Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

'Ali ibn Abi Tcilib 279
It may be understood from this hadith that 'Ali (&) was close
to 'Uthmiin (&) and helped him to obey Allah (&). 'Ai(4)
used
to say, when defending 'Uthmih (&) and refuting the criticisms
against him because of the actions attributed to al-waledzz6: "The
way you criticize 'Uthmiin (&) is Wte one who stabs himself to kill
his help. What is the mistake of 'Uthm2n (&) with regard to a man
on whom he carried out the punishment because of his actions and
dismissed him from his post? What error did 'Uthmiin (&) make
when he acted on our advi~e?"~"
3.4.2. 'Uthmh's consulting 'Ali and
the senior Companions with regard to
the conquest of North Africa
In Riyd an-Nufoos, it is narrated that word reached Amir al-
Mu'mineen 'Uthmk ibn 'Affiin from his governor in Egypt,
Abdullah ibn Sa'd, that the Muslims sometimes raided the borders of
North Africa and inflicted damage on their enemies, and that their
enemies were close to where the Muslims were located. As a result of
that, 'Uthmk ibn 'Affiin (&) expressed to al-Miswar ibn
Makhramah his wish to send the armies to conquer North Africa. Al-
Miswar ibn Makhramah narrated: ''['UhGn (&) said:] 'What is
your opinion, 0 Ibn Makhramah? I said: 'conq;er them.' He said:
'Assemble the senior Companions of the Messenger of Allah today,
so that I can seek their advice; whatever they agree on, I will do, or
whatever most of them agree on, I will do.' I saw 'Ali, Talhah, az-
Zubayr and d-'Abb2s [and he mentioned some of them]. 'UthmSm
conversed with each one on his own in the mosque, then he
summoned Abu d-A'war (Sa'eed ibn Zayd) and said to him: 'Why
did you - 0 Abu al-A'war - object to sending the troops to North
Africa?' He said: 'I heard 'Umar (&,) say, "I will never send any
Muslims to conquer it as long as I am alive," and I do not think that
you should go against 'Umar's decision.' 'Uthmiin said to him: 'By