ʿUthmān and marched against him, intent on removing him from the caliphate.

Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid relates: When the Egyptians reached al-Juhfa and came to reproach ʿUthmān, he ascended the pulpit and said, “May Allah repay you—O Companions of Muhammad—with evil on my account! You have broadcast my faults, concealed my virtues, and incited the foolish against me. Which of you will go to these people and ask them what they resent and what they want?” He repeated this three times, but no one answered.

ʿAlī then rose and said, “I will.” ʿUthmān replied, “You are the closest of them to me in kinship.” ʿAlī went out to the protesters, who welcomed him. He asked, “What grievance do you have against him?” They said, “We resent that he erased the Book of Allah—meaning that he gathered the community upon a single codex; that he set aside a protected pasture; that he appointed his relatives; that he gave Marwān one hundred thousand; and that he spoke against the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.”

ʿUthmān answered them: “As for the Qur’an, it is from Allah; I only forbade you to differ, so recite it in whatever ḥarf (mode) you wish. As for the pasture, by Allah, I did not reserve it for my own camels or sheep; I set it aside for the camels of charity. As for your claim that I gave Marwān one hundred thousand, that is money that belongs to them; let them appoint over it whomever they wish. And as for your charge that I spoke ill of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, I am but a human being: I become angry and I become pleased. Whoever claims a right or a grievance against me—here I am; if he wants retaliation, let him take it, and if he wishes to pardon, let him pardon.” The people were satisfied, reached a settlement, and entered Madinah.

Muḥammad ibn Saʿd reports: They say that those who travelled from Kufa to Madinah were al-Ashtar al-Nakhaʿī—his name was Mālik ibn al-Ḥārith—Yazīd ibn Mukanif, Thābit ibn Qays, Kumayl ibn Ziyād, Zayd and Ṣaʿṣaʿah the sons of Ṣawḥān, al-Ḥārith al-Aʿwar, Jundub ibn Zuhayr, and Aṣfar ibn Qays. They came asking ʿUthmān to dismiss Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ from governing them, and Saʿīd likewise travelled to ʿUthmān, arriving at the same time they did.