Hadith No: 3
Ibn Shabah al-Namiri - Tarikh al-Madinah - The Account of al-Mughira ibn al-Akhnas ibn Sharq
Volume: (4) - Page Number: (1303 > 1306)
- Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Sulayman and Ahmad ibn Mansur al-Ramadi both said: Hisham ibn Ammar ibn Naseer narrated to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Isa ibn Sami al-Qurashi narrated to us, from Ibn Abi Dhi'b, from al-Zuhri, from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, who said: Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) looked out over the people while he was besieged and said: "Is Ali among you?" They replied: "No." He said: "Is Sa'd among you?" They replied: "No." So he was silent, then said: "Is there not one who can bring water?" This reached Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and he sent him three skins full of water. Before they could reach him, several of the freedmen of Banu Hashim and the freedmen of Banu Umayya were injured because of it, until they finally reached him. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was informed that Uthman was being plotted against, and he said: "We only wanted Marwan from him, but his killing is not what we intended." He said to Hasan and Husayn: "Go, sacrificing yourselves for my sake, and stand at the door of Uthman's house. Do not allow anyone to approach him."
Az-Zubair sent his son, and Talhah sent his son, though he was reluctant, and several of the Companions of Muhammad sent their sons to prevent people from entering upon Uthman and asking him to remove Marwan. When Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr saw this, he began to throw stones at the people around them until Hasan was covered in blood at his door, and Marwan was struck by an arrow while in the house. Muhammad ibn Talhah was also injured, and Qunbar was wounded. Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr feared that the Banu Hashim would become angry at the situation of Hasan and Husayn, so he took the hands of two men and said to them: "If the Banu Hashim come and see blood on Hasan's face, they will drive the people away from Uthman, and your plans will be thwarted. Instead, let us go until we can scale the walls of his house and kill him without anyone knowing." Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr and his companions scaled the wall from the house of a man from the Ansar until they entered upon Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), and no one knew of those who were with him because all those with him were on the rooftops, so only his wife was with him. Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr said to them: "Stay here until I begin to enter. When I seem to strike him, then enter and attack him together until you kill him." Muhammad entered, grabbed Uthman's beard, and Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: "By Allah, if your father saw you, he would be displeased with your position towards me." His hand then relaxed, and the two men charged at him, attacking him until they killed him. They then fled from where they had entered, and his wife screamed, but her cries were not heard due to the commotion in the house. His wife climbed to the people and said: "Indeed, the Commander of the Faithful has been killed." Hasan and Husayn entered with those who were with them and found Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) slain, and they fell upon him weeping. They then exited, and people entered, finding him murdered.
The news reached Ali and Talhah and az-Zubair and Sa'd, and those in the city, and they set out, their minds gone from the news that had come to them, until they entered upon him and found him slain. They mourned, and Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to his sons: "How could he be killed when you were at the door?" He struck Hasan and struck Husayn and cursed Muhammad ibn Talhah and cursed Abdullah ibn az-Zubair. He left, angry, believing that Talhah had aided in what had happened to Uthman. Talhah met him and said: "What is it, O Abu al-Hasan, that you struck Hasan and Husayn?" Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: "May the curse of Allah be upon you! It does not displease me." Talhah said: "If Marwan had been handed to us, he would not have been killed." Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) responded: "If Marwan had been brought out to you, he would have been killed before you could establish any authority over him." And he entered his home. This is a narration with much confusion, a transmission with denied isnad, and its narrator, who narrated it from Ibn Abi Dhi'b, is not known. However, Ibn Abi Dhi'b and those above him are strong.