reluctantly and were thus hypocrites, like Ibn Saba’ and others of his kind. It was they who sought to foment strife by killing him.

Among the believers are those who listen to the hypocrites, as Allah Most High says:

“Had they gone forth among you, they would only have added to your confusion and would have hurried about in your midst, seeking to stir up discord among you; and among you are those who listen to them.”
[Surah al-Tawbah: 47]

That is, among you are those who listen (1) to them, respond to them, and accept what they say because they deceive them.

This is precisely what those hypocrites did: they deceived some of the people in their midst who loved ‘Uthmān and hated those who hated him, until some people held back from supporting him.

Most of those who banded together to kill him were a motley rabble from the tribes, people with no known record of good in Islam. Were it not for the turmoil, they would never have been mentioned.

As for ‘Alī, from the time he assumed office, nearly half the Muslims withheld their pledge of allegiance to him, including people from among the earliest pioneers of the Emigrants and Helpers, as well as others. Some stood aside, neither fighting alongside him nor against him, such as Usāmah ibn Zayd, Ibn ‘Umar, and Muhammad ibn Maslamah; others fought against him (2).

Then many of those who had pledged allegiance to him turned away from him. Some declared him an unbeliever and deemed it lawful to shed his blood, while others went over to Mu‘āwiyah, such as his brother ‘Aqīl and others like him.