Battle of the Camel

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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.jpg
Ali and Aisha at the Battle of the Camel
Date7 November 656 CE (13 Jumada Al-Awwal 36 AH)
Location
Basra, Iraq
Result Victory for Ali
Belligerents

Ali's forces and Banu Hashim

Aisha, Talha, and Zubair's forces and Banu Umayya

Commanders and leaders
Ali ibn Abi Talib
Hasan ibn Ali
Hussein ibn Ali
Malik al-Ashtar
Ammar ibn Yasir
Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr
Abdul-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr
Muslim ibn Aqil
Abu Qatadah ibn Rab'i al-Ansari
Jabir ibn Abd-Allah
Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah
Abu Ayyub al-Ansari
Qays ibn Sa'd
Qathm bin Abbas
Abd Allah ibn Abbas
Khuzaima ibn Thabit
Jondab-e-asadi		 Aisha
Talhah †
Muhammad ibn Talha †
Zubayr ibn al-Awam †
 †
Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr
Marwan I (POW)

Yahya ibn al-Hakam (WIA)
Utba ibn Abi Sufyan
Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi
Abd al-Rahman ibn Attab ibn Asid †
Strength
~20,000[6] ~30,000[6]
Casualties and losses

>400-500[7]

~5,000[8][9]

>2,500[7]

~13,000[8][9]

The Battle of the Camel, also known as the Battle of Jamel or the Battle of Basra, took place at Basra, Iraq on 7 November 656 (13 Jumada Al-Awwal 36 AH). The battle was fought between Ali ibn Abi Talib, who was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, and A'isha (widow of Muhammad), Talhah and Zubayr who led the campaign aiming to avenge the killing of the third caliph Uthman. Marking the second chapter of the First Fitna, the fateful battle ended with a victory for Ali. Naturally, the view of the event and the actors differs between the two major sects, Sunnis and Shias. The Sunnis hold that it was not the intention of either parties to engage in battle, and that the battle was an unforeseen consequence of interference from the rebels involved in the killing of Uthman. On the other hand, the Shia believe the killing of Uthman was a pretext for Aisha and her followers to wage war against Ali.

Before the conflict[]

The Rashidun Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib forgave his opponents after the Battle of the Camel.

After the murder of Uthman ibn Affan, people in Medina paid allegiance to Ali as the new Muslim caliph. But after allegiance Talhah and Zubair asked Ali for permission to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. He granted it and they departed. The Medina people wanted to know Ali's point of view about the 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 set on getting the caliphate of Ali because Uthman had died and they wanted to "get to killers of Uthman". However, they went to Basra, and not Medina where the crime happened.

Aisha (Aisha bint Abi Bakr) (Muhammad's widow), Talhah (Talha ibn Ubayd-Allah) and Zubayr ibn al-Awam (Abu ‘Abd Allah Zubayr ibn al-Awwam) set off from Mecca on their way to Iraq to ask Ali to arrest Uthman's killers, not to fight Muawiyah.[10][11]

Preparation for battle[]

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.[12] Everyone then went to Basra, which was the beginning of the first civil war in Islam. Some historians put the number at around 3,000 people.[13]

Zubair and Talha then went out to meet Ali. Not all Basra was with them. Bani Bakr, the tribe once led by the second caliph, joined the army of Ali. Bani Temim decided to remain neutral.[14]

Before the battle started, Ali reminded Talha of the sermon of Muhammad at the event of Ghadir Khumm. Ali said to Talha, "I adjure you by Allah! Didn’t you hear the Messenger of Allah (S) when he said: 'Whoever I am his MAWLA, this Ali is his MAWLA. O God, love whoever loves him, and be hostile to whoever is hostile to him'?" Talha responded "Yes" to Ali, after which Ali asked him, "Then why do you want to fight me?" This conversation is recorded by both Shia and Sunni sources.[15][16][17][18][19]

Battle[]

Some chieftains of the Kufa tribes contacted their tribes living in Basra.[12] A chieftain contacted Ali to settle the matter.[12] Ali did not want to fight and agreed to negotiate.[12] He then contacted Aisha and spoke to her,[12] "It is not wise to shed the blood of five thousand for the punishment of five hundred."[12] She agreed to settle the matter.[12] 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."[12] 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.[12] They thought that if a settlement was reached, they would not be safe.[12] The Qurra launched a night attack and started burning the tents.[12] 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.[12] 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[12] saying that he had disgraced his tribe by leaving the field.[12] According to some Shia accounts Marwan ibn al-Hakam shot Talha,[20] who became disabled in the leg by the shot and was carried into Basra, where he died later of his wound.[21][22][23] According to Shia sources Marwan said,

By God, now I will not have to search for the man who murdered Uthman.[24]

In the Sunni sources it says that he said that Talha had disgraced his tribe by leaving the field.[12]

With the two generals Zubair and Talhah gone, confusion prevailed as the Qurra and the Umayyads fought.[12][25]

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.[12] As the battle raged Ali's forces targeted their arrows to pierce the howdah of Aisha. The rebels led 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 piled 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.[26]

Ali's cousin Zubair was by then making his way to Medina; he was killed in an adjoining valley.

Aisha's brother Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr, who was a commander in Ali's forces, approached Aisha and seized her, who was aged 45. Alī then sent Aisha to Medina under military escort headed by her brother Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr. She subsequently retired to Medina with no more interference with the affairs of state.[12][27] Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was the son of Abu Bakr, the adopted son of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib. Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was raised by Ali alongside Hassan and Hussein. Hassan also accompanied Aisha part of the way back to Medina. Aisha started teaching in Medina and deeply resented Marwan.[28][29]

Sunni view of the event[]

According to Sunnis, the rebels who had been involved in the killing of Uthman, the third Caliph, were responsible for igniting the fight. These rebels had gained substantial power after the killing of Uthman and it was difficult for Ali, the fourth Caliph, to instantly punish them for their role in the killing of Uthman, so this was the main reason which led to the difference of opinion between the two groups of Muslims. Some Muslims were of the opinion that they should be punished immediately, while Ali required time to determine specifically who the assailants and instigators for the murder were.[30] This led to difference of opinion, and a group started campaigning to pressure Ali to punish the rebels.

It is the opinion of the Sunnis that A'isha and her party had intended to peacefully reconcile between these differing views. Initially, Ali did perceive the campaign of A'isha and her party as civil disobedience, so he made an effort to emphasize the importance of unity in the Muslim community.[30] It is said that Ali appealed to the early hardships that the Muslim community had faced during Islam's inception, and referred back to the stability and peace the community experienced in the later days due to the community's unity and integration. This encounter was followed by attempts at negotiation. When the rebels saw that the negotiations may lead to their punishment, they concocted a plan to attack both the armies and disrupt the peace making process.[30]

In terms of who was deemed rightful in this encounter, the Sunnis prefer Ali as he was the rightful caliph and so his decision and approach must have been obeyed. Moreover, the hadith of Hawaab also proves that Ali's opponents were wrong in their stance. However, because A'isha and her party were deemed sincere in their intentions to bring the killers of Uthman to justice, the Sunnis do not condemn them for their participation in the event. Both Ali and Aisha resented the outcome of the battle. Ali said after the battle, "I wish I had died two decades before this incident."[31][32]

According to the Sunnis, after the battle, Ali had asked the brother of A'isha, (Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr) to take her to Basrah. She stayed there for some time until it was arranged for her to be taken to Madinah by Ali where she settled down. Before her departure, she spoke words indicating her respect for Ali and his followers that had been slain in the battle.[30]

Shia view of the event[]

According to Shias, the killing of Uthman was just a pretext for Aisha to wage war on Ali, and there was no justification on the part of Aisha to rebel against ruling, rightly guided Caliph and Muhammad's successor, for she held animosity towards Uthman. Shortly before the battle, sent personally by Ali with Hussein ibn Ali, Ammar bin Yasir gave a speech in Kufa;

When Talha, AzZubair and `Aisha moved to Basra, `Ali sent `Ammar bin Yasir and Hasan bin `Ali who came to us at Kufa and ascended the pulpit. Al-Hasan bin `Ali was at the top of the pulpit and `Ammar was below Al-Hasan. We all gathered before him. I heard `Ammar saying, "`Aisha has moved to Al-Busra. By Allah! She is the wife of your Prophet in this world and in the Hereafter. But Allah has put you to test whether you obey Him (Allah) or her (`Aisha). [33]

Ali writes, in the Nahj al-Balagha, that he was blamed by the Umayyads for the assassination of Uthman.[34]

The Umayyads knowledge of me did not restrain them from accusing me, nor did my precedence in accepting Islam keep these ignorant people from blaming me. Allah's admonitions are more eloquent than my tongue. I am the contester against those who break away from Faith and the opposer of those who entertain doubts. Uncertainties should be placed before Qur'an, the Book of Allah (for clarification). Certainly, people will be recompensed according to what they have in their hearts. – Nahj al-Balagha: Sermon 75[34]

According to Shias, despite being victorious but due to his piety.

"O my brothers! I am not ignorant of what you know, but how do I have the power for it while those who assaulted him are in the height of their power. They have superiority over us, not we over them."[35]

Aftermath[]

Ali's forces overcame the rebels, and the defeated army was treated according to Islamic law. He sent Aisha 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.

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.

When the head of Zubayr ibn al-Awwam was presented to Ali by Amr ibn Jarmouz, the Caliph Ali couldn't help but to sob and condemn the murder of his cousin. This reaction caused Amr ibn Jarmouz resentment and, drawing his sword, stabbed it into his own chest.[36]


Ali was later killed by a Kharijite named Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam while he was praying in the mosque of Kufa.[37]

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.[38]

Legacy[]

The name of the battle refers to the camel ridden by Āʿisha — once the camel had fallen, the battle was over. Some Muslim scholars believe the name was recorded as such in history to avoid linking the name of a woman with a battle.[39]

Sunni and Shia's split[]

Āʿisha's depiction in regards to the first civil war in the Muslim community reflected the molding of Islamic definition of gender and politics. Sunni Muslims recognized the tension between Āʿisha's exemplary status as the acknowledged favorite wife of Muhammad and her political actions as a widow. The Sunni task was to assess her problematic political participation without complete disapproval. Shi'i Muslims faced no such dilemma in their representation of the past. Āʿisha had opposed and fought ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Shi'i male political and spiritual ideal in the Battle of the Camel. Her involvement in the First Fitna provoked Shi'i scorn and censure, while Sunni authors had the more difficult task of defending her.[40]

Participants[]

Soldiers of Ali's Army[]

Soldiers of Aisha's Army[]

Others involved[]

Unclassified[]

See also[]

References[]

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  2. ^ Madelung 1997, pg. 166
  3. ^ Madelung 1997, pg. 176-177
  4. ^ Madelung 1997, pg. 167-8
  5. ^ Crone 1980, pg. 108
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  9. ^ Jump up to: a b Muraj al-Thahab Vol. 5, Pg. 177
  10. ^ Nahj al Balagha Sermon 72 Archived 7 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
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  13. ^ Dr. Mohammad Ishaque in Journal of Pakistan Historical Society, Vol 3, Part 1
  14. ^ Sir John Glubb, The Great Arab Conquests, 1967, p. 320
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  17. ^ al-Hakim. al-Mustadrak, Volume 3. p. 371.
  18. ^ al-Mas’udi. Muruj al-Dhahab, Volume 4. p. 321.
  19. ^ al-Haythami. Majma’ al-Zawa’id, Volume 9. p. 107.
  20. ^ "anwary-islam.com". Archived from the original on 18 June 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2006.
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  38. ^ Sahih Al Bukhari Volume 9, Book 88, Number 228:[1] Archived 17 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine Narrated by Abu Al-Minhal. When Ibn Ziyad and Marwan were in Sham and Ibn Az-zubair took over the authority in Mecca and Qurra' (the Kharijites) revolted in Basra, I went out with my father to Abu Barza Al-Aslami till we entered upon him in his house while he was sitting in the shade of a room built of cane. So we sat with him and my father started talking to him saying, "O Abu Barza! Don't you see in what dilemma the people has fallen?" The first thing heard him saying "I seek reward from Allah for myself because of being angry and scornful at the Quraish tribe. O you Arabs! You know very well that you were in misery and were few in number and misguided, and that Allah has brought you out of all that with Islam and with Muhammad till He brought you to this state (of prosperity and happiness) which you see now; and it is this worldly wealth and pleasures which has caused mischief to appear among you. The one who is in Sham (i.e., Marwan), by Allah, is not fighting except for the sake of worldly gain.
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External links[]

  • Ali ibn Abi Talib (1984). Nahj al-Balagha (Peak of Eloquence), compiled by ash-Sharif ar-Radi. Alhoda UK. SBN 0940368439.
  • Al-Tabari, Muhammad ibn Jarir (1990). History of the Prophets and Kings, translation and commentary issued by R. Stephen Humphreys. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-7914-0154-5. (volume XV.)
  • Holt, P. M.; Bernard Lewis (1977). Cambridge History of Islam, Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-29136-4.
  • Wilferd Madelung (1997). The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-64696-0.
  • William Muir. The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline, and Fall.
Preceded by
Muslim conquest of the Levant 		Muslim battles
Year: 656 CE 		Succeeded by
Battle of Siffin

Coordinates: 30°30′00″N 47°49′00″E / 30.5000°N 47.8167°E / 30.5000; 47.8167

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