'Abd Allah kept on shouting: "O people!

'Abd Allah kept on shouting: "O people! Kill Malik even if I may be killed with his death." But the battlefield was in such a state of chaos and confusion that the fighters could not recognize each other, so after a rather long struggle 'Abd Allah freed himself from the clutches of Malik al-Ashtar and without continuing the combat retired from field.

The author of al-'Iqd al-farid quotes 'Abd Allah ibn az-Zubayr at the end of that story, saying: "Malik seized and threw me into a pit and said: 'Abd Allah, if it were not for your kinship with the Prophet, I would cut you to pieces."127 At-Tabari, quoting 'Alqamah, says: One day I said to Malik al-Ashtar: "How was it that you who did not like 'Uthman's murder, took part in killing thousands of people in the battle of al-Jamal?" He answered: "As 'A'ishah's forces broke their pact with 'Ali after swearing allegiance to him, that perfidy and opposition to 'Ali aroused me to this combat.

But Ibn az-Zubayr's guilt was greater than that of others since he incited 'A'ishah to fight 'Ali and also made his father rebel against 'Ali at a time when both 'A'ishah and az-Zubayr intended to abandon fighting. But Ibn az-Zubayr persuaded them to continue the combat. So I prayed to God to let me seize him and punish him for his deed, and God, too, fulfilled my wish. When I came across him in the heat of the 127.

az-Zubayr was the son of Safiyah, the Prophet's aunt, and thus Ibn az-Zubayr was his close relative and it was for this reason that Malik did not kill 'Abd Allah.

battle, I took the opportunity and by standing up on the stirrup of my horse I dealt him a heavy blow of my sword and knocked him down." One day 'Alqamah asked Malik: Was it 'Abd Allah who cried out in the battle of al-Jamal: "Kill Malik even though I be killed with his death?" Malik answered: "He did not utter these sentences since I did not kill 'Abd Allah, and gave him only one stroke of the sword; for, there was something in my mind which roused my affection for him and caused me to abstain from killing him." Then Malik added: "It was for 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn 'Attab who uttered that sentence about killing both him and Malik, even if Malik's death meant his death, too.

But there was such a confusion reigning over the battlefield that 'Abd Allah's friends did not recognize me, otherwise they would have killed me." At-Tabari says in the battle of al-Jamal 'Abd Allah received many injuries and threw himself among the dead soldiers.