Battle of Camel and Hermeneutics Reading of Orientalists & Muslim Commentators Views

Saida Aisha as the daughter of Abu Bakr, the earliest and strongest friend and follower to the Prophet and first caliph, then as the third and youngest wife of the prophet Himself lived in political environment. She had freedom to speak openly even in front of the prophet Himself, refuse some opinion of His companions and played role in some political matters. Aisha become enraged and spoke out in public and found her way into high politics in the reign of Uthman the third caliph and after his assassination. Orientalists’ assumptions about Aisha and her role in Battle of Camel are based on historical analysis and critical reading of the battle regardless the Islamic values and theological consideration that guide us as Muslims to have fair assessment for this complicated issue. Their analysis for the civil war between Ali Ibnu Abi Talib and Saida Aisha, between him and Mu’awiyah Ibnu Abi Sufian is referring all causes and effects to personal disagreements. Psychological and social analysis is extremely important to our overall assessment of the Battle of the Camel. Ibn al-Jawzi believes that the biggest strife that afflicted religious thought is hermeneutics, for instance, the cause of many civil wars and the deviation of many Muslim sectarianists from the right path is interpretation. Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah tended to point out that the verse of Surat al-An'am demonstrates his doctrine which means Allah is examining believers. This paper is adapting descriptive and critical methods in order to reach results based on historical evidence by referring to oriental sources and authentic interpretations of Muslim scholars.