will not have to search for the man who murdered Uthman.[16] In the Sunni sources it says that he said that Talha had disgraced his tribe by leaving the field.[8] With the two generals Zubair and Talhah gone, confusion prevailing and the Qurra and the Umayyads fought.[8][17] Qadi Kaab ibn Sur of Basra held the Quran on his head and then advised Aysha to mount her camel to tell people to stop fighting, until he was killed by arrows shot by the forces of Ali.[8] As the battle raged Ali's forces targeted their arrows to pierce the howdah of Aisha. The rebels lead by Aisha then gathered around her and about a dozen of her warriors were beheaded while holding the reins of her camel. However the warriors of Ali faced much casualties during their attempts to reach Aisha as dying corpses lay pilled in heaps. The battle only came to an end when Ali's troops as commanded attacked the camel from the rear and cut off the legs of the beast. Aisha fled from the arrow-pierced howdah and was captured by the forces of Ali.[18] Ali's cousin Zubair was by then making his way to Medina; he was killed in an adjoining valley. Aisha's brother Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, who was Ali's commander, approached Aisha, who was age 45. There was reconciliation between them and Ali pardoned her. He then sent Aisha to Medina under military escort headed by her brother Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, one of Ali's commanders. She subsequently retired to Medina with no more interference with the affairs of state.[8][19] Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was the son of Abu Bakr, the adopted son of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, and the great-grandfather of Ja‘far al-Sadiq. Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was raised by Ali alongside Hasan and Husein. Hassan also accompanied Aisha part of the way back to Medina. Aisha started teaching in Medina and deeply resented Marwan.[20][21] Tom Holland writes in the best selling book The shadow of the sword, The Battle for Global Empire and the End of the Ancient World "Marwan was fabulously venal and slippery. Nothing he had done had helped to improve his reputation for double dealing.[21][22] Casualties[edit] According to historian William Muir, 10,000 people lost their life in this battle, with each party bearing equal loss. In the three days after the battle, Ali performed a funeral service for all the dead from both parties.[19] Aftermath[edit] Ali's forces overcame the rebels, and the defeated army was treated with generosity. Ali met Aisha and there was reconciliation between them. He sent her back to Medina under military escort headed by her brother Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, one of Ali's commanders. She subsequently retired to Medina with no more interference with the affairs of state.[19] Talha, who became disabled in the leg by the shot and fled the battlefield was carried into Basra, where he died later of his wound.[13] When the head of Zubayr ibn al-Awwam was presented to Ali by Ahnaf ibn Qais, the Caliph Ali couldn't help but to sob and condemn the murder of his cousin. This reaction caused Ahnaf ibn Qais resentment and, drawing his sword, stabbed it into his own breast.[23] Marwan I and the Qurra (who later became the Khawarij) manipulated every one and created conflict. Marwan was arrested but he later asked Hassan and Hussein for assistance and was released.[6] Ali was later killed by a Kharijite Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam while he was praying in the mosque of Kufa.[24] Two decades later, after years of planning and scheming and making every one else fight, Marwan came to power in Syria and the Qurra (the Kharijites) established a state in southern Iraq.[25] Image and legacy of A'isha[edit] The name of the battle refers to the camel ridden by Āʿ isha — once the camel had fallen, the battle was over.