'Abd Allah ibn Saba' himself...

'Abd Allah ibn Saba' himself, the hero of his fable, proposed that his followers be divided into two groups, one group joining 'Ali's army as supporters, and the other group going to 'A'ishah's forces as followers, and then one dark night at a certain hour rush upon each other, making both armies believe that they have been attacked by the other army, thus rekindling the fire of war and turning al-Qa'qa''s peace into a bloody combat.

The sabotage party gladly approved the plan of 'Abd Allah ibn Saba' and carried it out excellently one dark night, benefiting much from it. And despite You can read the story of al-Qa'qa' in the book of "One hundred and fifty companions" by the author of this book, where he considers al-Qa'qa' as a fabricated character.

the inclination of the commander of both sides, they incited the Muslims against one another and kindled the fire of war again after it had been extinguished, thus producing the battle of al-Jamal. This is the story of how the battle of al-Jamal was started, according to Sayf ibn 'Umar, a story that has no true foundation, since the heroes of it, namely 'Abd Allah ibn Saba' and al-Qa'qa' ibn 'Amr were fictitious characters.

Even though the whole story is a myth, fabricated by Sayf ibn 'Umar before the year 170 of the Hijrah, some writers of history have adopted it included it in their books. In this way with the passage of time it has assumed the form of a real historical event, finding a place for itself in reliable books of history, and on this basis a reader may not allow himself the slightest doubt about its authenticity.

Thus most Islamic historians and even Orientalists have not realized that the story is only a fable fabricated by that liar. Sayf ibn 'Umar is the only source of the myth There is no one else but Sayf who is at the root of this fable, and everyone else has adapted it from him. At-Tabari (who died in 310 of the Hijrah) borrowed the story from this narrator and quoted it in his book.

Ibn 'Asakir (who died in 571 of the Hijrah) did the same thing for his book of the "History of Medina and Damascus"; Ibn Abi Bakr (who died in the 741 of the Hijrah) for his "al-Tamhid wa al-bayan" and adh-Dhahabi (who died in 747 of the Hijrah) in his book of history. Thus their only source had been Sayf ibn 'Umar. Later historians too until the present time have taken the story directly from at-Tabari who had copied it from that myth- making narrator.