Before the First Muslim Civil War (656–661), Zufar had lived in Basra. At the Battle of the Camel in November 656, he fought alongside the forces of A'isha, a wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, against Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law Caliph Ali (), commanding the men of the Banu Amir. Accounts in the history of al-Tabari (d. 923) note that during the battle, Zufar was the last of a series of A'isha's partisans to hold and guide the nose rein of the camel she was seated upon, defending her against opposing soldiers. All the participating elders of the Banu Amir were slain in the battle with the apparent exception of Zufar. Ali defeated A'isha, who retired to Medina. Zufar moved to the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia).