‘Ali (A.
‘Ali (A.S.) who had his sword with him came out and delivered a sermon. In that sermon, after praising and glorifying God and sending salutation upon the Holy Prophet, he said: “After the Holy Prophet’s departure, we (the household members of the Prophet) never ever imagined that the Ummah would usurp our right. However, that which could not be imagined did really occur. They usurped our right and we were ranked on par with the low-class people.
Tears rolled down from our eyes and problems stood facing us.” و ايم الله لولا مخافة الفرقه بين المسلمين و ان يعود الكفر و يبور الدين لكنا علي غير ما كنا لهم عليه. “By Allah, if it were not for the fear of discord between the Muslims, the return to unbelief and destruction of religion, our stand towards them would have been a different one.” Thereafter, he continued his speech by referring to Talha and Zubair and said: “These two gave their allegiance to me but later broke it.
They took Ayesha along with them to Basra so that they could create disunity among you Muslims.” Moreover, Ibn Abi al-Hadeed narrates from Kalbi that: “Before going to Basra, ‘Ali (A.S.) in one sermon said: “After the Holy Prophet, the Quraysh snatched our right from us and attributed it exclusively for themselves.” فرأيت ان الصبر علي ذلك افضل من تفريق كلمة المسلمين و سفك دمائهم و الناس حديثو عهد بالاسلام و الدين يمخض مخض الوطب يفسده ادني وهن و يعكسه اقل خلق.
“I realized that patience in that is better than dissipation of the Muslim creed and their bloodshed. I reckoned that the people are newly converted Muslims and the religion like a large leathern water bag, capable of being destroyed by the slightest weakness and of being overturned by the most insignificant person”. Thereafter he said: How good it would have been if Talha and Zubair had resorted to patience for a year or at least a few months and witnessed my rule and then taken a decision.
However, they did not hold out and revolted against me. They entered into a skirmish with me for a matter in which Allah had never set any right for them. Under the sermon of Shiqshiqiya, Ibn Abi al-Hadeed says: “Regarding the event of ‘Shura’, (consultative council) since Abbas was aware of its result, he suggested to ‘Ali (A.S.) not to attend the meeting.