conundrum of split loyalties, and the townspeople
resented its being forced on them. They respected Aisha
as the leading Mother of the Faithful and acknowledged
the merit of her call for revenge for Othman, but they
respected Ali even more. He had replaced Othman’s
corrupt governor of the former garrison town, and the
new governor—a man of integrity, committed to the rule
of law—was popular. So the men of the Meccan army
were not welcomed with open arms, as they had
expected; in fact, they were not welcomed into the town
at all. The new governor insisted that they set up camp
beyond the town limits. “Let us wait for Ali to arrive,” he
said—the last thing Aisha and her brothers-in-law
wanted.
That night—“a cold, dark night with wind and rain,”
according to the records—Talha and Zubayr led a raid
on the town. They forced their way into the mosque and
fought pitched battles with the townspeople, killing
dozens of them. By dawn they had taken over the
treasury and the granary, where Ali’s governor
confronted them. “By God if I had enough men, I would
not be satisɹed until I killed you for those you have
killed,” he said. “Because you have killed our Basran
brothers, your blood is now halal—sanctioned—for us.
How can you consider the shedding of Muslim blood
lawful? Were those you killed last night the ones who
killed Othman? Don’t you fear God’s loathing?” But
against an army of such size, the governor was