When this transpired, the matter weighed heavily upon the people, so that most of them confined themselves to their houses. When the season of Hajj arrived, the Mother of the Believers ʿĀʾishah set out that year for the pilgrimage. She was told, “Had you remained, it would have been better; perhaps these men would feel some awe of you.” She replied, “I fear that were I to advise them with an opinion, they would hurt me as they did Umm Ḥabībah.” She therefore resolved to depart (1).

That same year ʿUthmān, may Allah be pleased with him, appointed ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās to lead the Hajj. Ibn ʿAbbās said to him, “My standing at your door, shielding you, is better for me than the pilgrimage.” Yet ʿUthmān insisted, so he went out with the people for Hajj. The siege of the house continued until the days of Tashrīq had passed, after which a messenger returned from the pilgrimage and reported that the pilgrims were safe. He also informed the rebels that the people of the season intended to come back to Madinah to protect the Commander of the Believers.

They further learned that Muʿāwiyah had dispatched an army with Ḥabīb ibn Maslamah; that ʿAbdullāh ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarḥ had sent another with Muʿāwiyah ibn Khudayj; that the people of Kūfah had sent al-Qaʿqāʿ ibn ʿAmr with a force; and that the people of Baṣrah had sent Mujāshiʿ with another. At this the insurgents steeled themselves and intensified their effort. Taking advantage of the small number of people and their absence on pilgrimage, they surrounded the house, tightened the siege, set the gate ablaze, and clambered over the walls of the adjoining dwellings, such as that of (3) ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm and others. The defenders shielded ʿUthmān with the utmost vigor; fierce fighting took place at the doorway. They came out for single combat, trading verses of poetry as they dueled, while Abū Hurayrah kept saying, “Today is a day when sword-striking is sweet.”

A group from inside the house were killed, and others among those wicked men fell as well. ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr suffered many wounds, as did al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī and Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam; one of Marwān’s collar-bones (4) was severed, yet he lived—or it was only nicked (5)—until he later died.

Among the notable partisans of ʿUthmān who were killed were Ziyād ibn Naʿīm al-Fihri, al-Mughīrah ibn al-Akhnas ibn Sharīq, and Niyār ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Aslamī, along with others during the battle. It is said that the defenders of ʿUthmān were at first driven back, then returned (6).

When ʿUthmān saw this, he adjured the people to withdraw to their homes, and they did so as previously mentioned, so that none remained with him but his family. The assailants entered upon him through the gate and over the walls. ʿUthmān sought refuge in prayer and began the surah Ṭā-Hā; he was a rapid reciter, and he completed it while the turmoil raged, the gate and the portico beside him already burned, and they feared the fire would reach (7) the Treasury. When ʿUthmān finished his prayer he sat down with the Qur’an before him and recited:

“Those to whom the people said, ‘Indeed, the enemy has gathered against you, so fear them,’—it only increased them in faith, and they said, ‘Sufficient for us is Allah, and an excellent Guardian is He.’ ” (Āl ʿImrān 3:173)

He was the first of them to