Going away at that time was perhaps to keep herself away...

Going away at that time was perhaps to keep herself away from al-Madinah when the actual event took place. Then she wanted to install Talhah or al-Zubayr in his place and through them, she would recover the losses she had suffered because of reduction in her pension by `Uthman. But Umm al-Mu’minin could not succeed in her plan and in her absence, the people of al-Madinah decided on the caliphate of `Ali (a.s). Talhah and al-Zubayr were the members of the Shūra composed by `Umar.

Because of that membership, they could not keep the thought of caliphate away from their minds. Their efforts for the elimination of `Uthman too were directed towards this end. But when they saw that people were insisting for `Ali (a.s) to be the next caliph, and none else was acceptable to them, they took initiative gauging the sentiment of the people. They took precedence over others to extend their hands in allegiance to `Ali (a.s).

If they saw the slightest chance of getting the position for themselves, they would have tried to achieve it. But they were forced to adopt a discreet silence. At that critical moment, it was necessary for them to back one of the two groups. But they did not have the support of any of the two groups. One group was of people who were angry at the ineptitude and his style of functioning. The other group was of his friends and supporters who were drawing benefits through him.

The group that was against `Uthman, had not any intention of bringing forward any one of the two persons. The reason was that they were no different from `Uthman. Therefore, if `Uthman was fond of amassing wealth, these two persons too did not have any liking for piety and frugality. They were very affluent and their avarice knew no bounds. Therefore, Talhah bought huge properties in Iraq and Sarat, constructed palaces in al-Kūfah and al-Basrah and left behind huge amount of wealth.

Ibn `Abd al-Barr writes: [1] Sharh Nahj al-Balāghah by Ibn Abil-Hadīd, Vol 2, Page 404 “When Talhah ibn `Ubaydullah was killed, in his inheritance there were 300 whole skins of animal carcasses that were filled with gold and silver.”[1] Al-Zubayr ibn al-`Awwam too was a very affluent person and a big capitalist. Therefore, al-Dhahbi writes: “He had one thousand slaves who used to pay him tribute.”[2] Al-Zubayr had constructed palaces in Egypt, al-Basrah and al-Kūfah.

In addition to the fleet of slaves, slave girls and camels, his wealth cannot be assessed.