days only. ‘Uthmān would therefore not have settled there, since the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had forbidden this and permitted a stay of only three days. This was because they had left it for Allah’s sake, and whatever is relinquished for Allah’s sake must not be reclaimed or taken back. For this reason, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, prohibited a donor from buying back (1) what he had given in charity. He said to ‘Umar: “Do not buy it (2), and do not take back your charity” (3). He thus regarded him as taking back his charity even though he would be paying for it.

The sixth interpretation is that he had married at Minā. When a traveller stays in a place and marries there (4), or has a wife there = he prays in full. A hadith traced back to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, has been reported in this regard. ‘Ikrima ibn Ibrāhīm al-Azdī (5) narrated from Ibn Abī Dhubāb, from his father, who said: ‘Uthmān led the people at Minā in a four-unit prayer and said: “O people, when I arrived, I married here. I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: ‘If a man marries in a town, let him pray there as a resident does.’” Imām Ahmad related it in his Musnad, as did ‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr al-Humaydī in his Musnad (6).