- Karen Armstrong
Uthman's murderers. Since the army was in the provinces, the
rebels marched from Medina to Basrah. Ali was in a difficult
position. He must himself have been shocked by Uthman's
murder, which, as a devout man, he could not condone. But
his supporters insisted that Uthman deserved death, since he
had not ruled justly, according to the Quranic ideal. Ali could
not disown his partisans, and took refuge in Kufah, which he
made his capital. He then advanced on Basrah with his army,
which easily defeated the rebels there in the Battle of the
Camel, so called because Aisha, who rode with the troops,
had watched the fighting from the back of her camel. After his
victory, Ali gave his supporters the top jobs, divided his trea-
sury among them, but he still did not accord them full "sol-
diers' rights" by allowing them to annex the Sawad, the rich
agricultural land around Kufah, which had provided the old
Persian Empire with most of its revenue. He was failing to
satisfy his own party but also, in not condemning Uthman's
murder, casting himself in a highly dubious light.
Ali's rule had not been accepted in Syria, where the oppo-
sition was led by Muawiyyah from his capital in Damascus.
Uthman had been his kinsman, and, as the new head of the
Umayyad family, it was his duty as an Arab chieftain to
avenge Uthman's death. He was supported by the wealthy
Meccan clans and the Arabs of Syria, who had appreciated his
strong and wise government. Ali probably felt some sympathy
for Muawiyyah's position, and initially took no steps against
him. But the spectacle of the Prophet's relatives and compan-
ions poised to attack one another was profoundly disturbing.
Muhammad's mission had been to promote unity among
Muslims and to integrate the ummah so that it reflected the
unity of God. To prevent the appalling possibility of further
conflict, the two sides tried to negotiate a settlement at Siffin
on the upper Euphrates in 657, but the discussions were in-
conclusive. Muawiyyah's supporters put copies of the Quran