With Basra and Kufa in their hands...

With Basra and Kufa in their hands, they figured, it would be possible for them to isolate Ali in Hijaz, invade his territories; defeat him, and wrest khilafat from him. The professed aim of the rebels was to kill those men who had killed Uthman. The men who had killed Uthman, were all in Medina but his self-appointed champions were marching upon Basra – 800 miles to the east, in Iraq!

Talha and Zubayr requested Abdullah bin Umar bin al-Khattab also to accompany them to Basra but he refused to go. Ayesha pressed Hafsa bint Umar bin al-Khattab and the other widows of the Prophet who were still in Makkah after Hajj, to go with her to Basra, and to take part in the war against the caliph. All of them refused except Hafsa. She was willing to go with Ayesha but her brother, Abdullah bin Umar, forbade her to do so. Umm Salma was one of the widows of the Prophet.

Ayesha sent her a letter in Medina inviting her to take part in her campaign. Umm Salma replied to her as follows: “O Ayesha! Have you forgotten that the Messenger of God had ordered you to stay at home and not to transgress the limits imposed by our Faith? The jihad of women is in restraint. Their eyes should not be bold, and their voice should not be loud. Do you think that if the Messenger of God were to catch you racing camels in the desert, he would be very pleased?

If I were to disobey my husband, I would never be able to face him again. Therefore, fear God at all times. It would be in your own interest to stay at home, and not to go on a wild adventure.” Ayesha had claimed that she was going on a mission of peace. If she was, then it was the strangest of all missions of peace. She was escorted to Basra by 3000 warriors, bristling with deadly weapons, and thirsting for the blood of innocent Muslims!

At length all preparations were completed, and the army of Ayesha, Talha and Zubayr, marched out of Makkah, with great fanfare, toward its distant destination – Basra. As the Makkan army was marching toward the east, someone raised the question who would become khalifa in the event of victory over Ali. Talha's son said his father would become khalifa but Zubayr's son countered him by asserting that his father alone would become khalifa.

An animated argument began which might have led to an exchange of blows between the two young men when Ayesha arrived at the scene. She interposed between them, and their supporters, and dismissed the uncomfortable question as being untimely.