for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is superior to him, so why should anyone deem it impossible for him to return to this world when he is nobler than Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him)?
Then he would add: ‘The Prophet bequeathed the matter to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib; Muhammad is the Seal of the Prophets and ʿAlī is the Seal of the Successors.’
He would go on to say: ‘Accordingly, ʿAlī has a greater right to authority than ʿUthmān, whereas ʿUthmān has wrongfully assumed a rule that does not belong to him.’
The people reproached him for this and openly practiced enjoining right and forbidding wrong. Many of the inhabitants of Egypt were deceived by him; they wrote to groups among the common folk of Kūfah and Basrah, so they conspired together, exchanged letters on the matter, and agreed to assemble in order to denounce ʿUthmān. They also dispatched envoys to debate with him, laying before him their grievances: that he had appointed his relatives to office and dismissed leading Companions. This took root in the hearts of many. ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān therefore gathered his governors from the provinces and consulted them; they advised him as we have already related. Allah knows best.
Al-Wāqidī (1) reported—through ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad, from his father—that in the year 34 AH the people’s criticism of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān grew intense, and they attacked him with language harsher than any levelled at anyone before. The people then urged ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib to go in to ʿUthmān. He entered and said:
‘The people are behind me and have spoken to me about you. By Allah, I do not know what I can say to you. I am unaware of anything of which you are ignorant, nor can I direct you to a matter you do not already know. You know what we know; we have never preceded you in anything that we might now convey, nor have we ever been alone with the Messenger concerning something that we could now transmit to you, nor have we been singled out for affairs beyond your ability to grasp. You have seen and heard and accompanied the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and you have gained kinship with him by marriage. The son of Abū Quḥāfah has no greater claim than you to act upon the truth, nor has the son of al-Khaṭṭāb any prior right over you in the pursuit of good. Indeed, you are closer to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in blood, and you obtained through marriage to him what they did not obtain, and they never outstripped you in anything.
So fear Allah with regard to yourself. By Allah, you are neither blind out of lack of sight nor ignorant out of lack of knowledge. The path is clear and its signposts of religion stand erect. Know, O ʿUthmān, that the best of Allah’s servants in His sight is a just imam who is guided and who guides others: he establishes a known sunnah and eliminates a known bidʿah. By Allah, each of these matters is manifest; the sunnahs stand with their markers and the innovations stand with their markers. The worst of people before Allah is an unjust imam who has gone astray and leads others astray: he abolishes an established sunnah and revives a forsaken bidʿah.
I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:
“On the Day of Resurrection the unjust imam will be brought forth, having no supporter and no defender (3). He will be hurled into Hell, where he will whirl about as a millstone whirls, then he will plunge into the depths of Hell.” (4)
I therefore warn you before Allah and I warn you of His might and retribution, for His punishment is painful and severe. Beware lest you become the slain imam of this ummah, for it was said that an imam will be killed within this community, after which killing and fighting will be unleashed upon it until the Day of Resurrection; its affairs will become confused, and the people will be left as factions unable to discern truth from falsehood, surging therein like waves and frolicking therein without restraint.’
ʿUthmān replied, ‘By Allah, I knew you would say what you have said. By Allah, had you been in my place, I would not have reproached you.’