The Battle of Ayn al Tamr (659) was a military confrontation that took place at the Iraqi town of Ayn al-Tamr during the First Fitna. The Umayyad forces under Nu'man ibn Bashir attacked Ali's garrison there but failed to subdue them.
Background Nu'man ibn Bashir had been sent earlier by Mu'awiya I along with Abu Hurayra to question Ali about handing over the killers of Uthman. Ali then questionee Nu'man about him being one out of the few Ansars who broke ranks with Ali and opposed him. Nu'man stated that he was in support of peace between Ali and Mu'awiya or otherwise in support of Ali. Abu Hurayra returned to Syria empty handed whereas Nu'man while pretending to be on Ali's side, stayed a month with Ali before fleeing and being captured in Ayn al-Tamr by the governor Malik ibn Ka'b. When he intended to inform Ali of the circumstances, Nu'man urged him not to inform Ali, thus Malik informed the Ansari Qarza ibn Ka'b who advised letting him flee secretly. Malik gave two days to Nu'man for escape and threatened to behead him. Two months after Al-Dahhak's raid in Iraq, Nu'man enlisted for Mu'awiya to retaliate against Malik.
The Confrontation Mu'awiya I sent Nu'man ibn Bashir with a contingent of 2000 troops to Ayn al-Tamr which was a defense base of Ali under Malik ibn Ka'b. 1000 combatants were under Malik's command, however only 100 were stationed. Malik informed Ali about Nu'man's advance, and he began preparations for sending reinforcements, managing to gather only 300 men. In a sermon, Ali expressed his disappointment and called for war against the forces of Nu'man ibn Bashir. Adi ibn Hatim responded and offered his support alongside 1000 men from the Banu Tayy. Ali stated to prepare their troops in Nukhayla. Besides the forces of the Banu Tayy, only 1000 more troops arrived to support Ali. The Banu Tayy awaited for an order from Malik ibn Ka'b to advance, however Malik assured them that no reinforcements were required as his forces had already expelled them. Malik had hastily sent Abdullah ibn Hawalah and asked for reinforcements from Mikhnaf ibn Sulaym and Qarza ibn Ka'b because if his reinforcements from Kufa had been delayed, then he could receive help from them. He had been assured of help from Mikhnaf but not from Qarzah. Mikhnaf mobilised 50 troops which were under the command of Abd al-Rahman ibn Mikhnaf and they arrived in the evening. Until then, the 2000 troops of Numan couldn't subdue Malik's forces and upon the arrival of reinforcements they began to flee. Malik pursued and killed 3 of Nu'man ibn Bashir's men. Following the raid, Adi ibn Hatim raided the Syrian territories along the Euphrates with 1000 men after arriving at Al-Nukhayla.
References