Sayyiduna al-Nu'man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Mother of the Believers, Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), that she said: "I was with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'O Aishah! If only we had someone with us who would talk with us.' I seized the opportunity and said: 'Shall we not send for Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him)?' He (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said again: 'O Aishah! If only we had someone with us who would talk with us.' I seized the opportunity and said: 'Shall we not send for Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)?' He (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent towards me. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) called one of his servants and whispered to him. Just then Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) asked permission (to enter), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him permission. Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) leaned towards the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) leaned towards him, and the two began to speak privately. By Allah! I do not know what the two of them were saying. Then when he raised his head and turned to leave, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called out to him and said: 'O Uthman! Perhaps Allah Almighty will clothe you with a shirt; if the hypocrites demand that you take it off, then do not take it off.' He (peace and blessings be upon him) said this three times."
Al-Nu'man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I said to her: "O Mother of the Believers! Where were you (that you did not narrate) this hadith?" She said: "By the Lord of the Ka'bah! I had forgotten it, until that man (Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him)) was martyred."
Imam al-Tabarani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "No one narrated this hadith from al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) except al-Zubaydi (may Allah have mercy on him), and Faraj (may Allah have mercy on him) is alone in narrating it."
Hadith Referenceالمعجم الأوسط / باب الألف / 2833
Hadith Gradingمحدثین:إسناده حسن
Hadith Takhrij«قال الهيثمي: وأحد إسنادي الطبراني حسن «مجمع الزوائد ومنبع الفوائد، ج 9، ص 90»» «قال أبو زرعة الرازي: ليس هذا من حديث الزهري إنما يرويه الفرج عن ربيعة «علل الحديث، ج 6، ص 372»» «أخرجه ابن حبان فى «صحيحه» برقم: 6915، والحاكم فى «المستدرك» برقم: 4570، والترمذي فى «جامعه» برقم: 3705، وابن ماجه فى «سننه» برقم: 112، وأحمد فى «مسنده» برقم: 25104، 25205، 25477، 25801، 26910، وابن أبي شيبة فى «مصنفه» برقم: 32708، 38810، والطحاوي فى «شرح مشكل الآثار» برقم: 5310، 5311، والطبراني فى «الأوسط» برقم: 3751»