Tarikh (al-Tabari) 2039
The Caliphate of ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān
فَصْلٌ ( مَنَاقِبُهُ الْكِبَارُ وَحَسَنَاتُهُ الْعَظِيمَةُ ) وَمِنْ مَنَاقِبِهِ الْكِبَارِ وَحَسَنَاتِهِ الْعَظِيمَةِ أَنَّهُ جَمَعَ النَّاسَ عَلَى قِرَاءَةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ، وَكَتَبَ الْمُصْحَفَ عَلَى الْعَرْضَةِ الْأَخِيرَةِ، الَّتِي دَرَّسَهَا جِبْرِيلُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، ﷺ، فِي آخِرِ سِنِي حَيَاتِهِ، وَكَانَ سَبَبُ ذَلِكَ أَنَّ حُذَيْفَةَ بْنَ الْيَمَانِ كَانَ فِي بَعْضِ الْغَزَوَاتِ، وَقَدِ اجْتَمَعَ فِيهَا خَلْقٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الشَّامِ مِمَّنْ يَقْرَأُ عَلَى قِرَاءَةِ الْمِقْدَادِ بْنِ الْأَسْوَدِ وَأَبِي الدَّرْدَاءِ، وَجَمَاعَةٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْعِرَاقِ مِمَّنْ يَقْرَأُ عَلَى قِرَاءَةِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ وَأَبِي مُوسَى، وَجَعَلَ مَنْ لَا يَعْلَمُ بِسَوَغَانِ الْقِرَاءَةِ عَلَى سَبْعَةِ أَحْرُفٍ يُفَضِّلُ قِرَاءَتَهُ عَلَى قِرَاءَةِ غَيْرِهِ، وَرُبَّمَا خَطَّأَ الْآخَرَ أَوْ كَفَّرَهُ، فَأَدَّى ذَلِكَ إِلَى اخْتِلَافٍ شَدِيدٍ وَانْتِشَارٍ فِي الْكَلَامِ السَّيِّئِ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ، فَرَكِبَ حُذَيْفَةُ إِلَى عُثْمَانَ، فَقَالَ: يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ، أَدْرِكْ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةَ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَخْتَلِفَ فِي كِتَابِهَا كَاخْتِلَافِ الْيَهُودِ وَالنَّصَارَى فِي كُتُبِهِمْ. وَذَكَرَ لَهُ مَا شَاهَدَ مِنَ اخْتِلَافِ النَّاسِ فِي الْقِرَاءَةِ، فَعِنْدَ ذَلِكَ جَمَعَ عُثْمَانُ الصَّحَابَةَ وَشَاوَرَهُمْ فِي ذَلِكَ، وَرَأَى أَنْ يَكْتُبَ الْمُصْحَفَ عَلَى حَرْفٍ وَاحِدٍ، وَأَنْ يَجْمَعَ النَّاسَ فِي سَائِرِ الْأَقَالِيمِ عَلَى الْقِرَاءَةِ بِهِ دُونَ مَا سِوَاهُ ; لِمَا رَأَى فِي ذَلِكَ مِنْ مَصْلَحَةِ كَفِّ الْمُنَازَعَةِ وَدَفْعِ الِاخْتِلَافِ، فَاسْتَدْعَى بِالصُّحُفِ الَّتِي كَانَ الصِّدِّيقُ أَمَرَ زَيْدَ بْنَ ثَابِتٍ بِجَمْعِهَا، وَكَانَتْ عِنْدَ الصِّدِّيقِ أَيَّامَ حَيَاتِهِ، ثُمَّ كَانَتْ عِنْدَ عُمَرَ، فَلَمَّا تُوُفِّيَ صَارَتْ إِلَى حَفْصَةَ أُمِّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ، فَاسْتَدْعَى بِهَا عُثْمَانُ وَأَمَرَ زَيْدَ بْنَ ثَابِتٍ الْأَنْصَارِيَّ أَنْ يَكْتُبَ، وَأَنْ يُمْلِيَ عَلَيْهِ سَعِيدُ بْنُ الْعَاصِ الْأُمَوِيُّ، بِحَضْرَةِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ الزُّبَيْرِ الْأَسَدِيِّ وَعَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ الْحَارِثِ بْنِ هِشَامٍ الْمَخْزُومِيِّ، وَأَمَرَهُمْ إِذَا اخْتَلَفُوا فِي شَيْءٍ أَنْ يَكْتُبُوهُ بِلُغَةِ قُرَيْشٍ، فَكَتَبَ لِأَهْلِ الشَّامِ مُصْحَفًا وَلِأَهْلِ مِصْرَ آخَرَ، وَبَعَثَ إِلَى الْبَصْرَةِ مُصْحَفًا وَإِلَى الْكُوفَةِ بِآخَرَ، وَأَرْسَلَ إِلَى مَكَّةَ مُصْحَفًا وَإِلَى الْيَمَنِ مِثْلَهُ، وَأَقَرَّ بِالْمَدِينَةِ مُصْحَفًا، وَيُقَالُ لِهَذِهِ الْمَصَاحِفِ: الْأَئِمَّةُ. وَلَيْسَتْ كُلُّهَا بِخَطِّ عُثْمَانَ، بَلْ وَلَا وَاحِدٌ مِنْهَا، وَإِنَّمَا هِيَ بِخَطِّ زَيْدِ بْنِ ثَابِتٍ، وَإِنَّمَا يُقَالُ لَهَا: الْمَصَاحِفُ الْعُثْمَانِيَّةُ ; نِسْبَةً إِلَى أَمْرِهِ وَزَمَانِهِ وَإِمَارَتِهِ. كَمَا يُقَالُ: دِينَارٌ هِرَقْلِيُّ. أَيْ ضُرِبَ فِي زَمَانِهِ وَدَوْلَتِهِ. وَقَالَ الْوَاقِدِيُّ: بسنده عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ - قَالَ: لَمَّا نَسَخَ عُثْمَانُ الْمَصَاحِفَ دَخَلَ عَلَيْهِ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ، فَقَالَ: أَصَبْتَ وَوُفِّقْتَ، أَشْهَدُ لَسَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، ﷺ، يَقُولُ: " إِنَّ أَشَدَّ أُمَّتِي حُبًّا لِي قَوْمٌ يَأْتُونَ مِنْ بَعْدِي يُؤْمِنُونَ بِي وَلَمْ يَرَوْنِي يَعْمَلُونَ بِمَا فِي الْوَرَقِ الْمُعَلَّقِ " فَقُلْتُ: أَيُّ وَرَقٍ ؟ حَتَّى رَأَيْتُ الْمَصَاحِفَ. قَالَ: فَأَعْجَبَ ذَلِكَ عُثْمَانَ، وَأَمَرَ لِأَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ بِعَشَرَةِ آلَافٍ، وَقَالَ: وَاللَّهِ مَا عَلِمْتُ أَنَّكَ لَتَحْبِسُ عَلَيْنَا حَدِيثَ نَبِيِّنَا، ﷺ. ثُمَّ عَمَدَ إِلَى بَقِيَّةِ الْمَصَاحِفِ الَّتِي بِأَيْدِي النَّاسِ مِمَّا يُخَالِفُ مَا كَتَبَهُ فَحَرَقَهُ ; لِئَلَّا يَقَعَ بِسَبَبِهِ اخْتِلَافٌ، فَقَالَ أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي دَاوُدَ فِي كِتَابِ " الْمَصَاحِفِ ": بسنده عَنْ رَجُلٍ، عَنْ سُوَيْدِ بْنِ غَفَلَةَ قَالَ: قَالَ لِي عَلِيٌّ حِينَ حَرَقَ عُثْمَانُ الْمَصَاحِفَ: لَوْ لَمْ يَصْنَعْهُ هُوَ لَصَنَعْتُهُ. وَقَدْ رُوِيَ عَنِ ابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ أَنَّهُ تَعَتَّبَ لَمَّا أُخِذَ مِنْهُ مُصْحَفُهُ فَحُرِّقَ، وَتَكَلَّمَ فِي تَقَدُّمِ إِسْلَامِهِ عَلَى زَيْدِ بْنِ ثَابِتٍ الَّذِي كَتَبَ الْمَصَاحِفَ، وَأَمَرَ أَصْحَابَهُ أَنْ يَغُلُّوا مَصَاحِفَهُمْ، وَتَلَا قَوْلَهُ تَعَالَى وَمَنْ يَغْلُلْ يَأْتِ بِمَا غَلَّ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ [ آلِ عِمْرَانَ: 161 ] فَكَتَبَ إِلَيْهِ عُثْمَانُ، ؓ، يَدْعُوهُ إِلَى اتِّبَاعِ الصَّحَابَةِ فِيمَا أَجْمَعُوا عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الْمَصْلَحَةِ فِي ذَلِكَ، وَجَمْعِ الْكَلِمَةِ، وَعَدَمِ الِاخْتِلَافِ، فَأَنَابَ وَأَجَابَ إِلَى الْمُتَابَعَةِ وَتَرَكَ الْمُخَالَفَةَ، ؓ أَجْمَعِينَ. وَقَالَ الْأَعْمَشُ: حَدَّثَنِي مُعَاوِيَةُ بْنُ قُرَّةَ - بِوَاسِطٍ - عَنْ أَشْيَاخِهِ قَالُوا: صَلَّى عُثْمَانُ الظُّهْرَ بِمِنًى أَرْبَعًا، فَبَلَغَ ذَلِكَ ابْنَ مَسْعُودٍ، فَعَابَ عَلَيْهِ، ثُمَّ صَلَّى بِأَصْحَابِهِ الْعَصْرَ فِي رَحْلِهِ أَرْبَعًا، فَقِيلَ لَهُ: عِبْتَ عَلَى عُثْمَانَ وَصَلَّيْتَ أَرْبَعًا ؟ فَقَالَ: إِنِّي أَكْرَهُ الْخِلَافَ. وَفِي رِوَايَةٍ: الْخِلَافُ شَرٌّ. فَإِذَا كَانَ هَذَا مُتَابَعَةً مِنَ ابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ عُثْمَانَ فِي هَذَا الْفَرْعِ، فَكَيْفَ بِمُتَابَعَتِهِ إِيَّاهُ فِي أَصْلِ الْقُرْآنِ، وَالِاقْتِدَاءِ بِهِ فِي التِّلَاوَةِ الَّتِي عَزَمَ عَلَى النَّاسِ أَنْ يَقْرَأُوا بِهَا لَا بِغَيْرِهَا ؟ وَقَدْ حَكَى الزُّهْرِيُّ وَغَيْرُهُ أَنَّ عُثْمَانَ إِنَّمَا أَتَمَّ الصَّلَاةَ خَشْيَةً عَلَى الْأَعْرَابِ أَنْ يَعْتَقِدُوا أَنَّ فَرْضَ الصَّلَاةِ رَكْعَتَانِ. وَقِيلَ: بَلْ قَدْ تَأَهَّلَ بِمَكَّةَ. فَرَوَى أَبُو يَعْلَى وَغَيْرُهُ، مِنْ حَدِيثِ عِكْرِمَةَ بْنِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، حَدَّثَنِي عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ الْحَارِثِ بْنِ أَبِي ذُبَابٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ أَنَّ عُثْمَانَ صَلَّى بِهِمْ بِمِنًى أَرْبَعَ رَكَعَاتٍ، ثُمَّ أَقْبَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ، فَقَالَ: إِنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، ﷺ، يَقُولُ: إِذَا تَزَوَّجَ الرَّجُلُ بِبَلَدٍ فَهُوَ مِنْ أَهْلِهِ وَإِنِّي أَتْمَمْتُ لِأَنِّي تَزَوَّجْتُ بِهَا مُنْذُ قَدِمْتُهَا. وَهَذَا الْحَدِيثُ لَا يَصِحُّ، وَقَدْ تَزَوَّجَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ، ﷺ، فِي عُمْرَةِ الْقَضَاءِ بِمَيْمُونَةَ بِنْتِ الْحَارِثِ وَلَمْ يُتِمَّ الصَّلَاةَ. وَقَدْ قِيلَ: إِنَّ عُثْمَانَ تَأَوَّلَ أَنَّهُ أَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ حَيْثُ كَانَ. وَهَكَذَا تَأَوَّلَتْ عَائِشَةُ فَأَتَمَّتْ. وَفِي هَذَا التَّأْوِيلِ نَظَرٌ ; فَإِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، ﷺ، هُوَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ حَيْثُ كَانَ، وَمَعَ هَذَا مَا أَتَمَّ الصَّلَاةَ فِي الْأَسْفَارِ. وَمِمَّا كَانَ يَعْتَمِدُهُ عُثْمَانُ بْنُ عَفَّانَ أَنَّهُ كَانَ يُلْزِمُ عُمَّالَهُ بِحُضُورِ الْمَوْسِمِ كُلَّ عَامٍ، وَيَكْتُبُ إِلَى الرَّعَايَا: مَنْ كَانَتْ لَهُ عِنْدَ أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ مَظْلِمَةٌ فَلْيُوَافِ إِلَى الْمَوْسِمِ، فَإِنِّي آخُذُ لَهُ حَقَّهُ مِنْ عَامِلِهِ. وَكَانَ عُثْمَانُ قَدْ سَمَحَ لِكَثِيرٍ مِنْ كِبَارِ الصَّحَابَةِ فِي الْمَسِيرِ حَيْثُ شَاءُوا مِنَ الْبِلَادِ، وَكَانَ عُمَرُ يَحْجُرُ عَلَيْهِمْ فِي ذَلِكَ، حَتَّى وَلَا فِي الْغَزْوِ وَيَقُولُ: إِنِّي أَخَافُ أَنْ تَرَوُا الدُّنْيَا أَوْ أَنْ يَرَاكُمْ أَبْنَاؤُهَا. فَلَمَّا خَرَجُوا فِي زَمَانِ عُثْمَانَ اجْتَمَعَ عَلَيْهِمُ النَّاسُ، وَصَارَ لِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ أَصْحَابٌ، وَطَمِعَ كُلُّ قَوْمٍ فِي تَوْلِيَةِ صَاحِبِهِمُ الْإِمَارَةَ الْعَامَّةَ بَعْدَ عُثْمَانَ، فَاسْتَعْجَلُوا مَوْتَهُ، وَاسْتَطَالُوا حَيَاتَهُ، حَتَّى وَقَعَ مَا وَقَعَ مِنْ بَعْضِ أَهْلِ الْأَمْصَارِ، كَمَا تَقَدَّمَ، فَإِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ، وَلَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ، الْعَلِيِّ الْعَظِيمِ.
Translation
✧ SECTION (HIS MAJOR MERITS AND MAGNIFICENT GOOD DEEDS) Among his major merits and magnificent good deeds is that he united the people upon a single recitation and wrote the muṣḥaf according to the final review, which Gabriel taught to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the last years of his life. The reason for that was that Ḥudhayfah b. al-Yamān was on one of the military expeditions, in which a group of the people of Syria had gathered who recited according to the recitation of al-Miqdād b. al-Aswad and Abū al-Dardāʾ, and a group of the people of Iraq who recited according to the recitation of ʿAbd Allāh b. Masʿūd and Abū Mūsā. Those who did not know that recitation in the seven aḥruf was permissible began to prefer their own recitation over that of others, and sometimes they declared the other to be mistaken or even an unbeliever. This led to severe disagreement and the spread of evil speech among the people. So Ḥudhayfah rode to ʿUthmān and said: O Commander of the Faithful, rescue this community before it differs concerning its Book just as the Jews and Christians differed concerning their books. He mentioned to him what he had witnessed of the people's disagreement over recitation. At that point ʿUthmān gathered the Companions and consulted them about that. He considered it best to write the muṣḥaf according to a single ḥarf, and to unite the people in all the regions upon reciting it instead of anything else, because of the benefit he saw in that of putting an end to disputes and warding off disagreement. So he called for the sheets which al-Ṣiddīq had ordered Zayd b. Thābit to compile, which had been in al-Ṣiddīq's possession during his lifetime, then passed into ʿUmar's possession, and when he died they came to Ḥafṣah, the Mother of the Believers. ʿUthmān called for them and ordered Zayd b. Thābit al-Anṣārī to write, with Saʿīd b. al-ʿĀṣ al-Umawī dictating to him, in the presence of ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Zubayr al-Asadī and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. al-Ḥārith b. Hishām al-Makhzūmī. He instructed them that if they differed concerning anything, they should write it in the language of Quraysh. So he wrote one muṣḥaf for the people of Syria and another for the people of Egypt, sent one muṣḥaf to Basra and another to Kufa, sent one muṣḥaf to Makkah and a similar one to Yemen, and kept one muṣḥaf in Madinah. These muṣḥafs are called 'the imāms'. They are not all in ʿUthmān's handwriting, not even one of them; rather they are in the handwriting of Zayd b. Thābit. They are called 'the ʿUthmānic muṣḥafs' only in attribution to his command, his time, and his rule, just as one says 'a Heraclian dinar', meaning one struck in his time and his state. Al-Wāqidī said, with his chain of transmission from Abū Hurayrah, who said: When ʿUthmān copied the muṣḥafs, Abū Hurayrah entered upon him and said: You have done rightly and been granted success. I bear witness that I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: 'The severest of my community in love for me are a people who will come after me, who believe in me though they have not seen me, and who act according to what is in the suspended pages.' I said: What pages? Until I saw the muṣḥafs. He said: That pleased ʿUthmān, and he ordered that Abū Hurayrah be given ten thousand, and he said: By Allah, I did not know that you were withholding from us a ḥadīth of our Prophet ﷺ. Then he turned to the remaining muṣḥafs in the people's hands that differed from what he had written, and he burned them, so that no disagreement should occur because of them. Abū Bakr b. Abī Dāwūd said in his book 'al-Maṣāḥif', with his chain of transmission from a man, from Suwayd b. Ghafalah, who said: ʿAlī said to me when ʿUthmān burned the muṣḥafs: If he had not done it, I would have done it. It has been reported from Ibn Masʿūd that he was displeased when his muṣḥaf was taken from him and burned, and he spoke about the fact that his Islam preceded that of Zayd b. Thābit, who wrote the muṣḥafs. He ordered his companions to conceal their muṣḥafs, and he recited the words of the Most High: 'And whoever defrauds shall bring what he defrauded on the Day of Resurrection' [Āl ʿImrān: 161]. So ʿUthmān ؓ wrote to him, inviting him to follow the Companions in what they had agreed upon regarding the benefit in that matter, the uniting of the word, and the avoidance of disagreement. He relented and responded to this compliance and abandoned opposition, ؓ. Al-Aʿmash said: Muʿāwiyah b. Qurrah narrated to me in Wāsiṭ, from his shaykhs, who said: ʿUthmān prayed the noon prayer in Minā as four rakʿahs. That reached Ibn Masʿūd, and he criticized him for it. Then he prayed the afternoon prayer in his own camp as four rakʿahs. It was said to him: You criticized ʿUthmān and then prayed four? He said: Indeed I dislike disagreement. In another version: Disagreement is evil. If this was Ibn Masʿūd's compliance with ʿUthmān in this secondary matter, then how much more would be his compliance with him in the root matter of the Qurʾān and his following him in the recitation which ʿUthmān resolved that the people should recite and no other? Al-Zuhrī and others related that ʿUthmān completed the prayer only out of fear that the bedouins might believe that the obligatory prayer is two rakʿahs. It was also said: Rather, he had married a wife in Makkah. Abū Yaʿlā and others narrated from the ḥadīth of ʿIkrimah b. Ibrāhīm: ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. al-Ḥārith b. Abī Dhubāb narrated to me, from his father, that ʿUthmān prayed four rakʿahs with them in Minā, then he turned to them and said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: 'If a man marries in a town, then he is one of its people,' and I completed the prayer because I married there since I arrived. This ḥadīth is not sound, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ married Maymūnah bt. al-Ḥārith during the ʿUmrah of al-Qaḍāʾ and he did not complete the prayer. It has also been said that ʿUthmān interpreted the matter as: he is the Commander of the Faithful wherever he is. Likewise ʿĀʾishah interpreted it and completed the prayer. This interpretation is open to question, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah wherever he is, and yet he did not complete the prayer during journeys. Among the practices that ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān maintained was that he required his governors to attend the pilgrimage season every year, and he wrote to the subjects: Whoever has a grievance against any of them, let him come to the pilgrimage season, for I will take his right for him from his governor. ʿUthmān had also permitted many of the senior Companions to travel wherever they wished in the lands, whereas ʿUmar had restricted them in that, even from going on military expeditions, saying: I fear that you may see the world or that the sons of the world may see you. When they went out during ʿUthmān's time, people gathered around them, and each one gained followers. Each group began to hope for the appointment of their companion to the general governorship after ʿUthmān, so they wished for his death to come quickly and found his life too long, until what happened happened on the part of some people of the garrison towns, as has preceded. Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we return. There is no might and no power except with Allah, the Mighty, the Wise, the High, the Great.
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