Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 40491 — Reports on Uthman (may Allah be)

It is narrated from Jahm al-Fihri that he said: I witnessed this matter myself. Sayyiduna Sa'd and Sayyiduna Ammar (may Allah be pleased with him) sent a message to Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him): Come to us; we want to tell you about things you have newly introduced. Sayyiduna Uthman sent a message: Go away today, for I am busy today; such and such a day is fixed for meeting you, so that I may prepare for the dispute. Abu Muhsin says: The meaning of 'ashzan' is: that I may prepare for the dispute with you. Sayyiduna Sa'd went back, but Sayyiduna Ammar refused to go back; Abu Muhsin said this twice. Then the messenger of Sayyiduna Uthman seized him and struck him. On the appointed day, when they had all gathered, Sayyiduna Uthman said to them: For what are you displeased with me? They said: We are displeased at your striking Ammar. Sayyiduna Uthman said: Sa'd and Ammar came, and I sent them a message that they should go away. Sa'd went away but Ammar refused, so my messenger struck him without my order. By Allah, I neither ordered it nor was I pleased with it. Even so, I am at his disposal! Let Ammar take his retaliation. Abu Muhsin explains the meaning of 'liyastabir' as taking retaliation. Then they said: We are displeased with you because you have made the different harfs (recitations) into one harf. Sayyiduna Uthman said: Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) came to me and said: What will you be able to do when it is said: the recitation of so-and-so, the recitation of so-and-so, and the recitation of so-and-so, just as the People of the Book differed in their books? So if this action (of uniting the Arabs on one recitation) is right, it is from Allah, and if it is wrong, it is from Hudhayfah. Then they said: We are also displeased with you because you have established pastures. Sayyiduna Uthman said: Quraysh came to me and said that every people of the Arabs has a pasture except us, so I established a pasture for them. If you are pleased, then retain it, and if you dislike it, then change it; or he said: do not establish it. Abu Muhsin was in doubt about this. Then they began to say: We are displeased with you because you have set over us your foolish relatives. Sayyiduna Uthman said: Let the people of each city stand and tell me whom they like, and I will make him governor, and I will remove the one they dislike. The people of Basrah said: We are pleased with Abdullah bin Amir; keep him in place. Then the people of Kufah said: Let Sa'id be removed (or he said: al-Walid; Abu Muhsin was in doubt), and let Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) be made governor over us. Sayyiduna Uthman did so. The people of Syria said: We are pleased with Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him); keep him in place over us. And the people of Egypt said: Remove Ibn Abi Sarh and make Sayyiduna Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) governor. Sayyiduna Uthman did so. They obtained whatever they demanded, and went back gladly. While they were still on the road, a rider passed by them. They became suspicious of him and investigated, and a letter was found on him in a leather vessel, addressed to their governor. Its content was: Strike the necks of so-and-so and so-and-so. So they returned and went to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). Then Sayyiduna Ali went with them to Sayyiduna Uthman. They said to Sayyiduna Uthman: Here is your letter and here is your seal. Sayyiduna Uthman said: By Allah, I did not write the letter, I know nothing about it, and I did not order it. Sayyiduna Ali said: Then in your view, who could have written it? Abu Muhsin says: Or he said: Then whom will you accuse? Sayyiduna Uthman said: I think my scribe has acted treacherously, and O Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), I also suspect you. Sayyiduna Ali said: Why do you suspect me of this? Sayyiduna Uthman said: Because you are obeyed among the people. Sayyiduna Uthman said: Then why did you not turn them back from me? Those people did not trust him and persisted in their stubbornness until they besieged Sayyiduna Uthman. Then Sayyiduna Uthman turned towards them and said: For what reason do you consider my blood lawful? By Allah, the blood of a Muslim is not lawful except for three reasons: one, that he becomes an apostate; second, a married fornicator; and third, one who kills someone. By Allah, since I embraced Islam I have not committed any of these. The narrator says: Those people remained stubbornly firm. Then Sayyiduna Uthman demanded of the people that they should not shed blood. The narrator says: I saw Ibn al-Zubayr go out with a detachment until he routed these rebels; if they had wanted to kill any of the rebels, they would have killed them. He says: And I saw Sa'id bin al-Aswad bin al-Bakhtari striking a man with the flat of his sword; if he had wanted to kill him, he would have killed him. But Sayyiduna Uthman had firmly charged the people, so they held back. He says: Then Abu Amr bin Budayl al-Khuza'i and al-Tujibi entered upon him. He says: One of them stabbed him in the veins of his neck with an arrowhead, and the other came down on him with the sword, and they killed him. Then they went off in flight, travelling by night and hiding by day, until they reached a land between Egypt and Syria. He says: They hid in a cave. He says: Then a Nabataean of that land came with a donkey. A fly entered the nostril of the donkey, and it bolted until it came in upon them in the cave. Its owner went looking for it and saw them. He went to the governor of Mu'awiyah and told him about them. He says: So Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah seized them and struck their necks.