Muhammad b. Abi Bakr: Difference between revisions

Muhammad was one of the [[shurtat al-khamis]] during the [[caliphate]] of [[Imam Ali (a)]].

Muhammad believed that [[Nakithun]] used revenging for 'Uthman as an excuse to pursue their political agendas. He would say about them, "By God, no ones are the murderers of 'Uthman except them."

As the battle was about to start, the Imam (a) appointed Muhammad as the commander of the infantry. During the battle, Muhammad showed great bravery; he killed Thawr b. 'Adi, one of the commanders of the army of [[Jamal]]. When the battle was over, he treated the defeated army with kindness. By the Imam's command, he respectfully took his sister, [[Aisha]], in the company of forty Basran women to [[Mecca]] and from there to [[Medina]].

Although Muhammad had been appointed by Imam 'Ali (a) as the governor of [[Egypt]] prior to the Battle of Siffin, evidence shows that Muhammad participated in this battle against [[Mu'awiya]]. In a hadith from [[Imam al-Sadiq (a)]], it is reported that in the Battle of Siffin, five men from [[Quraysh]] accompanied the Imam (a), and one of them was Muhammad b. Abi Bakr. According to some reports, Muhammad was appointed by the Imam (a) as the commander of the infantry or of the left side of his army.

In [[Ramadan 1]], [[36]]/[[February 24]], 657, [[Imam Ali (a)]] appointed Muhammad as the governor of Egypt. Most sources maintain that Muhammad was sent to Egypt before [[Malik al-Ashtar]].

By the command of Imam Ali (a), one month after Muhammad arrived in Egypt, he wrote a letter to Deserters and ordered them to accept his rule or go out of Egypt. The Deserters did not accept that and responded: "Do not rush in fighting with us." Muhammad tolerated them for some time until the [[Battle of Siffin]] finished. At the beginning, the Deserters were also afraid of getting into conflict with Muhammad, but later when the situation became increasingly unstable, they rebelled. A number of wars occurred between them and Muhammad's army. Apparently, the latter came to the conclusion that he couldn't defeat them, so he signed a peace treaty with them which made them stay away from [[Fustat]], the capital of Muhammad's rule. Later, the deserters emigrated to the lands under [[Mu'awiya]]'s rule and joined him. However, the situation got more complicated and Muhammad was unable to keep everything under his control, so Imam 'Ali (a) decided to replace Muhammad with someone more powerful and experienced—that is, [[Malik al-Ashtar]].

When the Battle of Siffin ended, Mu'awiya decided to invade [[Egypt]]. He wrote a letter to the chiefs of the Deserters and invited them to join him, and so more than ten thousand men from the Deserters joined the army of Mu'awiya, whose commander was [['Amr b. al-'As]].  In an unequal battle between the Syrian army and the army of Muhammad b. Abi Bakr, which consisted of only two thousand soldiers, the latter was defeated in al-Musannah.