Battle of the Camel Harb al - Jamal translated into English as the Battle of the Camel ( also known as the Battle of Jamal ) took place at Basra , Iraq in November 7 , 656 AD . The forces of Amir al - Momineen Ali ibn Abi Talib , the fourth Rashidun Caliph and the first Shia Imam who was the cousin / son in - law of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad , faced the forces led by Aisha , a widow of Muhammad . The battle is seen as the first Fitna ( first Islamic civil war ) . Before the conflict . Talhah and Zubeir asked Ali the permission for pilgrimage . He let them and they departed . The Medina people wanted to know Ali ’ s point of view about war against Muslims by asking his view about Muawiyah I and his refusal to give Ali his allegiance . So they sent Ziyad Ben Hanzalah of Tamim who was an intimate friend to Ali . He went to him and sat for a while . He went back and told the people in Madina that Ali wanted to confront Muawiyah . In Madina , Marwan also manipulated people . In Iraq many people hated the Syrians following the Byzantine - Sassanid Wars . Some of Ali ' s supporters were also very extreme in their views and considered everyone to be their enermy . They also felt that if there was peace , they would be arrested for the killing of Uthman . Many of them later became the Kharijites and eventually killed Ali . Aisha ( Aisha bint Abu Bakr ) ( Muhammad ' s widow ) , Talhah ( Talha ibn Ubayd - Allah ) and Zubayr ibn al - Awam ( Abu ‘ Abd Allah Zubayr ibn al - Awwam ) set off from Makah on their way to Iraq to ask Ali to arrest Uthman ibn Affan killers , not to fight Muawiyah . Preparation for battle . They evidently believed that Ali was wrong to occupy himself in other tasks before finding Uthman ' s murderer . They challenged Ali ' s caliphate under the claim that Ali had been unsuccessful in finding Uthman ' s murderer , claiming Qisas for Uthman . While passing Madina , on their way to Iraq , Aisha , Talha and Zubair passed a group of Umayyads leaving Madina led by Marwan who said that the people who had killed Uthman , had also been causing them trouble . Everyone then went to Basra , which was the beginning of the first civil war in Islam . Some historians put the number at around 3000 people . On learning of the advance of Aisha , Talha and Zubair , Ali set out to meet them . He had with him only 700 men . Too weak to proceed , he camped at a desert well in Nejd . He sent his elder son Hasan , in company with former Kufa governor Ammar ibn Yasir , to request assistance from Kufa ; their appeal eventually had the desired effect . Several thousand men from Kufa reinforcing his army , Ali was now ready for battle , and descended upon Basra . Zubair and Talha , then went out to meet Ali . Not all Basra was with them . Beni Bekr , the tribe once led by the second Caliph , joined the army of Ali . Beni Temeem decided to remain neutral . Battle . Professor Leila Ahmed claims that it was during this engagement that Muslims fought Muslims for the first time . The battle was a reflection of pre - Islamic practices of bloodshed for vigilantly causes . According to prominent Sunni scholar and historian Ibn Jarir al - Tabari , Ali had employed Jats to guard the Basra treasury during the Battle of Jamal . Some chieftains of the Kufa tribes contacted their tribes living in Basra . A Chieftain contacted Ali to settle the matter . Ali did not want to fight and Ali agreed to negotiate . He then contacted Aisha and spoke to her , " Is it not wise to shed the blood of five thousand for the punishment of five hundred " She agreed to settle the matter . Ali then met Talha and Zubair and told them about the prophecy of Muhammad . Ali ' s cousin Zubair said to Ali " What a tragedy that the Muslims who had acquired the strength of a rock are going to be smashed by colliding with one another " . Both Talha and Zubair did not want to fight and left the field . Everyone was happy , but not the people who had killed Uthman and the supporters of Ibn Saba and the Qurra , who later became the Khawarij . They thought that if a settlement was reached , they would not be safe . The Qurra and the Sabaites launches a night attack and started burning the tents . Ali tried to restrain his men but no one was listening . Everyone thought that the other party had committed breach of trust . Confusion prevailed throughout the night . The Qurra and the Sabaites attacked the Umayyads and the fighting started . Talhah had also left . On seeing this , Marwan who was also manipulating everyone shot Talhah with a poisoned arrow saying that he had disgraced his tribe , by leaving the field . According to some Shia accounts Marwan ibn al - Hakam shot Talha , who became disabled in the leg by the shot , and was carried into Basra , where he died later of his wound . According to Shia sources Marwan said , While in the Sunni sources it says that he said that Talha had disgraced his tribe , by leaving the field . With the two generals Zubair and Talhah gone , confusion prevailing and the Qurra , the Sabaites and the Umayyads fought . Qadi Kaab ibn Sur of Basra held the Quran on his head and then advised Aysha to mount her camel to tell people to stop fighting , until he was killed by arrows shot by the forces of Ali . As the battle raged Ali ' s forces targeted their arrows to pierce the howdah of Aisha . The rebels lead by Aisha then gathered around her and about a dozen of her warriors were beheaded while holding the reins of her camel . However the warriors of Ali faced much casualties during their attempts to reach Aisha as dying corpses lay pilled in heaps . The battle only came to an end when Ali ' s troops as commanded attacked the camel from the rear and cut off the legs of the beast . Aisha fled from the arrow - pierced howdah and was captured by the forces of Ali . Ali ' s cousin Zubair , was by then making his way to Medina and he was killed in an adjoining valley by a Sabait called Amr ibn Jarmouz , he had followed Zubair and murdered him while he was performing Salah prayers . Aisha ' s brother Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr , who was Ali ' s commander , then approached Aisha . Ali then met Aisha , who was at that time aged 45 , there was reconciliation between them and Ali pardoned Aisha . He then sent Aisha to Medina under military escort headed by her brother Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr , one of Ali ' s commanders . She subsequently retired to Medina with no more interference with the affairs of state . Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was the son of Abu Bakr , the adopted son of ‘ Ali ibn Abi Talib , and the great - grandfather of Ja ‘ far al - Sadiq . Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was raised by Ali alongside Hasan and Husein . Hassan also accompanied Aisha part of the way back to Madina . ‘ Ali and Aisha were said to have become friends after the battle . Aisha then started teaching in Medina and deeply resented Marwan . Tom Holland writes in the best selling book " The shadow of the sword , The Battle for Global Empire and the End of the Ancient World " Marwan was fabulously venal and slippery . Nothing he had done had helped to improve his reputation for double dealing . Casualties . According to historian William Muir , 10 , 000 people lost their life in this battle , with each party bearing equal loss . In the three days after the battle , Ali performed a funeral service for all the dead from both parties . Aftermath . Ali ' s forces overcame the rebels , and the defeated army was treated with generosity . Ali met Aisha , who was at that time aged 45 , there was reconciliation between them . He sent her back to Medina under military escort headed by her brother Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr , one of Ali ' s commanders . She subsequently retired to Medina with no more interference with the affairs of state . Talha , who became disabled in the leg by the shot and fled the battlefield was carried into Basra , where he died later of his wound . When the head of Zubayr ibn al - Awwam was presented to Ali by Ahnaf ibn Qais , the Caliph Ali couldn ' t help but to sob and condemn the murder of his cousin this reaction caused Ahnaf ibn Qais to commit suicide by stabbing himself . Marwan I and the Qurra ( who later became the Khawarij ) manipulated every one and created conflict . Marwan was arrested but he later asked Hassan and Hussein for assistance and was released . Ali was later killed by a Kharijite Abd - al - Rahman ibn Muljam while he was praying in the mosque of Kufa . Two decades later , after years of planning and scheming and making every one else fight , Marwan came to power in Syria and the Qurra ( the Kharijites ) established a state in Southern Iraq .