There is no doubt that the troubles that led to the assassination of Uthman, the third caliph, in his home in Madinah were perpetrated by a group of conspirators who were able to raise a force of 2,000 men whom they deceived into thinking that they were supporting the truth.
We have also shown that Uthman was aware that the rebels were intent on killing him. They would stop at nothing. Yet he ordered that no one should defend him. He in fact forced those who were at his home ready to defend him to leave and not to fight the rebels. He would probably have welcomed being defended by a large force which would be more than a match to the rebels. He might have thought that the presence of such a force would stay the hands of the rebels and they would refrain from attacking. This appears clearly from his reaction to the message Al-Zubayr sent him that the Amr ibn Awf clan of the Ansar who were ready to defend him would join him. But the rebels forestalled that by storming into his home and killing him before such support arrived.
We should mention here that this clan and Al-Zubayr were taking action on their own initiative. Uthman did not seek support from anyone. Hence, it is pertinent to quote what Ibn Al-Arabi mentions here: “It is clear that none of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) companions joined any conspiracy against Uthman, nor refrained from supporting him. Had Uthman sought support, the rebel forces, whether they were one or four thousand men, coming from far away places could not have defeated 20,000 or more local people who would have hurried to support him. But he decided to take it all upon himself in a sublime act of self-sacrifice.”
Al-Khateeb comments: “Uthman chose the lesser evil which was to sacrifice his own life. He saw that the alternative would widen the division within the Muslim community and lead to much more bloodshed. Hence he thought that his sacrifice would spare Islam further trouble. Unfortunately, most of us do not appreciate his sacrifice.”
Ibn Al-Arabi points out that scholars are of conflicting views with regard to the proper action that should be taken in such a situation. If anyone finds himself in a position like that of Uthman, should he seek support or follow Uthman’s example, sacrificing himself? Ibn Al-Arabi is of the latter view as he mentions what happened to him and what he chose to do. He says: “I have been a judge administering justice between people. I enforced the obligatory prayers, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong and unjust to the extent that no one could see anything wrong being committed. This angered those who were keen to resort to injustice. Transgressors felt the situation too hard for them because they could no longer transgress. Therefore, they gathered against me. I surrendered myself to God, and ordered all those who were willing to support me and defend me in my home not to do so. I went up to the roof, and my attackers stormed in. By the evening my home was overtaken. Had it not been for my good reputation on account of what I did in the past, I would have been killed in my home. My reason for adopting this stance was threefold: The first is to act on the Prophet’s advice, and the second to follow Uthman’s example, and the last is to spare myself what people might say against me, knowing that the Prophet who was supported by revelations tried hard to avoid. I feared that people who could not be with me, and indeed some of my adversaries who were present, would say that people came to me appealing for help and I caused them to be killed.
“Besides, all that Uthman did is considered an example to be followed, as he provided a good role model. He was certain that he would be killed, since the Prophet told him of that, and he gave him the happy news that he would be in heaven after he had had some trouble to endure, and also told him that he would be a martyr. It is further reported that Uthman saw the Prophet in his dream who told him: ‘If you wish, you could have support to overcome them, or you may choose to end your fast tonight with us.’
“Some ignorant people claim that everyone of the leading figures among the Prophet’s companions was urging the rebels against Uthman, and that they were happy with what happened to him. They fabricated a letter of fine style and rich with quotations, purported to having been sent by Uthman to Ali seeking support. But all this is false, aiming to make later generations of Muslims unhappy with its first generation and with the rightly-guided caliphs.”
Thus Ibn Al-Arabi endorses Uthman’s attitude of sacrificing himself in order to prevent further bloodshed. When he was attacked by the mob that was unhappy with his keen sense of justice, he was ready to sacrifice himself in the same way as Uthman. As for his reference to the Prophet’s trying to evade what people may say against him, this was when Abdullah ibn Ubayy, the chief of the hypocrites in Madinah, said a mouthful, threatening to drive the Prophet out of Madinah on his return there. Umar wanted to kill him, but the Prophet stopped him saying: “It will not be said that Muhammad kills his followers.”
Ibn Al-Arabi then sums up the real situation as follows: “What is deduced from all that we have mentioned is that Uthman was unjustly killed and that he had no case to answer. All the Prophet’s companions have nothing to answer for on the question of not giving him enough support. They simply did what he expressly wished them to do. They agreed that he could choose to surrender himself to his attackers. In addition, it has been authentically reported that Abdullah ibn Al-Zubayr said to Uthman: ‘We are here with you a small group who are fully aware of the truth, and God may grant victory to a smaller number than us. Permit us to fight them.’ Uthman said: ‘I remind anyone who spills blood for my sake that he will have to account for it before God.’
“Saleet said: ‘Uthman warned us against fighting them. Had he permitted us, we would have fought them until we have driven them out of Madinah.’ Abdullah ibn Amir ibn Rabeeah said: ‘I was with Uthman in his home, but he said to us: I insist that everyone who acknowledges that he should obey me to stay his hand. The one of you who will be most effective is the one who stays his hand.’
“It has been authentically reported that Al-Hasan and Al-Husain (the Prophet’s grandsons) as well as Ibn Al-Zubayr, Ibn Umar and Marwan were all inside his home carrying their weapons. Uthman said to them: “I insist that everyone of you puts down his weapon and go back home.’”
Al-Khateeb adds several other reports confirming this and showing that Uthman had the support that would have ensured that the rebels could be defeated. But he chose to spare the Muslim community any bloodshed, leaving himself to be the only casualty.
