Peacemaking
Efforts of Zubair
When the battle broke out, Zubair
bin Al-Awwâm, who had already decided not to fight, held himself back. Ammâr
noticed him and threw a challenge to fight. But he refused to fight with him.
Since Ammâr considered him the root of the trouble, he made an advance and
attacked him. But Zubair kept defending himself without hitting him until Ammâr
became exhausted and Zubair had an opportunity to get away. Ahnaf bin Qais from
Basrah was lying with a large number of men encamped separately as a neutral
force. When Zubair passed by his camp, Amr bin Al-Jurmuz, a man from the army
of Ahnaf bin Qais, followed him. He went near to him and began to move along
with him. In order to dispel any doubt, he asked Zubair to give his opinion on
some issue. Arriving at As-Saba Valley, Zubair stood in prayer. And as he lay
prostrate, Amr bin Al-Jurmuz struck him with his weapon and came straight to
Ali. Someone informed Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
that the assassin of Zubair had come to meet him. He gave him permission with
the remark, "Let him come in and give him good news of hell as well."
When Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) saw Zubair's sword
in his hand, tears came down from his eyes and he said, "O tyrant! This is
the sword which had guarded the Prophet for long." These words cast such
an effect that the assassin thrust his own sword into his belly after passing
some disrespectful remarks against Ali (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) and thus went to Hell.
Separation
of Talhah
Talhah and Zubair kept themselves
apart right from the beginning of the battle. But small chieftains of various
clans were firm in their resolve to fight on behalf of Âishah. But she also, on
the other hand, was in favor of peace and agreement. Moreover, there was none
left on their side to lead and guide in the fight. They did not even know the
real intention of Âishah under whom they claimed to be fighting. However, she
could not hold her troops back, they were all under the impression that Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) had deceived them by
his sneak attack after the peace negotiations were about to be finalized. The
people of Basrah had in mind the rumor that Ali (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) had a plan to kill their men and enslave their women and children.
As a result of these misgivings,
more than ten thousand Muslims gave their lives for no cause. And up to the
last nobody knew the real cause behind the ordeal. Every individual appeared to
be accusing his rival for the calamity that happened. Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) was himself in command of his army and he
was organizing such fierce attacks on the opponents that they were repulsed.
Ali's army made such an advance that Âishah's camel had come within the range
of attack. Ka'b was holding the halter of Âishah's camel and it was he who had
escorted the Mother of the believers to battlefield hoping for peace. The
swordsmen of Basrah clustered around Âishah's camel to save it at the cost of
their lives with the result the battle took a very serious turn.
In the wake of such a bloody battle,
Âishah asked Ka'b to leave the halter and advance raising the Qur'ân and
calling the people to follow the dictates of the Book of Allâh. Ka'b did
accordingly. But the followers of Abdullah bin Saba showered arrows on him and
he was honored with martyrdom. This tragic event filled the people of Basrah
with zeal and fervor and in a short while there was a heap of dead bodies
around the camel of Âishah. The people of Basrah were laying down their lives
to save the camel of Âishah. It became clear to Ali (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) that the presence of Âishah in the battlefield would never
allow the situation to cool down, for her mount had become the center of
killing and bloodshed. There were heavy showers of arrows on her litter from
all sides and she was cursing the murderers of Uthmân. [These arrows were
exposing the reality of Islam and Faith of those who were showering them.]
Ali ordered his men to target the
camel, for its fall would bring the battle to its end. After a number of
attacks and counterattacks someone got an opportunity to strike the legs of
camel, which made it sit down with a shriek. With the fall of the camel, the
supporters of Âishah dispersed. Qa'qâ' bin Amr hurried to the spot and asked
Ali's men to surround the camel on all sides. Ali (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) asked Muhammad bin Abu Bakr to take care of his sister and see
that she suffers no harm.
When her litter was taken out of the
heap of the dead bodies and put at a distance, Ali (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) reached there and sent his greetings and compliments to her
and said, "Dear mother! How are you? May Allâh forgive all your
sins." Âishah replied, "May Allâh forgive your sins too!"
Following this, commanders of various columns appeared to greet the Mother of the
believers. Âishah then said to Qa'qâ': "I wish I had died twenty years
before the event of this day." When Qa'qâ' related this to Ali, he too
said, "I wish I had died twenty years before this event."
This battle became known as the
battle of Jamal (camel) because the camel Âishah was riding, had turned to be
the center of fighting. The supporters of Âishah numbered thirty thousand out
of which nine thousand were killed, while one thousand seventy men out of
twenty thousand laid down their lives from the side of Ali. [But the fact is
that about five thousand from each side were killed in this battle (Al-Bidâyah
wan-Nihâyah, 7/218). Besides the number of the fighters described here seems to
be exaggerated and opposite to each other.]
Ali led the funeral prayers of all
the slain and had them buried. He also announced that those establishing their
respective rights on them could take the goods and properties away. When
evening set in, Muhammad bin Abu Bakr took his sister, the Mother of the
believers, to Basrah and entrusted her to Safiyyah bint Al-Hârith bin Abu
Talhah in the house of Abdullah bin Khalaf Khuzâ'i.
The next day, Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) made his entry into Basrah where the
people took Bai'ah at his hands. Afterwards, Ali (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) came to Âishah. Since Abdullah bin Khalaf had lost his life in
the battle, his mother greeted him with loud reproaches. But Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) gave no reply.
Although, the people accompanying him showed displeasure, Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) said to them,
"Since women are weak by nature, we forgive even the polytheist women and
these are the Muslim women." Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ
عَنْهُ) then showing the highest regard, asked the Mother of the
believers if she suffered any trouble.
Complete peace was restored and good
faith prevailed on both sides. Each of them apologized for the actions taken.
Abdullah bin Abbâs was then appointed the governor of Basrah. Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) asked Muhammad bin
Abu Bakr later to make preparations for the journey. Thus, in Rajab 36 AH, Ali
(رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) bade farewell to
Âishah in the company of forty ladies of influential families of Basrah headed
by Muhammad bin Abu Bakr. He himself escorted the Mother of the believers for
several miles then the charge was handed over to Hasan bin Ali. She arrived at
Makkah, stayed there until Dhul-Hijjah, and then left for Al-Madinah in 37 AH
after performing Hajj.
A number of men from Banu Umayyah
had also taken part in the battle of Jamal against Ali. The battle being over,
they left for Damascus to meet Mu’âwiyah (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ). Abdullah bin Zubair who had received injuries in the battle,
took shelter in the house of a man from Azd tribe in Basrah. Âishah sent for
him through her brother, Muhammad bin Abu Bakr, and took him to Makkah.
No comments:
Post a Comment