Hazrat Uthman’s (ra) Address to the Rebels
With regard to Hazrat Uthman’s (ra) great courage and resolve, Mujahid narrates that Hazrat Uthman (ra) peered from inside his house and addressing the rebels, said, “O my people! Do not kill me because I am the leader of the time and I am your Muslim brother. By God! Irrespective of whether my understanding [about a matter] was correct or not, I have only ever strived to ensure reform to the best of my ability. Remember, if you kill me, you will never be able to gather together to offer prayers collectively, nor will you be able to set out for Jihad together and neither will you distribute wealth in a just manner.”
The narrator states, “When the rebels who had besieged his house refused to pay heed, Hazrat Uthman (ra) stated, ‘I ask you in the name of God, when Amirul Momineen – Hazrat Umar (ra) – passed away, at the time you were one and were established upon the faith, did you not pray in the manner that you did?’” i.e. for Khilafat. “‘But now you are effectively saying that your prayers were not accepted; or you wish to say that Allah the Almighty no longer cares for His faith; or you claim that I attained this (i.e. Khilafat) forcefully at sword point or usurped it and that this was not given to me after mutual consultation of the Muslims; or perhaps you believe that during the early stages of my Khilafat, Allah the Almighty was not aware of the matters relating to me that He is now aware of. This cannot be the case as Allah the Almighty knows everything.’ When the rebels refused to accept this as well, Hazrat Uthman (ra) prayed, ‘O Allah! Take note of them and destroy each and every one of them and do not spare even a single one from among them.’”
Mujahid further states, “Whosoever took part in this rebellion, Allah the Almighty destroyed every single one of them.”
(Ibn Saad, Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Vol. 3, Uthman (ra) bin Affan [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi, 1996], p. 38)
Abu Laylah Kindi narrates, “I saw Hazrat Uthman (ra) when he was under siege. He peered from an opening and said, ‘O People! Do not kill me and if I am at fault for anything, give me respite so I can repent. I swear by Allah! If you kill me, you will never be able to congregate to offer prayers together, nor will you be able to counter the enemy as one. Indeed, [in such a case] you will then quarrel with one another and always be at odds with one another.’” The narrator states that Hazrat Uthman (ra) used his fingers to indicate this.
Hazrat Uthman (ra) then said:
يٰقَوْمِ لَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شِقَاقِيْ اَنْ يُّصِيْبَكُمْ مِّثْلُ مَآ اَصَابَ قَوْمَ نُوْحٍ اَوْ قَوْمَ هُوْدٍ اَوْ قَوْمَ صٰلِحٍ وَمَا قَوْمُ لُوْطٍ مِّنْكُمْ بِبَعِيْدٍ
Meaning “O my people, let not your hostility towards me lead you to this that there should befall you the like of that which befell the people of Noah or the people of Hud or the people of Salih; and the people of Lot are not far from you.” [Ch.11: V.90]