I said to ‘AbdurRahman bin ‘Awf: How could you swear allegiance to ‘Uthman (رضي الله عنه) and not to `Ali (رضي الله عنه)? He said: It is not my fault. I started with `Ali and said: I swear allegiance to you in accordance with the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of His Messenger, and the way of Abu Bakr and ʼUmar (رضي الله عنهما) . He said: As much as I can. Then I offered it to `Uthman (رضي الله عنه) and he accepted it.
`Abdur-Rahman bin ‘Awf met al-Waleed bin `Uqbah Al-Waleed said to him: Why do I see you keeping away from Ameer al-Mu`mineen `Uthman (رضي الله عنه)? `AbdurRahman said to him. Tell him that I did not flee on the day of `Ainain - ` Asim said: The day of Uhud - and I did not stay behind on the day of Badr, and I did not turn away from the way of ‘Umar (رضي الله عنه). So he went and told that to `Uthman (رضي الله عنه), who said: As for his saying that he did not flee on the day of `Ainain, how could he shame me for a fault for which Allah has pardoned me and said: `Those of you who turned back on the day the two hosts met (i.e. the battle of Uhud), it was Shaitan (Satan) who caused them to backslide (run away from the battlefield) because of some (sins) they had earned. But Allah, indeed, has forgiven them.` ? As for his saying that I stayed behind on the day of Badr, I was tending Ruqayyah, the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), when she was dying, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) allocated to me a share (of the booty), and whoever was allocated a share by the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was present.... and he quoted the hadeeth at length to the end.
Narrated It was narrated that Abu Salih, the freed slave of `Uthman bin `Affan (رضي الله عنه) said:
I heard `Uthman (رضي الله عنه) say on the minbar: O people, I concealed from you a hadeeth that I heard from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) for fear that you would scatter away from me, then I thought that I should tell it to you, and let each one choose for himself what he thinks is best. I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: `Guarding the border for one day for the sake of Allah is better than a thousand other days doing other deeds.”
`Abdullah bin ‘Abdur-Rahman bin Abi Dhubab narrated... A similar hadeeth]
Narrated It was narrated that Thumamah bin Hazn al-Qushairi said:
I was present at the house (of `Uthman) on the day `Uthman (رضي الله عنه) was killed. He looked out at them and said: Call for me your two companions who incited you against me. They were called for him and he said: I adjure you by Allah, do you know that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to Madinah, the mosque got too crowded for its people and he said: “Who will buy this piece of land with his own wealth and use it like the rest of the Muslims (i.e., donate it to the Muslims and share it with them) and he will have something better than it in Paradise?” So I bought it with my own wealth and donated it to the Muslims, but now you are preventing me from praying two rak’ahs in it! Then he said: I adjure you by Allah, do you know that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to Madinah, there was no well good for drinking from except (the well of) Roomah. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `Who will buy it with his own wealth and his bucket will be like that of the Muslims (i.e., donate the well to the Muslims and share it with them) and he will have something better than it in Paradise.” So I bought it with my own wealth, but now you are preventing me from drinking from it. Then he said: Do you know that I am the one who equipped the army of hardship (i.e., the army that went on the campaign of Tabook)? They said: By Allah, yes.
