In that same year ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān expanded the Prophet’s Mosque ﷺ. He rebuilt it with qassa (1)—a lime-gypsum mortar that was brought from Baṭn Nakhl (2)—and with carved stone; he set its columns of inlaid masonry, roofed it with teak, made its length one hundred and sixty cubits and its width one hundred and fifty cubits, and retained its six doors just as they had been in the time of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. He began the construction in Rabīʿ al-Awwal of that year.
During the same year ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān led the people in the Pilgrimage. At Minā a pavilion was pitched for him—the first pavilion ever set up there for ʿUthmān—and that year he performed the prayer in full. More than one of the Companions objected, among them ʿAlī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, so much so that Ibn Masʿūd said, “Would that my share of four rakʿahs were two that are accepted!” ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf debated him about what he had done, and Ibn Jarīr (3) relates the following exchange:
He asked, “Have you settled in Mecca?”
ʿUthmān replied, “And do you not have family in Medina while you are standing where your family is—in Medina?”
He said, “I also have property in al-Ṭāʾif that I wish to inspect after we depart.”
He answered, “There are three days’ journey between you and al-Ṭāʾif.”
ʿUthmān said, “A group from Yemen holds that prayer in towns is two rakʿahs; they may see me praying two and cite me as proof.”
He responded, “Revelation used to descend upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—when at that time Muslims were still few—and he prayed here two rakʿahs. Abū Bakr prayed here two rakʿahs, and so did ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb; and at the beginning of your rule you yourself prayed here two rakʿahs.”
ʿUthmān fell silent and then said, “It was merely an opinion I formed.”
[The Year 30 AH]
In that year Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ conquered Ṭabarestān according to al-Wāqidī, Abū Maʿshar, and al-Madaʾinī, who add that he was the first to campaign there. Sīf, however, claims that its people had previously made peace with Suwayd ibn Muqarrin on condition that he not attack them, in return for money paid by their ispahbadh; Allah knows best.
Al-Madaʾinī reports that Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ set out with an army that included al-Ḥasan, al-Ḥusayn, the four ʿAbd Allāhs, Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān, and many other Companions. He marched on, passing through various towns whose inhabitants concluded treaties with him for large sums, until he reached the district of Jurjān. There they fought him so hard that they had to perform the fear-prayer.
Ḥudhayfah asked, “How did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ perform it?” When he was informed, he led them accordingly. The people of that fortress then sought a guarantee of safety; he granted it to them on the condition that not a single one of them be killed. They opened the fortress, yet he killed them all except one man and seized everything the stronghold contained (4).
A man from Banū Nahd came upon a locked casket and brought it to Saʿīd; they opened it and inside was a black cloth