Lessons learned from the Companions – Ali Gains an Army!

When the Bedouin tribes who had heretofore followed the policy of sitting on the fence saw that the people of Kufa had joined Ali in large numbers, they also decided to cast in their lot with Ali, and offered to serve in the ranks under him. When Ali had left Madina he had hardly nine hundred men at his disposal. The strength of the army with him had now risen to twenty thousand. This considerably strengthened his position, and he could confidently undertake the campaign to Basra. However there was one embarrassing thing – Most of the Bedouins and the people of Kufa who had volunteered to join him were the men who had taken part in the rebellion against Uthman.