Who really killed ‘Uthman?

Page 41 of 43
their homes and their property, while seeking Grace from Allah
and (His) Good Pleasure, and aiding Allah and His Messenger:
such are indeed the sincere ones)? They answered, ‘No!’ Then
‘Ali bin Al-Hussain said, ‘So, are you (those who, before them,
had homes (in Medina) and had adopted the Faith, show their
affection to such as came to them for refuge, and entertain no
desire in their hearts for things given to the (latter), but give
them preference over themselves, even though poverty was their
(own lot))?’ They answered, ‘No!’ ‘Ali bin Al-Hussain said,
‘Therefore, you disassociated yourselves from being one of these
two groups and I bear witness that you are not the ones (who
came after them say: "Our Lord! Forgive us, and our brethren
who came before us into the Faith, and leave not, in our hearts,
rancor (or sense of injury) against those who have believed. Our
Lord! Thou art indeed Full of Kindness, Most Merciful.") Get out
of here, may Allah curse you!” [Ibid, vol. 2, p. 291, under the
subtitle of “Virtues of Al-Imam Zayn Al-Abideen”] And after all
these evidences from Sunni and Shi’a books, does Al-Tijani dare
to claim that Allah had guided him to slander the Companions?
The alleged Shi’a tradition cited by Arbali has actually been copied from Ahl’ul Sunnah texts
without any Isnad. This report can be located in Tafsir al-Qurtubi under his commentary of
verse 59:10. A Sunni narrated source automatically means that we can reject and the fact that
it has no Isnad that we can examine also makes it weak in the eyes of Ahl’ul Sunnah also.
No Shi’a book of traditions records this event. The only source is Arbali whi fails to cite which
Shi’a text he cited from and if he did also failed to record the isnad. Even if for arguments sake
this was indeed in authentic Shi’a sources we can STILL analyse it.
Rather than just blindly cut and paste we would argue that it is essential to understand the
context in which the Imam (as) was speaking. This was a period when the Imams were being
persecuted; the males of the Imam’s household had been wiped by the sixth Imam of Ahl’ul
Sunnah Yazeed ibn Mu’awiyah [see our article on Imam Husayn (as)].
Ahl’ul bayt (as) were being viewed with suspicion by the Nasibi Government of the time and yet
they were fully aware of the respect the Imam (as) had amongst the ordinary folk. It was
therefore essential to seek an excuse by which the Imam (as) could be imprisoned / or worse
executed. By this era the State machinery had in effect propagated the concept of the justice of
the Sahaba.
Any views that went against this would have no doubt been viewed as views that contravened
State Religion – and this would have been grounds to have people apprehended and punished.
No doubt the Imams views of the first three khalifas were very critical, but it also needs to be
pointed out that like all regimes the State had also sent spies to listen in on the Imam’s
speeches and ascertain his views so that grounds for arrest could be made against him.
The Imam (as) was of course fully aware of this. With this background in mind, let us examine
this narration, we are told that “some people from Iraq entered upon him”. The narration fails
to identify the names of these individuals. Who were they? Were they Sunni / Shi’a / Nasibi /
Undercover State Officials seeking to learn of the Imams views?
In the absence of this fact there is no way that Abu Sulaiman can conclude that he was talking
to Shi’a from Kufa they were “some people” had they been Shi’a the tradition would have
mentioned this. The Imam of course was fully aware of the evil machinations that the State
machinery had against him, and the sudden appearance of people from Kufa who immediately
wanted to know his views on the three khalifa’s automatically points to the fact that these were
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