Battle of the Camel (36 AH) recorded a critical turning point in the history of the early Islamic state, being the first military confrontation among Muslims. In it, the army of the legitimate Successor and testamentary trustee (Wasi) of the Messenger of Allah (Peace Be Upon Him and His Progeny), Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (Peace Be Upon Him), met a camp led by two prominent Companions Talha ibn Ubayd Allah and Al-Zubayr ibn Al-Awwam with Lady Aisha present.
The core of the dispute lay in this faction's rebellion against the Imam and Successor of their time, after the pledge of allegiance (Bay'ah) had already been given to him in Medina he who bore sole responsibility for establishing justice and securing order. This rebellion weakened the unity of Islamic decision-making and contributed to escalating the crisis rather than containing it.
A military force thus set out from Medina in the Hijaz toward Basra in southern Iraq, under the banner of demanding retribution for the blood of the Third ruler, Uthman, who had been assassinated by unidentified persons in a sedition (Fitna) where those genuinely seeking the Successor's justice became intermixed with the malicious instigators of discord.
In contrast, the wisdom of Imam Ali (Peace Be Upon Him) and his detachment from personal sentiment stood out clearly. He strove earnestly to contain the conflict and avert sedition, refraining from initiating combat, and sending emissaries to plead and open the doors of dialogue affirming the priority of securing order and stabilising the organs of the state as a precondition for achieving justice, pursuing the perpetrators, reforming what had been corrupted under prior governance, and applying the law of Allah exactly as He had revealed it to His Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him and His Progeny) (adapted from Al-Tabari's History, Vol. 4, p. 444).
Yet the mobilisation of the crowds and the entanglement of the contending parties made containing the situation untenable, and war broke out claiming the lives of a great many Companions, among them Talha and Al-Zubayr.