Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When the people withheld zakat, I intended to fight them." It was said: "Did not the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say that whoever says 'La ilaha illallah' (there is no god but Allah), his wealth and blood are protected?" He replied: "Zakat is also a due right. If they withhold even a rope which they used to give to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), I will fight them for it."

Tariq bin Shihab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The delegations of Banu Asad and Ghatafan, who had apostatized, requested a truce from Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: "Either a war that will serve as a lesson, or a humiliating peace." They asked about the conditions of the truce. He said: "Do not take blood money for our slain, consider your slain as inhabitants of Hell, return our captives, do not take back your captives, lay down your weapons, and follow behind the camels until Allah shows the Caliph a decision regarding you." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Our slain were martyred for the sake of Allah; there is no blood money for them."

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) sent us with fifty horsemen, and the commander was Muhammad bin Maslamah. When we reached Dhi Khushub, we met a man who had the Qur'an hanging from his neck and tears were flowing from his eyes. He said: "We are being told to attack the Qur'an with the sword." Muhammad said: "Sit down, we have already raised the sword for the Qur'an before you." Then he turned them back with his words. Jabir said: "It is said that they received a letter addressed to Ibn Sa'd."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I was besieged in the house with Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him). One of our companions was killed. I said: 'O Commander of the Believers! Now is the time for fighting.' He said: 'O Abu Hurairah! I adjure you to throw down your sword. My blood must be preserved.' So I threw down my sword, and to this day I do not know where it went."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I came to Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) on the day of the siege. I asked: O Commander of the Believers! Will you not fight?" He replied: "O Abu Hurairah! Do you wish to kill all the people and me?" I said: "No." He said: "If you kill one man, it is as if you have killed everyone."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was killed, he said: "By Allah! If you shed a single drop of blood, you will become even more distant from Allah."

Sayyiduna Abu Ja'far Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I went with the Egyptians to Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him). When they struck him, I ran away. I reached the mosque and there was a man sitting, wearing a black turban, among ten people. He asked: 'What happened?' I said: 'By Allah, the matter is finished.' He said: 'Woe to you, O people of the latter times!' That man was Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)."

Whenever Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) would narrate the incident that happened with Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), he would weep.

We bear witness that Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "By Allah! Neither did I kill Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), nor did I participate in his killing, nor did I order his killing, nor was I pleased with his killing."

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "By Allah! I wished that Banu Umayyah would be satisfied, so we, fifty men from Banu Hashim, would present ourselves before them and swear an oath that we neither killed Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) nor do we know the killer."