1209 — Abū al-Qāsim Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Azīz al-Baghawī also narrated to us: Yahyā ibn Abd al-Hamīd al-Himmānī narrated to us: Ibn al-Mubārak narrated to us, from Ibn Lahīa, from Yazīd ibn Abī Habīb, who said, “I was informed that the general body of the company that marched against Uthmān—may Allah be pleased with him—went mad.” Ibn al-Mubārak said, “Madness was too mild a punishment for them.”

Muhammad ibn al-Husayn—may Allah have mercy on him—said: The Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ vehemently denounced the killing of Uthmān—may Allah be pleased with him—weeped over him, and composed elegies for him. Foremost among them was Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him. He removed a black turban from his head and cried out three times, “O Allah, I declare before You that I am innocent of the blood of Ibn Affān. O Allah, I do not approve of his killing, nor did I order it.”

Zayd ibn Thābit wept bitterly over him, and Kab ibn Mālik al-Ansārī composed an elegy for him. Abd Allah ibn Salām, Hudhayfa, and Saīd ibn Zayd also condemned it. Saīd said to them—meaning those ⦗1751⦘ who marched against him and killed him—“Had Mount Uhud collapsed because of what you did to Uthmān, it would have had every right to do so.” Al-Hasan ibn Alī—may Allah be pleased with them both—was carried wounded from Uthmān’s house—may Allah be pleased with him.

As for our account of how Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—entrusted the matter to those Companions we have mentioned—may Allah be pleased with them—who had been promised Paradise, until they chose Uthmān ibn Affān—may Allah be pleased with him—as caliph of the Muslims: