The Battle of al-Jamal (36 A.H)
Debunking fictious claims regarding this dispute based on historical data
The incident of Ma’rakat al-Jamal stemmed from the earlier assassination of the 3rd rightly guided Caliph Uthman Ibn Affan (May God be Pleased with Him)[1].
To understand the importance of this assassination, we must first understand the person of Uthman Ibn Affan (May God be Pleased with Him).
Virtue of Uthman Ibn Affan (May God be Pleased with Him):
The 3rd rightly guided Caliph was highly revered by the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), who said regarding him:
[For the sake of historical accuracy, I will present the chain of narration for every hadith I quote and mention its authenticity. The reason for this is because the outlandish anathematic claims made regarding this event is based on false or weak hadith.
History cannot be established on fabricated or very weak narrations. This is why the scholars created the science of hadith criticism. You cannot believe or trust anything and everything people say without adequate proof, but this requires the willingness to learn and knowledge on the topic]
حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ يَحْيَى، وَيَحْيَى بْنُ أَيُّوبَ، وَقُتَيْبَةُ، وَابْنُ، حُجْرٍ قَالَ يَحْيَى بْنُ يَحْيَى أَخْبَرَنَا وَقَالَ الآخَرُونَ، حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ، - يَعْنُونَ ابْنَ جَعْفَرٍ - عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي حَرْمَلَةَ، عَنْ عَطَاءٍ، وَسُلَيْمَانَ، ابْنَىْ يَسَارٍ وَأَبِي سَلَمَةَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ أَنَّ عَائِشَةَ، قَالَتْ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم مُضْطَجِعًا فِي بَيْتِي كَاشِفًا عَنْ فَخِذَيْهِ أَوْ سَاقَيْهِ فَاسْتَأْذَنَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ فَأَذِنَ لَهُ وَهُوَ عَلَى تِلْكَ الْحَالِ فَتَحَدَّثَ ثُمَّ اسْتَأْذَنَ عُمَرُ فَأَذِنَ لَهُ وَهُوَ كَذَلِكَ فَتَحَدَّثَ ثُمَّ اسْتَأْذَنَ عُثْمَانُ فَجَلَسَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَسَوَّى ثِيَابَهُ - قَالَ مُحَمَّدٌ وَلاَ أَقُولُ ذَلِكَ فِي يَوْمٍ وَاحِدٍ - فَدَخَلَ فَتَحَدَّثَ فَلَمَّا خَرَجَ قَالَتْ عَائِشَةُ دَخَلَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ فَلَمْ تَهْتَشَّ لَهُ وَلَمْ تُبَالِهِ ثُمَّ دَخَلَ عُمَرُ فَلَمْ تَهْتَشَّ لَهُ وَلَمْ تُبَالِهِ ثُمَّ دَخَلَ عُثْمَانُ فَجَلَسْتَ وَسَوَّيْتَ ثِيَابَكَ فَقَالَ "أَلاَ أَسْتَحِي مِنْ رَجُلٍ تَسْتَحِي مِنْهُ الْمَلاَئِكَةُ“
The Messenger (ﷺ) was lying in the bed in my house with his thigh uncovered and Abu Bakr sought permission to enter. It was given to him and he conversed in the same very state (the Prophet's thigh uncovered). Then Umar sought permission for entering and it was given to him and he conversed in that very state (same as before). Then Uthman sought permission to enter; the Messenger (ﷺ) sat down and he covered himself fully. Muhammad (one of the narrators) said: I do not say that it happened on the same day. He (Uthman) entered and conversed and as he went out, Aisha said: Abu Bakr entered and you did not stir and did not observe much care (in fully clothing yourself), then Umar entered and you did not stir, then Uthman (May God be Pleased with all of them) entered and you got up and covered yourself completely, so he (ﷺ) said: Should I not show modesty to one whom even the Angels show modesty.
This hadith is documented[2] and authenticated according to the criteria set out by the hadith master Muslim[3].
Another hadith mentioned that:
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْمُثَنَّى الْعَنَزِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ أَبِي عَدِيٍّ، عَنْ عُثْمَانَ بْنِ غِيَاثٍ، عَنْ أَبِي عُثْمَانَ النَّهْدِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى الأَشْعَرِيِّ، قَالَ بَيْنَمَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي حَائِطٍ مِنْ حَائِطِ الْمَدِينَةِ وَهُوَ مُتَّكِئٌ يَرْكُزُ بِعُودٍ مَعَهُ بَيْنَ الْمَاءِ وَالطِّينِ إِذَا اسْتَفْتَحَ رَجُلٌ فَقَالَ " افْتَحْ وَبَشِّرْهُ بِالْجَنَّةِ " . قَالَ فَإِذَا أَبُو بَكْرٍ فَفَتَحْتُ لَهُ وَبَشَّرْتُهُ بِالْجَنَّةِ - قَالَ - ثُمَّ اسْتَفْتَحَ رَجُلٌ آخَرُ فَقَالَ " افْتَحْ وَبَشِّرْهُ بِالْجَنَّةِ " . قَالَ فَذَهَبْتُ فَإِذَا هُوَ عُمَرُ فَفَتَحْتُ لَهُ وَبَشَّرْتُهُ بِالْجَنَّةِ ثُمَّ اسْتَفْتَحَ رَجُلٌ آخَرُ - قَالَ - فَجَلَسَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ " افْتَحْ وَبَشِّرْهُ بِالْجَنَّةِ عَلَى بَلْوَى تَكُونُ " . قَالَ فَذَهَبْتُ فَإِذَا هُوَ عُثْمَانُ بْنُ عَفَّانَ - قَالَ - فَفَتَحْتُ وَبَشَّرْتُهُ بِالْجَنَّةِ - قَالَ - وَقُلْتُ الَّذِي قَالَ فَقَالَ اللَّهُمَّ صَبْرًا أَوِ اللَّهُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ
Abu Musa al-Ash'ari reported that while the Messenger (ﷺ) was in one of the gardens of Madinah, reclining against a pillow and fixing a stick in a mud, a person came asking for the gate to be opened, whereupon he (ﷺ) said: “Open it for him and give him glad tidings of Paradise” and lo it was Abu Bakr. I opened (the gate) for him and gave him the glad tidings of Paradise. Then another person asked for the door to be opened, whereupon he (ﷺ) said: “Open it and give him the glad tidings of Paradise”. He said: I went and opened it and (saw) it was Umar. I opened it for him and gave him the glad tidings of Paradise. Then another man asked for the door to be opened, and thereupon Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) said: “Open it and give him the glad tidings of Paradise after a trial would afflict him”. I went and (saw) that it was Uthman Ibn Affan. I opened the door and gave him the glad tidings of Paradise and informed him (of what the Prophet had said). Uthman then said: “O Allah, grant me steadfastness. Allah is one Whose help is to be sought”.
This hadith is documented[4] and authenticated according to the criteria set out by Muslim.
From the aforementioned hadith of the Prophet (ﷺ) it is clear that Uthman Ibn Affan (May God be Pleased with Him) was no ordinary companion but one of the greatest and promised paradise.
Prelude to Jamal:
The second rightly guided caliph Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (May God be Pleased with Him) was known for his victory as a successful statesman and ruler and this allowed for the successful expansion of Islam. This led to his eventual assassination at the hands of a Persian slave and on his deathbed, he appointed a counsel of six people to decide on the next ruler for the Muslim State.
These six were:
1. Uthman Ibn Affan
2. Abdurrahman Ibn Awf
3. Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqas
4. Talha Ibn Ubaydillah
5. Zubayr Ibn al-Awwam
6. Ali Ibn Abi Talib
One possible reason why he chose these six is because of their status in the sight of God almighty and the Messenger of God (ﷺ).
All six of these companions were promised paradise by the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and Umar (May God be Pleased with Him) understood this (that they were pious) and chose them specifically.
The Prophet stated:
عن عبدالرحمن بن عوف عن النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم - قال: أبو بكر في الجنة، وعمر في الجنة، وعثمان في الجنة وعلي في الجنة، وطلحة في الجنة، والزبير في الجنة، وعبد الرحمن بن عوف في الجنة، وسعد بن أبي وقاص في الجنة، وسعيد بن زيد في الجنة، وأبو عبيدة بن الجراح في الجنة
“Abu Bakr is in paradise, Umar is in paradise, Uthman is in paradise, Ali is in paradise, Talha is in paradise, Zubayr is in paradise, Abdurrahman Ibn Awf is in paradise, Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqas is in paradise, Sa’eed Ibn Zayd is in paradise and Abu Ubaydah Ibn Al-Jarrah is in paradise”[5]
This is a very famous hadith amongst learned people however there is another with a slight difference in the names of the people mentioned:
النَّبِيُّ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَأَبُو بَكْرٍ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَعُمَرُ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَعُثْمَانُ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَعَلِيٌّ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَطَلْحَةُ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَالزُّبَيْرُ بْنُ الْعَوَّامِ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَسَعْدُ بْنُ مَالِكٍ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَعَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ عَوْفٍ فِي الْجَنَّةِ…
“The Prophet is in paradise, Abu Bakr is in paradise, Umar is in paradise, Uthman is in paradise, Ali is in paradise, Talha is in paradise, Zubayr Ibn Al-Awwam is in paradise, Sa’d Ibn Malik (who is Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqas), Abdurrahman Ibn Awf is in paradise…and Sa’id Ibn Zayd is in paradise”[6]
From this we understand the wisdom of Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (May God be Pleased with Him) in selecting such a committee and to keep the context as brief as possible the result ended in Uthman Ibn Affan (May God be Pleased with Him) being appointed the successor to Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (May God be Pleased with Him).
Uthman Ibn Affan (May God be Pleased with Him) rose to a high position within the State however there were calls for resignation due to alleged nepotism and unfair rule. This caused chaos within the State and led to the eventual assassination of Uthman Ibn Affan (May God be Pleased with Him).
Earliest sources on Ma’rakat al-Jamal:
There are conflicting, contradicting narrations regarding the events of the Ma’rakat al-Jamal and for this reason I will present the earliest sources and assess them.
i. Sayf Ibn Umar al-Tamimi al-Asadi al-Kufi (Narrator)
He is mainly used by the historian al-Tabari with regards to the battles of the later periods. He has been considered a weak narrator and many of his teachers are unknown and for this reason he cannot be trusted to establish narrations.
What does it mean that he is weak or reliable?
Hadith criticism standards have allowed people to be judged based on certain criteria (retention – i.e. how well did they retain information, memory – how strong was their memory, reliability – is the one narrating known for telling the truth or is he known for telling lies, meeting – did the narrator actually meet the person they claim to have heard from etc).
The job of assessing a narrator as weak (for example he is a known liar, has a bad memory or his teachers are unknown – if the source is unknown then the narrator cannot be trusted) or reliable is not an easy task and cannot be done by the average person.
This is why scholars have dedicated their lives to this encyclopaedia of people, a source for scholars to research and reference.
Some of the students of Sayf Ibn Umar include[7]:
نضر بن حماد
ضعيف الحديث (Weak)
نضر بن عبد الرحمن
متروك الحديث (Rejected)
سعد بن إبراهيم بن سعد بن إبراهيم بن عبد...
ثقة (Reliable)
عبد الله بن هاشم بن حيان
ثقة (Reliable)
محمد بن حميد بن حيان
متروك الحديث (Rejected)
يعقوب بن إبراهيم بن سعد بن إبراهيم بن عب...
ثقة (Reliable)
جعفر بن علي
مجهول (Unknown – Weak)
سري بن يحيى بن السري
ثقة (Reliable)
سعيد بن عبيد بن كثير بن عبيد
مجهول (Unknown – Weak)
شعيب بن إبراهيم
ضعيف الحديث (Weak)
مسيب بن عبد الملك
مجهول الحال (Unknown – Weak)
نصر بن مزاحم
متروك الحديث (Rejected)
بلال بن حسان
مجهول الحال (Unknown – Weak)
عبيد بن إسحاق بن المبارك بن خلف
متروك الحديث (Rejected)
جعفر بن علي
مجهول الحال (Unknown – Weak)
Some of his teachers include:
أبان بن إسحاق
ثقة (Reliable)
أشعث بن سوار
ضعيف الحديث (Weak)
إسماعيل بن مسلم
منكر الحديث (Rejected)
ضحاك بن مزاحم
ثقة (Reliable)
حريث بن عمرو
ضعيف الحديث (Weak)
حفص بن ميسرة
ثقة (Reliable)
سعد بن طريف
متروك الحديث (Rejected)
سعيد بن الصلت بن عبد الله بن مخرمة بن عب...
مقبول (Reliable)
مجالد بن سعيد بن عمير بن بسطام بن ذي مرا...
ضعيف الحديث (Weak)
محمد بن طلحة بن يزيد بن ركانة بن عبد يزي...
ثقة (Reliable)
محمد بن عبيد الله بن ميسرة
متروك الحديث (Rejected)
يحيى بن مسلم
مجهول (Unknown – Weak)
سهل بن يوسف بن سهل بن مالك بن عمرو بن ال...
مجهول الحال (Unknown – Weak)
عبد الله بن سعيد بن ثابت بن الجذع
مجهول الحال (Unknown – Weak)
مبشر بن الفضيل
مجهول (Unknown – Weak)
محمد بن نويرة
مجهول الحال (Unknown – Weak)
عطية بن يعلى
ضعيف الحديث (Weak)
عمر بن عبد الله
مجهول الحال (Unknown – Weak)
حارث بن عبد الله بن فروخ
مجهول الحال (Unknown – Weak)
عمرو بن الزبان
ضعيف الحديث (Weak)
محرز
مجهول الحال (Unknown – Weak)
يزيد بن أسيد
مجهول الحال (Unknown – Weak)
مستنير بن يزيد
مجهول الحال (Unknown – Weak)
غصن بن القاسم
مجهول الحال (Unknown – Weak)
وليد بن كعب
مجهول الحال (Unknown – Weak)
What have the scholars said regarding him?
Yahya Ibn Ma’een[8] = “He is weak in hadith” and from a narration by Abu Ja’far al-Hadrami who was asked regarding Sayf Ibn Umar, he said there is no good from him
Daraqutni[9] = “He is weak and left by the scholars (i.e rejected). He is mentioned from amongst the weak and rejected (narrators)”.
Abu Ahmed Ibn Adi al-Jurjani = “He is weak however a lot of his narrations are famous” (fables usually are good stories)
Abu Hatim al-Razi[10] = “He is rejected in hadith, his narrations mimic the narrations of al-Waqidi”
Abu Dawud[11] = “He is nothing”