As we mentioned last week, when Uthman felt that it was inevitable that the rebels besieging his home were bound to try to storm it, he ordered those who were inside, ready to defend him, to lay down their arms and go home. There are several reports that confirm Uthman’s decision not to be defended. Ibn Al-Arabi mentions a few:
“Zayd ibn Thabit came in and said to Uthman: The Ansar are here saying: ‘We are willing to be God’s supporters again.’ Uthman said: ‘I have no need for this. Stay your hands.’” Abu Hurayrah said to Uthman: “Today, the best action is to fight alongside you.” Uthman replied: “I insist that you should leave.”
“Al-Hasan ibn Ali was the last to depart. Earlier, Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn, the Prophet’s grandsons, as well as Ibn Umar, Abdullah ibn Al-Zubayr and Marwan ibn Al-Hakam came in to defend him. However, he insisted that all of them should put down their swords, leave and go home. Both Ibn Al-Zubayr and Marwan said to him: ‘But we insist to stay.’ He then opened the door himself and the rebels stormed in. The black man then killed him.
“It is reported that Ibn Abi Bakr held him by his beard while Kinanah slew him. Another report mentions that his killer was a man from Egypt nicknamed Himar, which means donkey. A drop of his blood fell over his copy of the Qur’an which he was reading sticking next to the phrase that says: ‘God will stop them for you.’ (This is in verse 137 of Surah 2) That blood stain was not removed.”
This shows that Uthman enjoyed the support of the Prophet’s companions a majority of whom were still living in Madinah. Indeed some of them, like Al-Zubayr ibn Al-Awwam, were looking for the best way to support the caliph. Musa ibn Uqbah, the historian of the early period of Islam, reports: “When Uthman was besieged in his home, the Amr ibn Awf clan, which was a large branch of the Khazraj, one of the two major tribes of the Ansar, sent a message to Al-Zubayr that they would be joining him en masse so that he would be their commander in defending Uthman. He was pleased with this and sent someone called Abu Habeebah with a message to Uthman saying: ‘Your brother Al-Zubayr sends you his greetings and wishes to know if you prefer that he should come immediately to help defending you, staying with you in your home and sharing with the people there their fate, or would you rather that he should wait for the Amr ibn Awf clan and come in force to defend you.”
Abu Habeebah reports: “When I entered Uthman’s house, I found him seated on a chair and there were sheets and cushions. I also found there Al-Hasan ibn Ali, the Prophet’s grandson, Abdullah ibn Umar, Abu Hurayrah, Saeed ibn Al-Aas, Marwan ibn Al-Hakam and Abdullah ibn Al-Zubayr. I delivered Al-Zubayr’s message. In reply, Uthman said to me to tell him: “If you were to come and join me, you will be one extra man with us, increasing our defense by one. I would rather you wait for the Amr ibn Awf clan and come with them. It may be that God would give us protection through you.” Abu Hurayrah stood up and said: “Listen all of you. I heard with my ears God’s messenger saying: ‘There will be strife and troubles after me.’ I asked him how could one avoid being involved and the Prophet said: ‘By being on the side of the ruler and his party.’ As Abu Hurayrah said this, he pointed to Uthman.
“On hearing Abu Hurayrah saying this, all the people present said to Uthman: ‘Give us permission to fight, for the issues are clear to us.’ He said: ‘I insist that everyone who knows that he must obey my orders should not fight.’ However, the rebels attacked before the Amr ibn Awf clan arrived and they killed Uthman.”
In his annotation of Ibn Al-Arabi’s book, Al-Khateeb explains that the man who slew Uthman was Kinanah ibn Bishr Al-Tujaybi, the commander of one of the four Egyptian battalions.
He was the first of those who stormed Uthman’s house, carrying a flame and intent on burning the door to open it. He took out his sword to hit the caliph, but his wife, Nailah, tried to defend him, and Kinanah chopped off her hands before putting his sword on Uthman’s chest and leaning with all his weight over him. This man was killed two years later in the battle that took place in Egypt between Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr and Amr ibn Al-Aas.
As for the man reported to have killed him, whose nickname is Himar which means donkey, Al-Khateeb says that no one among the perpetrators of this heinous crime is known by this name, which seems to be misspelled.
Now that we know how Uthman was killed, it is important to gauge what the Prophet’s companions felt after his killing. Perhaps the statement that sums up their feelings is that of Aishah, the Prophet’s wife. On her return to Madinah after her pilgrimage, many people gathered around her and she delivered a powerful speech which she concluded by saying: “I was angry when a whip was used against some of you; would I not be angry that Uthman should be hit with a sword! You have remonstrated with him until he was like the purified juice of a sugar cane, or a slate wiped clean, or a robe without a single stain. Nevertheless, you killed him!”
Masrooq, a leading scholar of the second generation of Muslims, said to her: “This was the result of your own action. You sent letters calling on people to revolt against him.”
She said: “By God who is acknowledged by all believers and denied by unbelievers I have never blackened a white sheet with anything of the sort.” In comment, Al-Aamash, a renowned scholar, says that the general feeling was that such letters were forged and attributed to her.
