Did Ayesha, Talhah and Zubayr seek to resolve hostilities and pursue peace before the Battle of Jamal commenced?

Did Ayesha, Talhah and Zubayr seek to resolve hostilities and pursue peace before the Battle of Jamal commenced?

Ibn al Hashimi states:

So it was that Aisha (رضّى الله عنها), Talha (رضّى الله عنه), and Zubair (رضّى الله عنه) met Caliph Ali (رضّى الله عنه) to urge him to find the murderers of Uthman (رضّى الله عنه). It should be noted that during Uthman’s Caliphate, Ali (رضّى الله عنه) also went to Uthman (رضّى الله عنه) to urge him to do many things at the behest of the Beduins who opposed Uthman (رضّى الله عنه). Hence, it can be seen that there is nothing wrong in negotiating with the Caliph and urging him to do something, as long as this is done in a peaceful and productive manner; in fact, this prevents bloodshed and violence.

Reply One – Violent opposition against the Khalifa of the time can never evidence the perusal of peace

We agree that the prevention of bloodshed should be the prime motivation to entering into negotiations. The problem is how can these three be deemed lovers of peace when they had already spilled the blood of many on route to Jamal? Is that how you negotiate? Kill hundreds and then try to negotiate a settlement?

Reply Two – Devious Ibn al Hashimi failed to cite the exact text, as its chain is weak

Ibn al Hashimi knowingly failed to cite the text to substantiate his above claim. If we examine the History of Tabari Volume 16 that deals with the events leading up to Jamal we see only one reference wherein all the above named personalities were present. It is recorded in the History of Tabari page Volume 16 page 115:

“Umar – Abu Bakar al-Hudhali – Qatadah: Ali left al-Zawiyah, heading or Talhah, and al Zubayr and Aishah left al-Furdah, heading for Ali and they all met at the place of the castle of Ubaydullah b. Ziyad…..”

Whilst Nawasib might seek to argue that this pre meeting evidences a desire amongst Talah, Zubayr and Ayesha to have an amicable settlement, they should inspect the chain before jumping with joy. Abu Bakar al-Hudhali has been criticized by the scholars of rijal which hence makes this narration worthless. For example and he has been declared ‘unreliable’ by Imam Dhahabi (Al-Kashif, v2 p414),

‘Matruk’ by Imam Ibn Hajar Asqalani (Taqrib al-tahdib, v2 p369) and Imam Nasai (Tahdib al-Tahdib, v12 p46), 

‘Very weak’ by Mura (Tahdib al-Tahdib, v12 p46) while Ibn al-Madini said about him: ‘Worth nothing’(Tahdib al-Tahdib, v12 p46). This leaves us with just one other narration that would suggest pre war peace efforts from Tabari. The Nawasib of Ansar.Org and Ahlelbayt.com of course were keen to quote the narration.