1458 – Abū Bakr Ahmad ibn Abd Allāh ibn Sayf al-Sijistānī narrated to us, saying: Al-Sarī ibn Yahyā ibn al-Sarī al-Tamīmī, Abū Ubayda, narrated to us, saying: Shuayb ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us, saying: Sayf ibn Umar narrated to us, from Atiyya, from Yazīd al-Qafasī, who said:

Ibn Saba was a Jew from Sanaa whose mother was a Black woman. He embraced Islam during the time of Uthmān—may Allah be pleased with him—and then traveled throughout the Muslim lands seeking to lead their inhabitants astray. He began in the Hijāz, then went to Basra, then Kufa, and then Syria. He was unable to achieve his aims with anyone in Syria, so they expelled him. He eventually reached Egypt and immersed himself among its people. Among the things he would tell them was: “How astonishing that someone should claim that Jesus—peace be upon him—will return, yet deny that Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—will return, when Allah ⦗1985⦘—Glorified and Exalted—is—has said: ‘Indeed, He who imposed the Quran upon you will surely bring you back to a place of return’ [al-Qasas: 85]. Muhammad has a greater right to return than Jesus.”

Yazīd continued: This was accepted from him. He then formulated the doctrine of return for them, and they began discussing it. After that, he said: “Every prophet had a designated successor, and Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—was Muhammad’s designated successor.” He also told them: “Muhammad is the Seal of the Prophets, and Alī is the seal of the designated successors.” He later said: “Who is more unjust than one who refused to recognize the designation made by the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and set himself against the Messenger of Allah’s designated successor—may Allah bless him and grant him peace?”

He then told them: “Uthmān has compounded all this by taking it without right, whereas here is the Messenger of Allah’s designated successor—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Rise up for this cause and set it in motion. Begin by attacking your governors, and publicly champion commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong so that you may win the people over. Call them to this cause.”

He accordingly sent out propagandists and corresponded with those whom he had corrupted in the provinces, while they corresponded with him. As they traveled, they called people to the views they held and publicly championed commanding what is right. They began sending letters to the provinces alleging faults in their governors, while their associates wrote back with similar claims. The inhabitants of each province wrote to those of another about what was happening, so that each group read these accounts in its own province, until their campaign thereby reached Medina. They spread these reports throughout the land, while intending something other than what they displayed and concealing views different from those they professed.

The inhabitants of every province would say, “We are surely safe from the affliction that has befallen these people of Medina.” Those in Medina had received such reports from the inhabitants of every province, so they said, “We are surely safe from what the people are experiencing.” ⦗1986⦘

He said: The Companions of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—then gathered before Uthmān—may Allah be pleased with him—and asked, “Commander of the Faithful, have the same reports about the people reached you as have reached us?”

He replied, “No, by Allah. Nothing has reached me except reports that all is well.”

They said, “But reports have reached us,” and they informed him of what they had learned.

He said, “Then you share this responsibility with me and are witnesses for the Commander of the Faithful. Advise me.”

They said, “We advise you to send men whom you trust to the provinces so that they may return to you with accurate reports.”

He summoned Muhammad ibn Maslama and sent him to Kufa. He sent Usāma ibn Zayd to Basra, Ammār ibn Yāsir to Egypt, and Abd Allāh ibn Umar to Syria. He also dispatched other men. They all returned before Ammār did and said, “O people, by Allah, we found nothing objectionable, nor did the leading Muslims or the common people find anything objectionable.” They all said, “The affairs of the Muslims remain in their own hands.”