I did not commit any sin for which they could criticize me

The beginning of the battle

"By God, I did not commit any sin for which they could criticize me; nor did they put between them and me a fair judge. They are seeking a right which they have neglected and trying to avenge a blood which they have shed. Certainly they are the aggressor party which was predicted by the Prophet to include a man and woman who are related to each other through marriage.

"By God, I shall prepare for them a basin which I will fill. They will drink out of it, without quenching their thirst, and it will be their last drink. God, the two men (Talhah and Al-Zubeir) have faced me with open hostility, dealt with me unjustly, breached their pledge of allegiance to me and instigated people against me. God, I ask Thee to untie what they knotted and invalidate what they plotted and make them meet disappointment in their expectation and action. I have tried to secure their repentance to prevent hostility and gave them a respite before the battle began. They ignored the gracious overture and rejected peace. (The Imam Ali, Nahjul-Balaghah, part 2, page 19).

The Imam was not a man to be intimidated by war, nor frightened by the quantity of enemies. Talhah and AlZubeir and their thirty thousand soldiers would not terrify him. He was still the same hero who brought the Arabs to their knees during the days of the Holy Prophet, and the years did not increase in him but bravery and determination. He had known through information from the Messenger that this battle was coming and that his enemies were the aggressor party which the Prophet described to include the man and the woman who are related to each other through marriage rather than birth (Al-Zubeir was married to Asma, sister of Ayeshah).

The Imam Knew His Killer s Description

When he faced Al-Zubeir unarmed, the Imam was asked: How did you face Al-Zubeir unarmed and he was well armed, knowing his bravery? "Al-Zubeir is not my killer, he replied. "My killer is obscure, from a low family. He will kill me but not on a battlefield. Woe to his mother. He will wish that his mother had been bereaved by his death. Certainly he is as wicked as the killer of the Female Camel of the Prophet Salih. (The Camel of Salih was created miraculously and was killed by one of the most wicked men in history.)

Although he knew that his opponents shall fight him, he offered them peace and called upon them to change their attitude. He was determined to use all means available to him in order to prevent bloodshed.

Should they refuse his peaceful proposal and persist in their hostile way, he was determined to prepare for them a deadly basin which he will fill. He would be the one to fill it, and they would come out of it without quenching their thirst. Then he asked the Almighty to untie what they knotted and to show them the evil consequences of their deed and the disappointment in what they expected; and God responded to his prayer.

Historians disagree about the duration of the Battle of Bassrah, whether it was one day or more. Whatever the time of its duration, it was one of the ugliest and most violent battles. It was unique in its effect in dividing the Muslims. For the first time history witnessed the Muslims standing in two camps, fighting each other, and thousands of them fell by the swords of each other.

The battle started and appeared to be short, and the losses seemed to be light. The general offense which the army of the Imam started was stormy. It shook the Bassrite camp and compelled the thousands of the soldiers of the three leaders to run away before the middle of the day. Talhah was shot by a deadly arrow which made him bleed to death. It is reported that Marwan Ibn Al-Hakam killed him. (1)

Talhah s Death

Jundab Ibn Abdullah Al-Azdi reported that he witnessed Talhah accompanied by a band of fighters, and many of them were wounded and they were overwhelmed by people. Talhah himself was wounded. He was holding a sword, and his followers were leaving him one after another, and he was saying: "Servants of God, patience, patience, there is only victory and reward after patience. I told him: "May your mother be bereaved by your death. Go away to safety. By God, you would not be victorious, nor would you have any reward. You have only sinned and lost. Then I shouted at his followers and they were surprised and left him. Then I told him: By God, if I want to, I can kill you here. He replied: By God, if you do that, you would perish in this world and in the Hereafter. I said:

By God, your blood has become legal to us, and you are of the regretters. Then he left accompanied only by three people, and I do not know what happened to him after that, except that I know he perished. (2)

Al-Qaaqaa Ibn Amr witnessed Talhah urging people to fight, even though he was bleeding from a wound. He told him: Abu Mohammad, you are wounded and you are too sick to continue your way. Enter these houses. (3)

The Killer of Talhah

Historians reported that Marwan Ibn Al-Hakam is the one who shot him with a deadly arrow. Yet, Talhah was his commander. Marwan and the rest of the Omayads believed that Talhah and A1-Zubeir were two of the main agitators against Othman, but they were delaying their avenge of the two men until they obtain victory against the Imam. When Marwan witnessed that the battle was lost, he did not want Talhah to escape death because he was to the Omayads the actual killer of Othman. Thus, the Omayad strategy was to use the three leaders as a means to retrieve the authority which they lost by the death of Othman. They were ready to sacrifice the three leaders as easily as one would spend a dirham. But the three leaders did not know what they were doing. Had Al-Zubeir not been killed after his departure from Bassrah, he would not have escaped the avenge of the Omayads.

Al-Zubeir Left the Battlefield

The Imam, as we mentioned above, reminded Al-Zubeir of the word of the Messenger when he told him that he will fight Ali while he is unjust to him. Upon that, Al-Zubeir promised not to fight the Imam.

His determination to fight was already weakened when he knew that Ammar Ibn Yasir is within the army of the Imam. In spite of this, he remained at the camp and participated in the battle for a short time. He did so because his son, Abdullah, accused him of being a coward filled with fear when he witnessed the flags of Ali carried by brave men. When Al-Zubeir informed his son that he took an oath not to fight Ali, his son counseled him to break his oath and make an atonement for that by liberating one of his servants. He did that and fought. (4)

Al-Zubeir Freed a Slave in Order to Fight the Imam's Camp

It is amazing that Al-Zubeir was too scrupulous to break his oath without an atonement, but he was not too scrupulous after the atonement to participate in a battle in which he may kill whomever he faces of the Muslims. Yet, he knew that killing a believer deliberately would bring eternity in Hell. (5)

Finally, Al-Zubeir left the battlefield, and he did not leave until Ammar Ibn Yasir met him and started driving him out of the battlefield by his spear. Afraid to kill Ammar, or to be killed by him, Al-Zubeir asked him repeatedly: "Abu Al-Yaqthan (Ammar's code name), do you want to kill me? Ammar repeatedly answered him:

"No, Abu Abdullah (Al-Zubeir's code name), but you have to leave. (6) It was known to the companions that the Messenger said that the aggressor party shall kill Ammar.

Al-Zubeir was expected to fear a fight against the Imam more than a fight against Ammar. For fighting Ali, according to the testimony of the Messenger, is like fighting the Messenger himself. The Prophet said to Ali, Fatima, Al-Hassan, and Al-Hussein: "I am at peace with whomever you are at peace, and I am at war with whomever you are at war". (7)

Al-Zubeir met his death after leaving Bassrah. Amr Ibn Jurmooz killed him while he was on his way to Medina. (8)

Under the Leadership of Ayeshah

The camp of the three leaders was shaken up. Talhah died and Al-Zubeir left the battlefield; but Mother of the Believers took over after the two and proved that she was a braver leader and more capable of commanding the masses. She was more hostile than the two companions to the Imam. She had, through her relationship to the Messenger and to her father Abu Bakr, a halo of holiness in the eyes of the masses of the Muslims. She was placed in an armored canopy on the back of her camel (Askar). She called upon the people to come and fight, and they came back to her with great zeal. They probably felt that to let the wife of the Messenger down is to let the Messenger himself down. They decided to offer their sacrifices for her. They attacked the right and left wings of the Imam' s army and forced the two wings to retreat. The two wings joined the heart of the army where the Imam was standing. At that moment, the Imam showed a bravery unparalleled in the history of wars. (9)

The Unique Courage

The Imam personally moved towards the camel leading what was called the "Green Division which consisted of the Migrant and Medinite companions. He was surrounded by his children Al-Hassan, Al-Hussein, and Mohammad. He gave the banner to Mohammad, and Mohammad told his soldiers to slow down until the rain of the arrows stopped. The Imam sent word to Mohammad urging him to advance and commanding him to start the decisive battle. When Mohammad hesitated, the Imam came from behind and put his left hand on the right shoulder of his son. He reprimanded him and commanded him to advance. (10)

The Imam then, compassionately, took the banner from him and carried it in his left hand while his sword was drawn in his right hand. Then he charged the opposite camp, hitting them with his sword, then came back when his sword was twisted. He straightened it with his knee. His children and companions, including Ammar and Al-Ashtar, surrounded him and tried to prevent him from repeating his action, but he kept looking at the opposite camp. Then, he returned the banner to his son Mohammad, and charged again, entering into the midst of the hostile camp, hitting them with his sword. Witnessing people falling by his sword, men started to run away from him to the right and to the left. He returned after he moistened the soil with their blood, and his sword was twisted; so he again had to straighten it with his knee. (11)

His companions surrounded him and asked him in the name of God not to continue, reminding him that it was their duty to protect him and do what he was doing. He said: By God, I do not want out of what you are witnessing (of his action) anything except to please God. Then he said to Mohammad: "Son of Al-Hanafeyah (his mother): This is the way you should fight.

Ta-if's Honey

A man brought him honey. When he tasted it, he said to the man who brought it: "Certainly your honey is from Al-Ta-if, (a city in Hijaz), and the man said: Yes, it is. But "Ameer Al-Mumineen, by God, I am amazed, how could you distinguish the honey of Al-Ta-if from others today when the hearts are jumping to the throats? The Imam replied: "Son of my brother, by God, no fear touched the heart of your uncle, nor is he concerned with anything (but the truth). (12)

The Imam s Thrust Changed the Battle

The two charges of the Imam had their expected effect. They represented a thrust in the camp of the enemy and raised the morale of the Imam s army. He ordered Al-Ashtar to attack with his division the left wing of the Bassrite army, and he did and killed Hilal Ibn Wakee-a, who was the commander of the left wing. The fight was fierce and Al-Ashtar forced the left wing to retreat towards Ayeshah. They formed a circle around her, and most of them were from Banu Dhubbah, Banu Oday, Banu Asad, Banu Najiah, and Banu Bahilah. All these surrounded the camel and started to compete with each other by holding the rein of the camel one after another. The camel became the banner of the Bassrites, and Mother of the Believers was urging her sons to fight, and her hope of victory did not diminish.

Abdullah Ibn Khalaf A1-Khuza-i, chief of the people of Bassrah and their wealthiest, came and asked for a duel, saying that no one should meet him but Ali, and the Imam came to him and immediately hit him with his sword and split his head. Abdullah Ibn Abza held the rein of the camel, then attacked the army of the Imam, saying:

"I hit them but I do not see Abu Hassan (Ali). This certainly is saddening. The Imam met him and struck him with his spear, and left the spear in him, saying: "You have seen Abu Hassan. How did you see him?"

About seventy warriors from Quraish were killed while they were holding the rein of the camel, and many nonQureshites also died. (13) Abdul-Rahman Ibn Attab Ibn Oseid from Omayad was from the top of the Qureshites. Al-Ashtar attacked him and killed him. Al-Ashtar also attacked and killed Khabbar Ibn Amr Al-Rasibi when he heard him challenging the Imam.

Ammar, the Ninety- Year-Old

Ammar Ibn Yasir, who was ninety years old, fought like a lion. It is reported that he had a duel with Amr Ibn Yathri who was the bravest one among the Bassrites. Amr Ibn Yathri killed a number of companions of the Imam. Ammar challenged him saying: Certainly you have taken refuge in a safe place. Leave your place and come to me. People worried about Ammar because of his old age and because of the reputation of Amr as a warrior. But Am- mar prevailed against him and dragged him by his feet to the camp of the Imam. (14)

A man said to the Imam: "Ameer Al-Mumineen, what a great "Fitnah (faith-testing trial)!! The Badrians (companions who attended the Battle of Badr with the Holy Prophet) are attacking each other with swords. The Imam replied: "Woe to you; Would this be a "Fitnah when I am its leader? By the One Who sent Muhammad with the truth and honored his face, I never lied; nor was I devious from the right road, and no one ever was deviated from the right road through me. I am on a clear evidence from my Lord who made it clear to His Messenger and His Messenger made it clear to me. I shall be summoned on the Day of Judgment and I will be guiltless. And if I had sinned, what I am doing now would be an atonement for my sin. (15)

Hamstringing the Camel

Beholding that death is around the camel and realizing that the war will not come to an end as long as that camel was standing, the Imam drew his sword and advanced towards the camel while the rein of the camel was in the hands of the Dhubbites. The killing continued and many of them fell down. The Imam reached the camel with a group from Nukhaa and Hamdan. He said to one of his companions (named Bujair): Hit the camel. Bujair hit the back of the camel with his sword. The camel fell down on his side and roared terribly. As soon as the animal fell, the army of Bassrah ran away as if they were locusts in a strong wind.

The Imam Spoke

Muhammad Ibn Abu Bakr and Ammar Ibn Yasir carried the canopy of Ayeshah and put her aside. The Imam came towards her while he was angry but holding himself. He hit the canopy with his spear and said to her: Sister of Aram (likening her to a woman that ruled the country of Yemen before Islam). "You have brought people back to fight after they ran away and instigated them and made them kill each other. . . "She said: Ibn Abu Talib, you have won, be forebearant. . . Then she was taken to the mansion of Abdullah Ibn Khalaf Al-Khuza-i. She stayed days there, then the Imam sent her back to Medina in a very dignified way accompanied by women and men. (16)

Ammar came to her when she was about to leave. He asked her: "Mother, where does this journey fit with what God had commanded you to do? She said: "I testify that you were always telling the truth. He said:

"Praise be to God, the One Who put for me these words on your tongue". (17)

The Imam remained three days in his camp, then he entered Bassrah. He followed the "Sunnah of the Prophet in his treatment of the people of Mecca. He forgave their guilty and prevented his followers from taking anything from the properties of the Bassrites. He divided what he found in the treasury of Bassrah among the winners and the vanquished equally. He prayed over the dead of the two parties. People of Bassrah re-elected him and re-pledged to him allegiance. He received that pledge from them while they were under their banners. He received it from the healthy and the wounded.

He addressed his vanquished opponents, saying: "You were the army of the woman and the followers of the animal. When it roared you responded, and when it was hamstrung you ran away . . . Whoever lives with you would be bound by his sin, and the one who leaves you receives the mercy of his Lord! By God, your city shall be drowned, and I visualize its mosque looking like a front of a ship or a sitting giraffe. (18) His prophecy was fulfilled years later when Bassrah was drowned and covered by water and nothing of its buildings remained visible except its mosque. (19)

One of his companions told him after God gave him the victory: I wish my brother was present here to see how God gave you victory over your enemies. The Imam replied: "Is the sympathy of your brother with us? He said: Yes. The Imam said: "Then he was present with us, and others were present who have not been conceived yet, whom time shall bring infrequently and through whom the faith will be strengthened. (20).

Notes:

1. Al-Tabari, his History, part 4, p. 509. Abdul Fatah Abdul-Maqsoud, Al-Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib, part 3, p. 222.

2. Ibn Abu Al-Hadeed, Commentary on Nahjul Balaghah, part 2, p.431.

3. Al-Tabari, his History, part 4, p. 513.

4. Al-Tabari, his History, part 4, p. 509. Taha Hussein, Al-FitnatAl-Kubra, part 2, pp. 48-49.

5. The Holy Qur'an, chapter 4, verse 94.

6. Ibn Al-Atheer,Al-Kamil, part3,p. 124.

7. Ibn Majah, his authentic Sunan, part 1, p. 143.

8. Al-Tabari, his History, part 4, p. 510-511.

9. Abdul-Fattah Abdul-Maqsoud, Al-Imam Ali Ibn Abu Ta/lb. part 3, pp. 2 14-216.

10. Ibn Abu Al-Hadeed, Commentary on Nahjul-Balaghah, 1, p. 86.

11. Abdul Fattah Abdul-Maqsoud, Al-Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib. part 3, p. 219.