The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“You are granted that you will not be conscripted, you will not be liable to the tithe, and no outsider shall be appointed over you—but know that there is no good in a religion that contains no bowing in prayer.”

ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ then asked, “O Messenger of Allah, teach me the Qur’an and make me the leader of my people.”

Abū Dāwūd (1) relates the report through Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī, from Ḥammād ibn Salamah, from Ḥumayd with this wording.

Abū Dāwūd also said (2): Ḥasan ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ narrated to us; Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm narrated to us; Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAqīl ibn Maʿqil ibn Munabbih reported to me—from his father—from Wahb, who said:

“I asked Jābir about Thaqīf when they pledged allegiance. He replied: ‘They stipulated to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that no alms-tax be taken from them and that they not be required to fight.’ Jābir added that he later heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘They will most surely give charity and they will fight once they have accepted Islam.’”

Ibn Isḥāq (3) continues: After they embraced Islam and their agreement was written, the Prophet appointed ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ—though he was the youngest of them—as governor, because al-Ṣiddīq said, “O Messenger of Allah, I have seen this youth to be the most eager of them to understand Islam and learn the Qur’an.”

Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah adds that when the delegation visited the Messenger of Allah they would leave ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ with their baggage; at midday he would come to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to ask questions and recite the Qur’an to him. If he found him resting, he would go to Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq. He continued in this manner until he became knowledgeable in Islam and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ grew exceedingly fond of him.

Ibn Isḥāq (4) also transmits—through Saʿīd ibn Abī Hind, from Muṭarrif ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Shikhkhīr—that ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ said: “Among the last instructions the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave me when he sent me to Thaqīf was: ‘O ʿUthmān, keep the prayer brief and consider the weakest among the people, for among them are the elderly, the young, the weak, and those with pressing needs.’”

Imām Aḥmad (5) reports: ʿAffān related to us; Ḥammād ibn Salamah related to us; Saʿīd al-Jarīrī informed us, from Abū al-ʿAlāʾ, from Muṭarrif, from ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ, who said: “I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, appoint me the leader of my people.’ He replied: ‘You are their leader. Lead them taking the weakest of them as your measure, and take as your mu’adhdhin someone who seeks no payment for his call to prayer.’”

This was also recorded by Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī (6) through Ḥammād ibn Salamah.