This excerpt is taken from Sheikh Hafiz Mubashir Hussain Lahori's book Signs of the Day of Judgment in the Light of Authentic Hadiths.
Sign of the Day of Judgment: The Battle of Jamal
عن ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال لنسائه : أيتكن صاحبة الجمل الأدبب تخرج حتى تنبحها كلاب الحوأب يقتتل عن يمينها وعن شمالها قتلى كثيرة
Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said to his wives: Which one of you will ride a long-haired camel and travel until the dogs of Hawab (an area in Basra) bark at it? On its right and left will be piles of corpses.
Reference: (Ahmad: 52/6, Ibn Hibban: 1831, Abu Ya'la: 4868, Hakim: 120/3, Al-Bazzar: 321/5, Al-Bidaya: 212/6, As-Silsilah As-Sahihah: 474)
Qais bin Abi Hazim (may Allah have mercy on him) said that when Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) passed through the neighborhood of Banu Amir, the dogs started barking. Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) asked: What place is this? People said: It is the place of Hawab. She said: I should return. Hazrat Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Do not return, rather proceed so that people may see you and reconcile. Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: No, I should return because I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say (to the wives): What will be the condition when the dogs of Hawab bark at one of you?
Reference: (Hakim: 120/3, Ahmad: 52/6, Majma' az-Zawa'id: 234/7, Fath al-Bari: 55/13)
It is narrated from Abu Rafi' (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him): Ali! There will be a dispute between you and Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her). Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)! Between me and her? He said: Yes. He said: Then I will be the most wretched person in the world. He said: No. When such a matter occurs, send Aisha to a place of safety.
Reference: (Ahmad: 393/9, Fath al-Bari: 55/13)
Benefits:
After the oppressed martyrdom of Hazrat Usman (may Allah be pleased with him), people came to Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) (among them were a large number of killers and rebels) and said: Extend your hand, we pledge allegiance to you for the caliphate. He said: First, consultation with the people should be done. Some said that if people now return to their cities in this state—that Hazrat Usman (may Allah be pleased with him) has been martyred and there is no caliph—then the discord and turmoil of the Ummah will never be resolved. Eventually, those people pledged allegiance to Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). Among those who pledged allegiance were Hazrat Talha (may Allah be pleased with him) and Hazrat Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him). Then these two went to Mecca, where they met Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) and discussed the mentioned situation. Then they went to Basra and, after meeting the people there, demanded from Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) the killers of Usman, to which Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) gave no response. From here, the situation took a new turn, and Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) also began to be counted among the killers of Usman, although Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was neither among the killers of Usman nor in support of them. Then why did Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) not present the killers of Usman? The answer to this question will be mentioned later. At that time, there was no means of immediate communication; rather, it took several weeks or even months to send messages from one region to another. Moreover, the situation could easily become complicated. Adding to this, the real instigators of the killing of Usman and the sedition—namely Abdullah bin Saba, a Jewish-born and hypocritical conspiratorial group prepared by Muslims, and some sincere Muslims unaware of the facts—were also taking the responsibility of blaming Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). They were so widespread in the Islamic lands that they poured fuel on the fire everywhere, from Kufa, Basra, to the land of Sham. On one side, Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) and her army's suspicion turned into certainty, and on the other side, Amir Muawiya (may Allah be pleased with him) began preparing an army against Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him).
In contrast, Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was caught in a strange dilemma. He was made caliph under unfavorable conditions; the caliphate was still unstable; people were unaware of the facts; it was impossible to identify and specify the killers of Usman, while even the wife of Hazrat Usman (may Allah be pleased with him) could not point out any killer. The people of Mecca, Iraq, and Sham were adamant about obtaining the killers of Usman without offering help, while the family of Hazrat Usman (may Allah be pleased with him) had not yet brought any decision to Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). A large group of rebels also held personal grudges against Hazrat Usman (may Allah be pleased with him), which the Sabaeans were skillfully exploiting, while Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was swearing that he neither killed Usman nor was happy about his killing nor supported the killers. However, due to the lack of immediate communication, understanding with Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), Talha, Zubair, and Amir Muawiya (may Allah be pleased with them) was impossible. Moreover, when Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) wanted to take Qisas (retribution) from a man clearly involved in the killing of Usman, all the corrupt and Sabaeans created uproar and chaos. This made Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) clearly realize that as long as Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) and her army and Amir Muawiya (may Allah be pleased with him) did not support and obey him, controlling these rebels was not only difficult but impossible. This tension continued to simmer, which was ultimately destined to erupt in the form of the Battle of Jamal and then Siffin. Meanwhile, Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) set out with her army, and Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was forced to leave Medina. When both armies faced each other, there was an exchange of views to understand the real facts, and the reality became clear that Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was compelled but determined to expose the real culprits and bring them to justice. The first step in this was that Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) issued a practical order for all the rioters to separate from his army.
These efforts seemed to be bearing fruit when, on the very last night of the peace agreement, on the orders of the accursed Jew Abdullah bin Saba, the rioters attacked Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) and her army at night. This made Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) and her army believe that Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) had deceived them with the peace agreement and attacked them. Their previous thoughts, which had been rightly oriented by the peace efforts, once again turned into the belief that Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was deeply involved in the case of Usman. On the other hand, the rioters spread the rumor in Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)'s army that Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her)'s army had treacherously attacked at night, which they were defending. Thus, the entire army began to show bravery. It also became clear that the Sabaeans, on the instigation of Ibn Saba, had initiated this attack with the aim that Muslims would be drenched in mutual bloodshed, which was their fundamental objective. They also thought that if this fight did not happen, the inevitable result of peace would be that Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and then Amir Muawiya (may Allah be pleased with him) would jointly suppress them. Some people advised Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) to ride a camel and go to the battlefield so that, out of respect for the sanctity of the Prophet, people would refrain from fighting. However, Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her)'s riding the camel cost the Muslim Ummah dearly and strengthened the Sabaeans' position that "See, our claim was correct; look! Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) is commanding her army." Because of this camel, the battle was called the Battle of Jamal (Camel). Eventually, the camel's reins were cut, and Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)'s army ended the battle in a dominant position.
Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) went to Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) and said: Mother, how is your temperament? May Allah forgive all your mistakes. Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: May God forgive all your mistakes as well. Then Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) showed her great respect and honor, and when all matters were reconciled and settled, Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) sent Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) along with her brother Muhammad bin Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) to the holy Mecca, where Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) performed Hajj and then returned to Medina. (رضي الله عنهم ورضوا عنه)
