2548 – ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbdān related: Aḥmad ibn ʿUbayd ibn Ismāʿīl narrated to us; he said: Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq narrated to us; he said: ʿAbdullāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Asmāʾ, the nephew of Juwayriyyah, narrated to us; he said: Juwayriyyah narrated to us, from Mālik, from al-Zuhrī, that Ḥumayd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān informed him that al-Miswar ibn Makhramah informed him:

“The group whom ʿUmar had appointed gathered together and consulted among themselves. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf said to them, ‘I am not going to compete with you over this matter, but if you wish, I will act on your behalf.’ They delegated the affair to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf. When they placed their business in his hands, the people poured in upon ʿAbd al-Raḥmān and crowded around him, so much so that I did not see anyone on earth following any of those other candidates ⦗1420⦘ or even stepping in their tracks. Rather, everyone turned toward ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, consulting him and confiding in him throughout that night, until it was the night whose morning witnessed our pledge of allegiance to ʿUthmān.

Al-Miswar continued: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān came to me after part of the night had passed, knocked at the door, and I awoke. He said, ‘I see you are still up. By Allah, I myself have had hardly any sleep tonight. Call al-Zubayr.’ I called him, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān spoke with him privately until deep into the night, then left him still uncertain, for ʿAbd al-Raḥmān was concealing something from ʿAlī. He then said, ‘Call ʿUthmān,’ and he spoke with him at length until the caller for the dawn prayer separated them.

When the people had performed the dawn prayer, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān gathered those six men by the pulpit. He summoned the rest of the Emigrants and Helpers who were present, and he sent for the military commanders who had come that year for ḥajj with ʿUmar. When they were assembled, he bore witness and said, ‘To proceed: I have considered the people’s affair and I have not found them preferring anyone over ʿUthmān. So do not place blame upon yourself.’ Then he took ʿUthmān’s hand and said, ‘In accordance with the sunnah of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ and the two caliphs after him.’ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān pledged his allegiance to him, followed by the people from among the Emigrants, the Helpers, the army commanders, and the Muslims.”

This report was recorded by al-Bukhārī and Muslim on the authority of ʿAbdullāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Asmāʾ.}