Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 2 of 2

54 The Battles of the Camel and Siffeen, and the issue of arbitration
to die." They strove hard in fighting and called out: "Whoever was
not one of the killers of 'Uthrn2n (&), let him stop fighting us, for
we are only seeking the killers of 'Uthmiin, and we will not initiate
fighting with anyone else." They fought fiercely,153 and none of the
killers of 'Uthmk (&) among the people of Basra escaped, except
for one. The caller of az-Zubayr and Talhah called out: ''If you know
any one from your tribes who took part in murdering 'Uthm2n (&)
in Madinah, then bring him to
A group of these ignorant thugs - as 'kishah said - had
come to her house at dawn to kill her. They got as far as the door of
her room with the help of a guide, but Allah (a) protected her by
means of a group of Muslims who had surrounded her house. The
Muslims prevailed over them, then they paraded them about and
executed them.155
Az-Zubayr, Tabah and those who were with them managed to
gain control of Basra, hut they needed food and supplies because
several weeks had gone by, and no one had offered them hospitality.
The army of az-Zubayr went to the governor's palace and then to the
public treasury to get provisions for the army; 'Uthmin ibn Hunayf
was released and went to join 'Ali Thus Tamah, az-Zubayr
and the Mother of the Believers gained control of Basra and killed a
large number of those who had taken part in the attack on Madinah,
some seventy men, including the most prominent leader of the rebels
of Basra, Hukaym ibn Jablah, who had been very keen to fight and
start the war.'''
1.3.7. The letters of 'kishah (%) .~ to other regions
'kishah (I&,) was keen to explain what had really happened
during the fight with the people of Basra, so she wrote to the people
of Syria, Kufah and al-Yamhah, and the people of Madinah also,
telling them what they had done and how things had ended up.