whose pledge was more firmly established than Uthmān’s (1); it was made by their consensus.” Once those possessing strength and power pledged allegiance to him, he became imam. Otherwise, if Abd al-Rahmān alone had pledged allegiance to him while Ali and the other Companions who wielded effective power had not, he would not have become imam.

Umar, however, entrusted the matter to a council of six: Uthmān, Ali, Talha, al-Zubayr, Sad, and Abd al-Rahmān ibn Awf. Talha, al-Zubayr, and Sad then withdrew of their own accord, leaving Uthmān, Ali, and Abd al-Rahmān [ibn Awf] (2). The three willingly agreed that Abd al-Rahmān [ibn Awf] (3) would not assume the office himself, but would appoint one of the other two men. Abd al-Rahmān spent three days—during which, he swore, he scarcely obtained any substantial sleep—consulting the earliest and foremost believers and those who followed them in excellence. He also consulted the leaders of the Ansār, who had performed Hajj with Umar that year. The Muslims advised him to appoint Uthmān. He reported (4) that they all gave precedence to Uthmān and pledged allegiance to him, neither because of any inducement he had offered them nor out of any fear with which he had intimidated them.

For this reason, more than one of the early Muslims and leading scholars, such as Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī (5) and Ahmad