It is narrated from Kinanah al-Adawi; he said: I was among those who were besieging Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: I asked: "Did Muhammad bin Abi Bakr kill him?" He said: "No; rather a man from the people of Egypt, Jabalah bin al-Ayham, killed him." The narrator says: And it is said that Qutayrah al-Sakuni killed him, and he was killed on the spot; and it is also said that Kinanah bin Bishr al-Tujibi killed him; and perhaps they all took part together in his killing, may Allah curse them. And al-Walid bin Uqbah said these verses (about it): "Behold! The best of people after their Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is the one whom that Tujibi who came from Egypt martyred." Here "the Tujibi" means the killer of Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Uthman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) that he sought the hand of Sayyiduna Umar's (may Allah be pleased with him) daughter in marriage, but he refused. This reached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and when Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came to him (peace and blessings be upon him), he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Umar! Shall I not point you to a son-in-law who is better for you than Uthman, and point Uthman to a father-in-law who is better for him than you?" He said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)!" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Marry your daughter to me, and I will marry my daughter to Uthman." This hadith has a sahih chain, but the two Shaykhs did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him); he said: Sayyiduna Uthman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) bought Paradise from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) twice: once when he (peace and blessings be upon him) (encouraged the purchase of the well of) Bi'r Ma'unah, and the second time when he (peace and blessings be upon him) equipped the Army of Hardship (Jaysh al-Usrah). This hadith has a sahih chain, but the two Shaykhs did not record it.

It is narrated from Umayr bin Sa'id; he said: When Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) intended to go to (the Battle of) Siffin in Syria, the people of the tribe of Nakha' gathered and came to the house of Malik al-Ashtar. Al-Ashtar asked: "Is there anyone in the house who is not from Nakha'?" The people said: "No." So he said: "This Ummah set upon its best man (Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him)) and killed him. We fought the people of Basra on the basis of a pledge of allegiance which we interpreted according to our own understanding, and now you are marching against a people over whom we hold no pledge of allegiance; so let every man consider where he is placing his sword." Although this hadith is (apparently) without a chain, in this place its chain is sahih.

Ahmad bin Hanbal said: "There have not been narrated for any of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) as many virtues and merits as have been reported concerning Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him)."

Yahya bin Ma'in said: "The name of Abu Talib was Abd Manaf." Imam al-Hakim said: Ziyad has likewise transmitted it from Muhammad bin Ishaq, whereas there are mass-transmitted reports that Abu Talib's kunyah was in fact his name; and Allah knows best.

Yahya bin Ma'in said: "The honoured mother of Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) is Fatimah bint Asad bin Hashim."

It is narrated from Mus'ab bin Abdullah al-Zubayri that Fatimah bint Asad bin Hashim was the first Hashimi woman to bear children from a Hashimi man (Abu Talib). In the blessed era of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), she held the highest rank of faith. She passed away during the outward lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) himself led her funeral prayer. The name of Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was (initially) Asad, and it is in this connection that he used to recite this rajaz verse (on the occasion of the Battle of Khaybar): 'Ana alladhi sammatni ummi Haydarah' (I am the one whom my mother named Haydar (lion)).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that when (my mother) Fatimah bint Asad bin Hashim passed away, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) shrouded her in his blessed shirt, led her funeral prayer, and during it said "Allahu Akbar" seventy times. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) himself went down into her grave and began gesturing towards its sides, as if he (peace and blessings be upon him) were widening and levelling it. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) came out of the grave, his (peace and blessings be upon him) eyes were shedding tears, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) threw earth into her grave. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) had finished, Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Messenger of Allah! I saw that you showed this woman a kindness that you have not shown anyone before?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Umar! After my mother who gave birth to me, this woman was like a mother to me. When Abu Talib prepared food and arranged a feast, he would gather us too at his table, and this woman would set aside our share from all of that food so that I could eat it later. And indeed Jibril (peace be upon him) has given me the glad tidings from my Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, that she is among the people of Paradise; and Jibril (peace be upon him) also told me that Allah Almighty commanded seventy thousand angels to offer her funeral prayer."

It is narrated from Amir bin Sa'd that Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him): "What prevents you from reviling Ibn Abi Talib (Sayyiduna Ali, may Allah be pleased with him)?" He replied: "As long as I remember the three things that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said in his favour, I will never revile him; any single one of those (virtues) would be dearer to me than a wealth of red camels." Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "O Abu Ishaq! What are they?" He said: "I will not speak ill of him as long as I remember the time when revelation came down and he (peace and blessings be upon him) covered Sayyiduna Ali, his two sons and Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with them) beneath his cloak, and then supplicated: 'Rabbi inna ha'ula'i ahlu bayti' (O my Lord! These are my family, my Ahl al-Bayt). Likewise, I will not speak ill of him as long as I remember the occasion of the expedition of Tabuk, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) left him behind (in Madinah), and Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: (O Messenger of Allah!) Have you left me behind with the children and the women? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Are you not pleased that your position with me is the same as that of Harun (peace be upon him) with Musa (peace be upon him), except that there is no prophethood after me?' And I will not speak ill of him as long as I remember the day of Khaybar, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'I will give this banner to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger, and Allah will grant victory at his hands.' So all of us began hoping for the attention of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: 'Where is Ali?' The Companions said: His eyes are sore (he has an eye inflammation). He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Call him.' When he was called, he (peace and blessings be upon him) applied his blessed saliva to his eyes and handed him the banner, and then Allah granted victory at his hands." The narrator says: So, by Allah! Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) did not say a single word about him until he departed from Madinah. This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim, but they did not record it with this wording (sequence of words), while the two Shaykhs agreed on recording the hadith of brotherhood (al-Mu'akhat) and the hadith of the banner.