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→The Caliphate of Uthman
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Uthman ibn Affan, a son-in-law of Muhammad from the aristocratic Umayya clan, was elected the third caliph.<ref>{{Tabari|15|p. 252}}</ref> Aisha, who was now 30, had no ties of kinship or friendship with him. He began his reign by reducing her pension<ref></ref> yet at the same time he increased the salaries of his officials<ref>Muir (1924), p. 198.</ref> and made extravagant gifts to his personal friends.<ref></ref> Uthman was well-liked in the early years, for “he treated them with leniency and was attached to them.”<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti p. 161.</ref> As Medina prospered under his rule, “the fatness of men reached its height,” and “lax” people could be seen betting on flying pigeons and shooting with crossbows – until Uthman cut the wings of the pigeons and broke the bows.<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti p. 170.</ref> He expanded the mosque at Medina to a size of about 67m x 71m by buying up most of the adjoining buildings, though not the houses of Muhammad’s widows. Aisha therefore exchanged most of her old neighbours for carved stone walls, stone pillars and a teakwood roof.<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti pp. 159-160.</ref> | Uthman ibn Affan, a son-in-law of Muhammad from the aristocratic Umayya clan, was elected the third caliph.<ref>{{Tabari|15|p. 252}}</ref> Aisha, who was now 30, had no ties of kinship or friendship with him. He began his reign by reducing her pension<ref></ref> yet at the same time he increased the salaries of his officials<ref>Muir (1924), p. 198.</ref> and made extravagant gifts to his personal friends.<ref></ref> Uthman was well-liked in the early years, for “he treated them with leniency and was attached to them.”<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti p. 161.</ref> As Medina prospered under his rule, “the fatness of men reached its height,” and “lax” people could be seen betting on flying pigeons and shooting with crossbows – until Uthman cut the wings of the pigeons and broke the bows.<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti p. 170.</ref> He expanded the mosque at Medina to a size of about 67m x 71m by buying up most of the adjoining buildings, though not the houses of Muhammad’s widows. Aisha therefore exchanged most of her old neighbours for carved stone walls, stone pillars and a teakwood roof.<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti pp. 159-160.</ref> | ||
Uthman continued the policy of military conquest, adding Cyprus and Spain as well as the remaining provinces of North Africa, Anatolia (modern Turkey), Persia, Khorastan (modern Afghanistan) and parts of western India (modern Pakistan) to the Islamic empire.<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti pp. 159-161. He standardised the Qur’an to the form it takes today.<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti p. 170.</ref> None of this required help from Aisha. | Uthman continued the policy of military conquest, adding Cyprus and Spain as well as the remaining provinces of North Africa, Anatolia (modern Turkey), Persia, Khorastan (modern Afghanistan) and parts of western India (modern Pakistan) to the Islamic empire.<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti pp. 159-161.</ref> He standardised the Qur’an to the form it takes today.<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti p. 170.</ref> None of this required help from Aisha. | ||
But Uthman was elderly,<ref>{{Tabari|15|p. 252}}</ref> and his competence declined with his age. After 650 he lost popularity because he became increasingly nepotistic in his appointments and he embezzled the state treasury on behalf of his friends.<ref>{Tabari|16|p. 100}}; Jarrett/Puyuti p. 161.</ref> Abu Dharr al-Ghifari preached against Uthman’s opulent lifestyle: “Your gold and silver shall burn red-hot in Hellfire and brand your foreheads!” Uthman exiled Abu Dharr to the desert, where he died.<ref>Muir (1924), pp. 211-213.</ref> A group of Uthman’s detractors composed a letter criticising his “un-Islamic” policies, which was delivered by Ammar ibn Yasir, an early convert to Islam<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 117.</ref> who had fought at Badr.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 329.</ref> Uthman reacted to the criticism by ordering the octogenarian Ammar to be flogged. At this point, Aisha spoke out: “How soon indeed you have forgotten the ''sunna'' of your Prophet, when his hairs, a shirt and sandal have not yet perished!”<ref></ref> When Uthman’s brother Walid ibn Uqba turned up drunk to lead the prayers,<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti p. 159</ref> Uthman overlooked it and withheld the customary punishment. Aisha complained to Uthman, who responded with a remark that she had no right to approach him since she had been “ordered to stay at home.”<ref></ref> At this suggestion that a woman should not be involved in public affairs, some people “demanded to know who indeed had better right than Aisha in such matters.”<ref></ref> Uthman belatedly sentenced his brother to 80 lashes, which Ali delivered.<ref>{{Bukhari|5|57|45}}; {{Bukhari|5|58|212}}.</ref> | But Uthman was elderly,<ref>{{Tabari|15|p. 252}}</ref> and his competence declined with his age. After 650 he lost popularity because he became increasingly nepotistic in his appointments and he embezzled the state treasury on behalf of his friends.<ref>{Tabari|16|p. 100}}; Jarrett/Puyuti p. 161.</ref> Abu Dharr al-Ghifari preached against Uthman’s opulent lifestyle: “Your gold and silver shall burn red-hot in Hellfire and brand your foreheads!” Uthman exiled Abu Dharr to the desert, where he died.<ref>Muir (1924), pp. 211-213.</ref> A group of Uthman’s detractors composed a letter criticising his “un-Islamic” policies, which was delivered by Ammar ibn Yasir, an early convert to Islam<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 117.</ref> who had fought at Badr.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 329.</ref> Uthman reacted to the criticism by ordering the octogenarian Ammar to be flogged. At this point, Aisha spoke out: “How soon indeed you have forgotten the ''sunna'' of your Prophet, when his hairs, a shirt and sandal have not yet perished!”<ref></ref> When Uthman’s brother Walid ibn Uqba turned up drunk to lead the prayers,<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti p. 159</ref> Uthman overlooked it and withheld the customary punishment. Aisha complained to Uthman, who responded with a remark that she had no right to approach him since she had been “ordered to stay at home.”<ref></ref> At this suggestion that a woman should not be involved in public affairs, some people “demanded to know who indeed had better right than Aisha in such matters.”<ref></ref> Uthman belatedly sentenced his brother to 80 lashes, which Ali delivered.<ref>{{Bukhari|5|57|45}}; {{Bukhari|5|58|212}}.</ref> | ||
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In April 656 rebels from Syria, Mesopotamia and Egypt converged in Medina and demanded that Uthman abdicate.<ref>Muir (1924), pp. 224-227.</ref> They besieged him in his house and cut off his water supply</ref>Jarrett/Puyuti pp. 162-163.</ref> while the citizens of Medina watched. Ali, Talha, Al-Zubayr and the other leading Muslims made only token efforts to assist the Caliph.<ref>Muir (1924), pp. 230-231.</ref> Seeing that the rebels were likely to prevail, Aisha departed in June for the annual ''Hajj'' in Mecca so that she would be far from the crime-scene. She urged her brother Muhammad to accompany her, but he declined.<ref>Muir (1924), p. 231.</ref> During her absence, he was the leader of the besiegers who broke through the roof of Uthman’s house and stabbed him to death.<ref>{{Tabari|15|pp. 165-185}}; Jarrett/Puyuti pp. 165-167.</ref> | In April 656 rebels from Syria, Mesopotamia and Egypt converged in Medina and demanded that Uthman abdicate.<ref>Muir (1924), pp. 224-227.</ref> They besieged him in his house and cut off his water supply</ref>Jarrett/Puyuti pp. 162-163.</ref> while the citizens of Medina watched. Ali, Talha, Al-Zubayr and the other leading Muslims made only token efforts to assist the Caliph.<ref>Muir (1924), pp. 230-231.</ref> Seeing that the rebels were likely to prevail, Aisha departed in June for the annual ''Hajj'' in Mecca so that she would be far from the crime-scene. She urged her brother Muhammad to accompany her, but he declined.<ref>Muir (1924), p. 231.</ref> During her absence, he was the leader of the besiegers who broke through the roof of Uthman’s house and stabbed him to death.<ref>{{Tabari|15|pp. 165-185}}; Jarrett/Puyuti pp. 165-167.</ref> | ||
===The Caliphate of Ali=== | |||
Aisha had expected that the next caliph would be one of her brothers-in-law, Talha ibn Ubaydullah<ref>{{Tabari|15|pp. 238-239}}. Talha was the husband of her younger sister Umm Kulthum.</ref> or Al-Zubayr ibn Al-Awwam.<ref></ref> But on the road to Medina after her ''Hajj'', she heard that Ali had been elected,<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti pp. 166, 176.</ref> and exclaimed, “If this is true, I wish the sky would fall down!”<ref></ref> She suddenly remembered that Muhammad had thrice told Uthman, “If Allah ever places you in authority, and the hypocrites want to rid you of the garment, do not take it off,” and when she was asked why she had not told everyone that ''hadith'' earlier, she replied, “I was made to forget it.”<ref>Ibn Majah 1:112.</ref> She returned to Mecca and called for Uthman’s murder to be avenged, an inconsistency for which she was criticised.<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 52-53}}.</ref> Ali denied any involvement with the assassination,<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 180-181}}. Despite the convenience of Uthman’s murder to Ali, it has never been seriously suggested that he was actively involved.</ref> but nevertheless he claimed he was powerless to punish the murderers<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 18}}.</ref> and he refused to comment on whether the killing had been just or unjust.<ref>{{Tabari|17|p. 26}}.</ref> Al-Zubayr and Talha, who claimed they had only sworn allegiance to Ali under duress, now joined her in Mecca.<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti, p. 176.</ref> The anti-Ali faction gathered around them,<ref>Muir (1924), pp. 240-241.</ref> and they vowed to avenge Uthman,<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti, p. 176.</ref> which was a thinly disguised plot to depose Ali in favour of one of themselves.<ref>Muir (1924), p. 243, summarises the situation: “The cry of vengeance on the regicides really covered designs against … 'Ali.”</ref> | |||
Aisha raised an army of 30,000<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 121}}.</ref> and marched out to Syria. There she defeated the Governor of Basra and took over the city.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 76}}; Muir (1924), pp. 243-244.</ref> Talha and Al-Zubayr put to death everyone who was implicated in the assassination of Uthman and shaved off the beard of the deposed Governor.<ref>Muir (1924), p. 244.</ref> For several weeks, it seemed that Aisha had won. But Ali called up reinforcements,<ref>Muir (1924), pp. 246-247.</ref> and he entered Basra with a professional army of 20,000.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 121}}.</ref> At first each side held up copies of the Qur’an, urging the other not to fight.<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 129, 130, 152}}.</ref> Aisha’s side cursed Uthman’s killers, and Ali’s side started cursing them too.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 132}}.</ref> It seemed that negotiations might avert the battle. But in the end hostilities erupted, and on 7 December 656 Aisha’s warriors began to fight.<ref></ref> | |||
Aisha directed her troops from a red armour-plated ''howdah'' on a red camel<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 124, 156}}.</ref> named Al-Askar (“soldier”).<ref></ref> Talha was one of the first to be killed, by an arrow to his knee.<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 111, 126, 127, 150}}.</ref> However, since most of the warriors were wearing armour, arrows killed inefficiently, so both sides concentrated on sword-work and cutting off one another’s limbs.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 135}}.</ref> Al-Zubayr, who did not want to fight, left the battle, but he was followed and killed while at his prayers.<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 112, 159}}.</ref> The battle was long and bloody, and 13,000 were slain.<ref>Jarrett/Puyuti p. 177. {{Tabari|16|pp. 164}} says it was only 10,000.</ref> Aisha’s men felt obliged to protect the Mother of the Faithful by keeping close to her camel, and therefore Ali’s forces attacked the animal.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 136}}.</ref> Soon both Al-Askar and the ''howdah'' “looked like a giant hedgehog” because they were so stuck with arrows,<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 156}}.</ref> and seventy men were killed defending it. Finally someone managed to cut down Al-Askar’s legs, and the ''howdah'' fell to the ground. With all their leaders defeated, Aisha’s men retreated.<ref></ref> Aisha, at Ali’s command, was extracted from her ''howdah'' by her own brother Muhammad and brought to Ali.<ref></ref> | |||
It would have been politically incorrect to subject a Mother of the Faithful to judicial execution, so Ali staged a public show of reconciliation. He addressed Aisha as “Mother,” and they each asked the other’s forgiveness.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 158}}.</ref> Then he arranged for her brother to escort her to Mecca, where she performed the ''Umra'' (minor pilgrimage), then back to Medina.<ref></ref> Ali kept Aisha under house-arrest in the mosque complex for as long as he lived. She was to play no further part in public affairs.<ref></ref> | |||
Muslims have traditionally perceived the Battle of the Camel, the first war where Muslim fought Muslim, as “proof” that “woman was not created to poke her nose into politics.”<ref>[http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_401_450/female_leadership_in_islam.htm/ Sa’id Al-Afghani], cited in Shehabuddin, S. “Female Leadership in Islam” in ''Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.''</ref> In fact Aisha was no more aggressive than her male counterparts, and the war was no more disastrous than the hundreds of wars, including Muslim-against-Muslim wars, that male Muslims have fought ever since. The real problem was not that Aisha was a woman but that her Islamic world-view had taught her to solve problems by authoritarianism, assassination and open war. Aisha regretted the Battle of the Camel; she said she wished she had died twenty years beforehand,<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 162}}.</ref> or even, “I wish I had been a leaf on a tree! I wish I had been a stone! I wish I had been a clod of earth! By Allah, I wish that Allah had not created me as anything at all!”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:52.</ref> Sunni Muslims believe that she repented of leaving her home and dabbling in politics.<ref></ref> However, it is not completely clear whether she regretted starting the war or whether her real regret was only that she had lost. When a man told her to “repent, for you have made a mistake,” he was sentenced to 100 lashes.<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp.165-166}}.</ref> | |||
The remainder of Ali’s reign was dominated by his conflict with Muaawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, a brother-in-law of Muhammad<ref>Muaawiya’s sister Ramla had been one of Muhammad’s wives (Ibn Hisham note 918).</ref> and kinsman of Uthman. In due course, Muaawiya captured Aisha’s brother Muhammad, killed him “in retaliation for Uthman,” then “cast him into the corpse of a donkey and set fire to it.” Although Aisha had demanded vengeance on Uthman’s assassins, she apparently had not meant her brother, for whom she grieved deeply and made extra prayers.<ref>{{Tabari|17|pp. 157-158}}.</ref> Ali was assassinated within five years,<ref>{{Tabari|17|pp. 213-216, 226-227}}; Jarrett/Puyuti p. 178.</ref> and Aisha was “joyous” at the news.<ref>{{Tabari|17|p. 224}}.</ref> | |||