# Talha ibn Ubayd Allah

Ṭalḥa ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Taymī (Arabic: طَلْحَة بن عُبَيْد اللّه التَّيمي, c. 594 – c. 656) was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In Sunni Islam, he is mostly known for being among al-ʿashara al-mubashshara ('the ten to whom Paradise was promised'). He played an important role in the Battle of Uhud and the Battle of the Camel, in which he died. According to Sunnis, he was given the title "the Generous" by Muhammad. However, Shia Muslims do not honour him.

## Biography

Talha was born c.594, A member of the Taym clan of the Quraysh in Mecca, Talha was the son of Ubayd Allah ibn Uthman ibn Amr ibn Ka'b ibn Sa'd ibn Taym ibn Murra ibn Ka'b ibn Lu'ay ibn Ghalib and of al-Sa'ba bint Abd Allah, who was from the Hadram tribe. Talha's lineage meets with that of Muhammad at Murra ibn Ka'b.

### Acceptance of Islam

Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall describes how Abu Bakr, after embracing Islam, immediately urged his closest associates to do likewise. Among them were Talha, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, Uthman ibn Affan, and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas. Talha was said to have been one of the first eight converts.$^{:115}$$^{:164}$
Among the converts in Mecca, Talha was given a shared responsibility as a hafiz, people who memorized every verse of the Quran, along with Abu Bakr, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas. During the persecution of the Muslims in 614–616, Nawfal ibn Khuwaylid tied Talha to Abu Bakr and left them roped together. Nobody from the Taym clan came to help.$^{:164}$ Thereafter they were known as "the Two Tied Together".$^{:127–128,337}$

### Migration to Medina

In September 622, when Talha was returning from a business trip to Syria, he met with the Muslims who had left Mecca and were emigrating to Medina. Talha gave them some Syrian garments and mentioned that the Muslim community in Medina had said that their prophet was slow to arrive. As Muhammad and Abu Bakr continued to Medina, Talha returned to Mecca to put his affairs in order. Soon afterwards, he accompanied Abu Bakr's family to Medina, where he settled.$^{:164}$
At first he lodged with As'ad ibn Zurara, but later Muhammad gave him a block of land on which he built his own house. He was made the brother in Islam of Sa'id ibn Zayd.$^{:165}$ Talha and Sa'id missed fighting at the Battle of Badr because Muhammad sent them as scouts to locate Abu Sufyan's caravan. However, both were awarded shares of the plunder, as if they had been present.$^{:165}$
Talha distinguished himself at the Battle of Uhud by keeping close to Muhammad while most of the Muslim army fled. He protected Muhammad's face from an arrow by taking the shot in his own hand, as a result of which his index and middle fingers were cut. He was also hit twice in the head, and it was said that he suffered a total of 39 or 75$^{:165–166}$ wounds. Toward the end of the battle, Talha fainted from his heavy injuries, Abu Bakar soon reached their location to check Muhammad condition first, who immediately instructing Abu Bakar to check the condition of Talha, who already passed out due to his severe bloodloss. and his hand was left paralysed. For this heroic defence of Muhammad, Talha earned the byname "the living martyr". Talha is said to be the anonymous believer counted as a "martyr" in Quran 33:23 . Abu Bakr also called the battle of Uhud "the day of Talha".
Talha fought at the Battle of the Trench and all the campaigns of Muhammad.$^{:166}$ During the Expedition of Dhu Qarad, Talha personally sponsored the operation through his wealth, thus causing Muhammad to give him the sobriquet "Talha al-Fayyad".
Talha is included among the ten to whom Paradise was promised.

### Ridda Wars

In the third week of July 632, Medina faced an imminent invasion by the apostate forces of Tulayha, a self-proclaimed prophet. Abu Bakr scraped together an army mainly from the Hashim clan (the clan of Muhammad), appointing Talha, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Zubayr each as commanders of one-third of the newly organised force.

### Rashidun caliphate

For the rest of his life, Talha served Majlis-ash-Shura as a council member of the Rashidun caliphate.
In 635 to 636, caliph Umar assembled his council, including Zubayr, Ali and Talha, about the battle plan to face the Persian army of Rostam Farrokhzad in Qadisiyyah. At first the caliph himself led the forces from Arabia to Iraq, but the council urges Umar not to lead the army in person and instead appoint someone else, as his presence was needed more urgently in the capital. Umar agreed and asked the council to suggest a commander. The council agreed to send Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas; Sa'd served as the overall commander on Persian conquest and won the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah.
Later, the caliph heard that Sassanid forces from Mah, Qom, Hamadan, Ray, Isfahan, Azerbaijan, and Nahavand had gathered in Nahavand to counter the Arab invasion. Caliph Umar responded by assembling a war council consisting of Zubayr, Ali, Uthman ibn Affan, Talha, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, and Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib to discuss the strategy to face the Sassanids in Nahavand. The caliph want to lead the army himself, but Ali urged the caliph to instead delegate the battlefield commands to the field commanders, prompting the caliph decides instead delegate the reinforcement commands to Zubayr, Tulayha, Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib, Abdullah ibn Amr, Al-Ash'ath ibn Qays and others under the command of Al-Nu'man ibn Muqrin to go to Nahavand, to face the army of the Sasanian Empire in the battle of Nahavand.

### Battle of the Camel and death

Talha was killed at the Battle of the Camel on 10 December 656. Several conflicting narratives have been provided to explain how it happened. According to one account, during the battle, Marwan ibn al-Hakam, who was fighting on the same side as Aisha, shot Talha in the thigh. Another account attributes Talha's death to being killed by Ali's supporters while retreating from the field. Talha hugged his horse and galloped off the battlefield. He lay down using a stone as a pillow, while the auxiliaries tried to staunch the blood flow. Whenever they stopped pressing, the bleeding resumed. In the end, Talha said, "Stop it. This is an arrow sent by God." He died of this injury, aged 64.$^{:170–171}$

## Family

Talha had at least fifteen children by at least eight different women.
The known descendants of Talha by his various wives and concubines have divided into six lines.

## Personal characteristics

Talha was described as a dark-skinned man with a great deal of wavy hair, a handsome face and a narrow nose. He liked to wear saffron-dyed clothes and musk. He walked swiftly and, when nervous, he would toy with his ring, which was of gold and set with a ruby.$^{:167–168}$
Talha was a successful cloth-merchant who eventually left an estate estimated at 30 million dirhams.$^{:153,169–1670}$ According to modern writer Asad Ahmed, Talha possessed wealth that second only to that of Uthman ibn Affan. A report from Munzir ibn Sawa Al-Tamimi states that Talha had one property in Iraq that yielded four to five hundred dinar in gold. His enterprises included the initiation of al-Qumh (wheat) agricultural work among his community. Talha was said to have accumulated his lucrative properties and wealth by exchanging those that he acquired from the battle of Khaybar for the properties in Iraq that were possessed by Arab Hejazi settlers there and from the transaction of several land properties in Hadhramaut with Uthman. Talha is also said to have drawn profits from his lifetime of trade in Syria and Yemen.

## Tomb

Talha ibn 'Ubayd Allah is buried in Basra, Iraq in a mausoleum which is currently under construction as of 2018. The mausoleum was formerly part of a 1973 mosque complex that was destroyed by explosives in a revenge attack by Shi'ite militias for the 2006 al-Askari mosque bombing.