Talha ibn ʿUbaidallāh

The Ṭalḥa-b.ʿUbaydallāh mosque in the Libyan city ​​of Benghazi

Talha ibn ʿUbaidallāh ( Arabic طلحة بن عبيد الله, DMG Ṭalḥa ibn ʿUbaidallāh ) was a companion of the Islamic prophet Mohammed of Arab origin. He was also an influential member of the Islamic community after the Prophet's death. He opposed the third caliph ʿUthmān because of his nepotism . After Ali's elevation to caliph, he did not recognize his caliphate. He fell against Ali in the Camel Battle of Basra. His shrine in the Iraqi city of Basra was destroyed in 2006.

Life

Talha's father was ʿUbaidullāh bn ʿUṯmān of the Taym (or Taim) clan . His mother al-Saaba bint Abdullah came from the Hadram tribe . Talha was among the first Muslims and emigrated to Medina some time after the Prophet . In the armed conflicts of the Medinan period of the Ummah , he particularly distinguished himself with Uhud , where he personally protected the Prophet. He also fought in trench warfare .

According to Ibn Ishaq, Talha was in the house of Fatima with his son-in-law Ali after the Prophet's death . When Abu Bakr had chosen Umar as his successor, Talha is said to have protested against this at Abu Bakr, as he accused Umar of bad treatment of the people. Abu Bakr rejected his protest. Talha was part of the council meeting that met after the death of the caliph Umar and presumably supported him in an advisory capacity beforehand. However, at the time of Uthman's election as third caliph, he was not present in Medina. According to Baladhuri , Talha initially expressed his dissatisfaction that Uthman was elected without his consent. Uthman tried to get Talha for himself by donating money (according to Talha's son Musa 200,000 dinars). Talha benefited from the award of former Persian crown lands in Iraq . So he exchanged, according to Saif b. Umar, his land holdings in Arabia, especially in Khaibar , versus land in al-Nashtastadsch in Iraq. Nonetheless, as a member of the shura, Talha was involved in complaints about the caliph's nepotism during Uthman's reign. But he was also active in staggering unrest against Uthman in the provinces. During the siege of Uthman's palace by rebellious troops, Talha is said to have excelled particularly against the caliph.

Immediately after Alī's uprising, the influential members of the community in Medina were urged to pay homage to ʿAlī, if this was not done voluntarily, they were forced to do so, as in the case of az-Zubair and Talhas. When ʿĀʾisha in Makka learned of the choice of Alī, she called for him to be overthrown as revenge for ʿUṯmān. Talha and az-Zubair went to Mecca, where they joined iša. Alī was held responsible by this group for the murder of ʿUṯmān. Talha and az-Zubair seem to have initially planned to attack ʿAlī in Medina, but then decided to move to Iraq in order to gain stronger troops for support, as they were probably inferior to ʿAlī's Medinan supporters. The goal of the Meccan rebels seems to have been a šūrā, at the end of which the elevation of Talhas or az-Zubair to caliph would have been.

When ʿAlī's army moved to Baṣra, there were some crossings to ʿAlī from the camp of his opponents. At the beginning of December 656 there was the so-called camel battle (named after ʿĀʾiša's camel) near Baṣra, in which Talha and az-Zubair and many other Quraish and prophet companions perished and ʿĀʾiša was captured. After the battle ʿAlī did not treat his opponents according to the usual procedure (enslavement of families, distribution of property as booty, execution of individual opponents), but only allowed a small distribution of booty, but otherwise treated his opponents gently. He also left the Talhas and az-Zubairs families untouched.

literature

• Wilferd Madelung : The succession to Muhammad A stuy of the Early Caliphate.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Madelung, 1997, p. 157