The second group which fought with the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) was Nākithīn. Here, Nākithīn means pledge-breakers. They pledged allegiance to the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) at first but broke their allegiance later. They were Muslims and unlike the first group, they were amongst the advocates of the Imam (P.B.U.H.) but the advocates who supported and accepted the government of ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib until they were given an acceptable share of the government, until they were consulted, until they were given responsibility, until they were appointed as the governor, until no one had nothing to do with their property–their windfall gain–and asked them how they obtained the property. This group had only accepted the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) by one condition–this does not mean they had never accepted him–and the condition was that the Imam (P.B.U.H.) had nothing to do with them and did not ask them how they obtained those properties, why they obtained them, why they were using them, why they possessed them; that the Imam (P.B.U.H.) promised not to talk about these things! Therefore most of them came and pledged allegiance to the Imam (P.B.U.H.) at first. Of course, some of them did not swear allegiance. Sa‘d b. Abī Waqqāṣ never pledged allegiance. There were also some other people who did not swear allegiance to the Imam (P.B.U.H.) too; but Ṭalḥa, Zubayr, the elders of the companions of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) and some others pledged allegiance to the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) and accepted his Caliphate; however after three or four months, they found that they could not deal with such a government because the Imam’s (P.B.U.H.) government was a government in which the Imam (P.B.U.H.) did not discriminate between friends and other people; in which the Imam (P.B.U.H.) did not give himself superiority over people, in which the Imam (P.B.U.H.) did not give his family superiority over others, in which the Imam (P.B.U.H.) did not give those who have excelled in Islam–even though he himself had done a lot for Islam–superiority over others, in which the Imam (P.B.U.H.) did not make an exception in implementing Divine laws. When they saw all these, they found that they could not deal with this person so they separated and the Battle of the Camel (the Battle of Jamal) broke out and that was indeed an intrigue. They even made the mother of the faithful, ‘Āyisha, join them. Many were killed in this battle. However, the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) won the battle and settled the matter. This was the second group with which the Imam (P.B.U.H.) was occupied for a while.
