= al-Rahman b. Yazid, from Hudhayfa, up to his words: “from Ibn Umm ʿAbd.” Al-Bukhari (no. 6097) records it in al-Adab, “Chapter: Upright Conduct”, as do Ibn Saʿd 3/1/109 and al-Fasawi in al-Maʿrifah wa-l-Tarikh 2/540, 542, all through the chain of al-Aʿmash – Shaqiq – Hudhayfa. (1) He is Nuʿaym b. Hammad b. Harith al-Khuzaʿi; he is weak and frequently errs. (2) The chain is weak on account of Nuʿaym b. Hammad, as noted above, and the text itself is anomalous and unsound. ʿUthman – may Allah be pleased with him – was renowned for his liberality and spending in the path of Allah; generosity was one of his innate qualities. He is the Companion who poured one thousand dinars into the Prophet’s lap to equip the “army of hardship”, as related by Ahmad 5/63 with a good isnad, and by al-Tirmidhi (3702), who likewise graded it good. In that report the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, repeatedly said: “Nothing will harm Ibn ʿAffan after today whatever he does.” Hence the expression, “miserliness destroyed him”, is a calumny against a man to whom the Prophet testified with martyrdom and Paradise, as transmitted by al-Bukhari, al-Tirmidhi and al-Nasaʾi. Such words could never proceed from a noble Companion like Ibn Masʿud, who knew ʿUthman’s rank in Islam and the Prophet’s esteem for him. Ibn Masʿud himself said: “We have been commanded by the best of those who remain, and we have not fallen short.” Even the momentary agitation he felt when ʿUthman – together with the rest of the Companions – ordered the burning of individual codices in order to unite the Muslims of every region upon the mushaf of Hafsa in the dialect of Quraysh soon dissipated; Hamza and ʿAsim relate his subsequent return to the view and consensus of the venerable Companions. See Tafsir al-Qurtubi 10/7171. For a sound, thorough, and carefully argued study, see Muhammad al-Sadiq ʿArjun, ʿUthman b. ʿAffan: al-Khalifah al-Muftara ʿAlayh. (3) Reported by al-Fasawi, al-Maʿrifah wa-l-Tarikh 2/545 with a sound chain, and also by Ibn Saʿd 3/1/109.