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→The Caliphate of Ali
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Aisha raised an army of 30,000,<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 121}}.</ref> which Talha and Al-Zubayr warned her was still not enough to tackle the rebels in Medina.<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 41, 43}}.</ref> Instead they marched out to Syria, where they defeated the Governor of Basra and took over the city.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 76}}; Muir (1924), pp. 243-244.</ref> They 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> But they were not powerful enough to do anything more towards either their ostensible goal of avenging Uthman (since the majority of the rebels were still in Medina) or their real goal of deposing Ali. Meanwhile 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> If the conflict really had been about avenging Uthman, negotiations might well have averted the battle. But on 7 December 656 Aisha’s warriors killed a messenger from Ali, and Ali responded, “Now we are justified in fighting!”<ref></ref> So battle commenced. | Aisha raised an army of 30,000,<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 121}}.</ref> which Talha and Al-Zubayr warned her was still not enough to tackle the rebels in Medina.<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 41, 43}}.</ref> Instead they marched out to Syria, where they defeated the Governor of Basra and took over the city.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 76}}; Muir (1924), pp. 243-244.</ref> They 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> But they were not powerful enough to do anything more towards either their ostensible goal of avenging Uthman (since the majority of the rebels were still in Medina) or their real goal of deposing Ali. Meanwhile 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> If the conflict really had been about avenging Uthman, negotiations might well have averted the battle. But on 7 December 656 Aisha’s warriors killed a messenger from Ali, and Ali responded, “Now we are justified in fighting!”<ref></ref> So battle commenced. | ||
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> “Never did I see a day when more men hastened to fight with only as left hand because they had lost their right.”<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 171}}.</ref> Al-Zubayr, who no longer wanted 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/Suyuti p. 177. {{Tabari|16|pp. 164}} says it was only 10,000.</ref> After losing both Talha and Al-Zubayr, 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.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 153}}.</ref> Finally someone managed to cut down Al-Askar’s legs, and the ''howdah'' fell to the ground. With all their leaders defeated, “those soldiers of ‘A’ishah behind that position fled.”<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 149-150}}.</ref> Aisha, at Ali’s command, was extracted from her ''howdah'' by her own brother Muhammad and brought to Ali.<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> “Never did I see a day when more men hastened to fight with only as left hand because they had lost their right.”<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 171}}.</ref> Al-Zubayr, who no longer wanted 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/Suyuti p. 177. {{Tabari|16|pp. 164}} says it was only 10,000.</ref> After losing both Talha and Al-Zubayr, 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.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 153}}.</ref> Finally someone managed to cut down Al-Askar’s legs, and the ''howdah'' fell to the ground. With all their leaders defeated, “those soldiers of ‘A’ishah behind that position fled.”<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 149-150}}.</ref> Aisha, at Ali’s command, was extracted from her ''howdah'' by her own brother Muhammad and brought to Ali.<ref>Muir (1924) p. 251. Muhammad was Ali’s stepson; he had been very young when Abu Bakr died and his mother, Asma bint Umays, remarried to Ali.</ref> | ||
It would have been a foolish move 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 remained for several months until the next ''Hajj'', as if to demonstrate that she was free to go where she wished.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 167}}.</ref> But then she was taken back to Medina, where Ali kept her 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> | It would have been a foolish move 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 remained for several months until the next ''Hajj'', as if to demonstrate that she was free to go where she wished.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 167}}.</ref> But then she was taken back to Medina, where Ali kept her under house-arrest in the mosque complex for as long as he lived. She was to play no further part in public affairs.<ref>Muir (1924) p. 251.</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 understand these expressions of regret as proof that Aisha “sincerely repented and wasn't against the household [of Ali] after that.”<ref>[http://www.yanabi.com/index.php?/topic/426447-mothers-of-the-believers-hazrath-aisha-siddiqa-ra/page__st__80/ “Mothers Of The Believers Hazrath Aisha Siddiqa (r.a)” in ''Yanabi.com - reviving the spirit of Islam''.]</ref> However, it is not completely clear whether she repented starting the war or whether her real regret was only that she had lost it. When a man told her, “Repent, for you have made a mistake,” he was sentenced to 100 lashes.<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp.165-166}}.</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 understand these expressions of regret as proof that Aisha “sincerely repented and wasn't against the household [of Ali] after that.”<ref>[http://www.yanabi.com/index.php?/topic/426447-mothers-of-the-believers-hazrath-aisha-siddiqa-ra/page__st__80/ “Mothers Of The Believers Hazrath Aisha Siddiqa (r.a)” in ''Yanabi.com - reviving the spirit of Islam''.]</ref> However, it is not completely clear whether she repented starting the war or whether her real regret was only that she had lost it. When a man told her, “Repent, for you have made a mistake,” he was sentenced to 100 lashes.<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp.165-166}}.</ref> | ||