Battle of the Camel

The Battle of the Camel, sometimes called

the Battle of Jamal or the Battle of
Bassorah, 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 deceased Prophet of Islam,
Muhammad, considered the fourth
Rashidun Caliph of the Sunnis and the first
Imam of the Shias, and A'isha (the wife of
Muhammad), Talhah and Zubayr who led
the war against Ali claiming that they want
to take revenge on the killers of the third
caliph Uthman who was recently killed as
a result of rebellion. Marking the second
chapter of the First Fitna, the fateful battle
ended with victory of Ali and defeat of
Ayesha who later apologized for her
wrongdoing and was pardoned by Ali.
 Battle of the Camel
Part of the First Fitna

Ali and Aisha at the Battle of the Camel

Date 7 November 656 (13 Jumada Al-

Awwal 36 AH)

Location Basra, Iraq

Result Rashidun Caliphate victory

Belligerents

Rashidun Caliphate Aisha's forces and Banu

Umayya
 Tribesmen of Kufa Quraysh of Mecca[3]
Banu Hashim, Banu Sections of the Banu
Abdul Qays and Banu Tamim and Azd of
Bakr of Basra[1] Basra[4]
Tayy[2] Banu 'Amir[5]

Commanders and leaders

Ali ibn Abi Talib Aisha
Hasan ibn Ali Talhah †
Hussein ibn Ali Muhammad ibn Talha †
Malik al-Ashtar Zubayr ibn al-Awam †
Ammar ibn Yasir Kaab ibn Sur †
Muhammad ibn Abu Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr
Bakr Marwan I (POW)
Abdul-Rahman ibn Abi Waleed ibn Uqba (POW)
Bakr
Muslim ibn Aqeel
Harith ibn Rab'i
Jabir ibn Abd-Allah
Muhammad ibn al-
Hanafiyyah
Abu Ayyub al-Ansari
Abu Qatada bin Rabyee
Qays ibn Sa'd
Qathm bin Abbas
Abd Allah ibn Abbas
Khuzaima ibn Thabit
Jondab-e-Asadi

Strength
~20,000[6] ~30,000[6]

Casualties and losses

>400-500[7] >2,500[7]

~5,000[8][9] ~13,000[8][9]

Before the conflict

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

After the murder of Uthman, people in

Medina paid allegiance to Ali as the new
Muslim caliph. But after allegiance Talhah
and Zubair asked Ali for permission to
make pilgrimage to Mecca. He granted it
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 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.

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'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 3000 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 Prophet
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 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 Abu Bakr, one
of Ali's commanders. 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, 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.[28][29]

Sunni View of the Battle

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 much
power after the killing of Uthman. It was
difficult for Ali, the fourth Caliph, to
instantly punish them for their role in the
killing of Uthman, and 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
punish them. He himself says in Nahjul
Balagha:
 "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." [30]

This led to difference of opinion, and a

group started campaigning to pressurize
Ali to punish the rebels. But when both
groups confronted each other at the place
of Basrah, they started negotiating. When
the rebels saw that the negotiations may
lead to their punishment, they attacked
both the armies and disrupted the peace
process. According to Sunnis, Ali was the
rightly guided Caliph, and hence his
decision must have been obeyed.
Moreover, the hadith of Hawaab also
proves that Ali's opponents were wrong in
their stance. But since they also were
sincere in their intentions to bring the
killers of Uthman to justice, hence they
must not be condemned for the violence.
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]
Aftermath
Ali's forces overcame the rebels, and the
defeated army was treated according to
Islamic law. He sent Ayesha 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 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.[33]

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.

Ali was later killed by a Kharijite named

Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam while he was
praying in the mosque of Kufa.[34]

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.[35]

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.[36] Ali
blamed Ayesha due to such warfare.
Subsequently, Ali said to her brother
(Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr) to take her to
Basrah. She stayed there for some days till
afterwards she went to Medina but Ali sent
Abdullah bin Abbas to her and warned
Ayisha because the deadline was finished
for her, and actually she delayed in going.
Afterwards, she was taken to Medina with
a number of troops.[37]

Later on, whenever Ayisha was

remembering the day of Jamal, she
wished to be dead before that happening,
and actually she had this desire that I wish
I wouldn’t be presented in that event. [38]
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. As Ali was the
rightly guided caliph (Sunni) and the first
Imam (Shia), Aisha going against Ali
meant that she went against Islam and
received the curses of God. Those who did
not pick a side due to the honor and
respect of both Aisha and Ali onwards
were called Sunnis, and those who sided
with Ali alone were known as the Shia [39]

Participants
Soldiers of Imam Ali's Army

Ali[40]
Malik al-Ashtar
Hasan ibn Ali
Hussain ibn Ali
Ammar ibn Yasir
Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr
Muslim ibn Aqeel
Harith ibn Rab'i[40]
Jabir ibn Abd-Allah
Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah
Abu Ayub Ansari[41]
Abu Qatada bin Rab'i[41]
 Qays ibn Sa'd[41]
Qathm bin Abbas[41]
Jondab-e-Asadi

Soldiers of Aisha's Army

Aisha[42]
Talha ibn Ubayd-Allah[42]
Muhammad ibn Talha[43]
Zubayr ibn al-Awwam[42]
Marwan ibn al-Hakam[42]
Abd al-Rahman[44]
Abdullah ibn al-Walid (KIA)[44]
Abdullah ibn Hakim (KIA)[44]
Abdullah ibn Saffron[44]
 Yahya ibn Hakim ibn Safwan[44]
Amir ibn Mascud ibn Umayya ibn
Khalaf[44]
Ayyiib b. Habib b. Alqama b. Rabia[44]
Utba[44]
Abdullah ibn Abi Uthman ibn al-Akhnas
ibn Sharlq (KIA)[44]

Others involved

Abd-Allah ibn Umar[40]

Hafsa bint Umar[40]
Umm Salama Hind bint Abi Umayya[40]

Unclassified
 Abdullah bin Aamir Hadhrami of
Makkah[40]
Ya'la bin Umayya[40]
Abdullah bin Aamir bin Kurayz of
Basra[40]
Saeed bin Aas[40]
Mughira bin Shaaba[40]

References
1. Madelung 1997, pg. 168
2. Madelung 1997, pg. 166
3. Madelung 1997, pg. 176-177
4. Madelung 1997, pg. 167-8
5. Crone 1980, pg. 108
6. https://books.google.com/books?
id=axL0Akjxr-YC&pg=PT472
7. Madelung 1997, pg. 177
8. Jibouri, Yasin T. Kerbalā and Beyond.
Bloomington, IN: Authorhouse, 2011. Print.
ISBN 1467026131 Pgs. 30
9. Muraj al-Thahab Vol. 5, Pg. 177
10. Nahj al Balagha Sermon 72 Archived 7
May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
11. Medieval Islamic civilization By Josef W.
Meri Page 131
12. Nadvi, Sulaimān. Hadhrat Ayesha
Siddiqa: Her Life and Works. Safat, Kuwait:
Islamic Book, 1986. Print. Pg. 44
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
15. "A Shi'ite Encyclopedia" . Al-Islam.org.
Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project.
16. al-Hakim. al-Mustadrak, Volume 3.
p. 169.
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.
21. "Archived copy" . Archived from the
original on 18 June 2006. Retrieved
27 June 2006.
22. http://www.al-
islam.org/restatement/61.htm
23.
http://www.islam4theworld.com/Sahabah/t
alhah_bn_ubaydullah_R.htm
24. Ibn Saad, Tabaqat, vol. III, p. 223
25. The Early Caliphate, Maulana
Muhammad Ali, Al-Jadda Printers, pg. 169-
206, 1983
26.
http://www.alim.org/library/biography/khali
fa/content/KAL/53/3
27. William Muir, The Caliphate: Its Rise,
Decline and Fall from Original Sources.
Chapter XXXV: "Battle of the Camel".
London: 1891. p. 261.
28. Sahih Al Bukhari Volume 6, Book 60,
Number 352
29. The shadow of the sword, The Battle for
Global Empire and the End of the Ancient
World, Tom Holland, ISBN 9780349122359
Abacus Page 409
30. Nahj al Balagha, Sermon 168
31. Al Sunnah, Vol. 3, p. 255
32. Al Mustadrak Ala Sahihayn, Vol. 3, p.
420
33.
http://www.alim.org/library/biography/khali
fa/content/KAL/53/4
34. Tabatabae (1979), page 192 Archived
29 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine
35. Sahih Al Bukhari Volume 9, Book 88,
Number 228:[1] 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.
36. Mernissi, Fatima (1987). The Veil and
the Male Elite. New York: Basic Books. p. 5.
ISBN 978-0-201-63221-7.
37. Masudi, Vol.3, Pg.113 114
38. Ibn A'tham Kofi, Vol.2, p. 487.
39. Spellberg, D.A. (1994). Politics, Gender,
and the Islamic Past. Columbia University
Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-231-07999-0.
40. Razwy, Ali Asgher. A Restatement of the
History of Islam & Muslims: 579 to 661 CE .
Stanmore: World Federation of KSI Muslim
Communities, 1997. Print. Ch. 62
41. Islamic period
42. Restatement of History of Islam The
Battle of Basra on Al-Islam.org
43. www.islam4theworld.com
44. Madelung, Wilferd. The Succession to
Muḥammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997. Print.
ISBN 0521646960 Pg. 18

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Battle of the Camel.

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
Succeeded by
Muslim Muslim battles
Battle of
conquest of Year: 656 CE
Siffin
the Levant

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