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Companions who supported him at the beginning, recognizing it as a movement of opposition and
warning, and no more.
However, Talhah's stance turned out to be his "life conflict" after the brutal way in which `Uthmaan
was surrounded and killed. Imam `Aliy had hardly accepted the oath of allegiance from Talhah and Az-
Zubair at Al-Madiinah, when they both asked permission to go to Makkah for `Umrah.
From Makkah they both turned to Al-Basrah, where a great multitude was gathering to avenge
`Uthmaan's death.
At last it was the Battle of Al-Jamal, where those calling for revenge met with the party supporting
`Aliy.
Whenever `Aliy thought about this difficult situation which Islam and Muslims were confronting in
this horrible dispute, he burst into sorrowful tears and his laments grew louder and louder. He was forced
into this difficult situation.
Being the Caliph of the Muslims, he could not and it was not his right to be tolerant towards any
revolt against the state or any armed opposition to the established authority. To crush a rebellion of that
sort, then, he had to face his brethren, his companions, friends and the followers of his Prophet and his
religion, those with whom he had so often encountered and combated the polytheist armies and with
whom he had so often joined under the standard of monotheism in battles that refined their Islamic
behavior and melted away all weakness and disgrace, thereby turning them into brethren - and indeed
brethren - supporting each other.
What a conflicting situation! What a difficult harsh test! In order to find a way out of such a conflict
and to save the blood of the Muslims, Imam `Aliy did his utmost.
Nonetheless, the factors opposing Islam - and they were many -which had met their defeat at the
hands of the Muslim state in the days of its great leader `Umar, had kindled the civil uprising and
continued to stoke it and follow its events and magnitude.
He cried a lot and wept abundantly when he saw The Mother of the Faithful `Aa'ishah on her camel
howdah at the head of the army which rose to fight him. When he saw Talhah and Az-Zubair, the
disciples of the Prophet (PBUH), he called to them to come out to meet him, so they did. They
approached him till their horses touched each other. He said to Talhah, "O Talhah! Did you come with
the wife of the Messenger of Allah to use her in your fight while hiding your wife at home?" Then he
said to Az-Zubair, "O Zubair! I ask you by Allah. Do you remember the day when the Prophet (PBUH)
passed you when we were in such- and-such a place, then he said to you, `O Zubair! Do you love `Aliy?'
You replied, `Why shouldn't I love my nephew and cousin and the follower of my religion? He said to
you, "O Zubair! By Allah, you will fight him, being unjust to him. Az-Zubair (May Allah be pleased
with him) said, "Yes, now I remember, I had forgotten that. By Allah, I won't fight you. Az-Zubair and
Talhah abstained from taking part in this civil war. They abstained as soon as things were clarified.
When they saw `Ammaar lbn Yaasir fighting on `Aliy's side, they remembered the Prophet's prophecy to
`Ammaar: "You will be killed by the unjust party." If `Ammaar were killed in that war in which Talhah
was taking part, then Talhah was unjust.
Talhah and Az-Zubair retreated from the whole fight and had to pay for that retreat with their lives. But
they met Allah pleased and delighted with what they had been endowed by Allah: insight and guidance.
As for Az-Zubair, a man named Amr lbn Jarmuuz followed him and killed him while he was
praying.
As for Talhah he was pierced with a lance by Marwaan Ibn Al-Hakim , which killed him on the
spot.
The murder of `Uthmaan represented in Talhah's conscience his "life conflict", as previously mentioned.
Despite the fact that, he did not take part in the murder nor agree to it, he had just supported the