28.1
ʿAbd al-Razzāq, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, who said:
ʿUmar would not permit a single non-Arab to enter Medina, but al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah wrote to ʿUmar, saying, “I own a slave who’s a carpenter, artisan, and smith; he can be of great benefit to the inhabitants of Medina. If you deem it fit to permit me to send him, consider it done.”
ʿUmar granted him permission, and al-Mughīrah levied a payment of two silver pieces per day from this slave. The slave was called Abū Luʾluʾah, and he was originally a Zoroastrian. He remained in Medina as long as God willed, but then one day he came to ʿUmar complaining about the severity of the levy on his work, so ʿUmar asked him, “In which crafts do you excel?”
“I am a carpenter, an artisan, and a smith,” he replied.
ʿUmar then declared, “Considering the extent to which you excel in your crafts, your levy is not so great!”
Abū Luʾluʾah then walked away grumbling.
Another time, the slave passed by ʿUmar while he was seated, and ʿUmar said, “Is it true what I’ve been told: that you say, ‘If you want me to fashion a mill that uses the wind to grind grain, I can’?”
“Indeed,” replied Abū Luʾluʾah, “I shall build a mill about which the people shall never cease to speak!”
As Abū Luʾluʾah left, ʿUmar exclaimed, “Did that slave just threaten me with violence?”
When Abū Luʾluʾah resolved to do the deed, he took a dagger and concealed it. Then he crouched down in one of the corners of the mosque waiting for ʿUmar. ʿUmar used to set out before daybreak to wake the people for prayer, and when he passed by, Abū Luʾluʾah lunged toward him and stabbed him three times. One of the wounds was under ʿUmar’s navel and that was the one that killed him. Abū Luʾluʾah stabbed twelve other men in the mosque; six of them died, and six survived. Then he slit his own throat with his dagger and died.
28.2
Maʿmar commented: I heard someone other than al-Zuhrī say:
An Iraqi settler threw a burnoose over him, and when he was caught inside, he slit his own throat.
28.3
Maʿmar said: al-Zuhrī said:
When ʿUmar began to fear that he would bleed to death, he said, “Have ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf lead the people in prayer.”
28.4
Al-Zuhrī said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿAbbās related to me, saying:
A group of the Allies and I carried ʿUmar to his residence and laid him down inside. He remained unconscious until dawn. A man said, “Only if you mention the prayer will you be able to frighten him back to his senses!”
So we said, “O Commander of the Faithful, the prayer!”
ʿUmar then opened his eyes and asked, “Have the people prayed?”
“Yes,” we replied.
“Islam will not bring good fortune to those who abandon prayer”—or perhaps ʿUmar said, according to Maʿmar, “those who neglect prayer.” After that he prayed, though his wound bled profusely.
Ibn ʿAbbās continued: Then ʿUmar told me, “Go out and ask the people who stabbed me.” I set out, and when I came upon the people gathered together, I said, “Who has stabbed the Commander of the Faithful?”
“Abū Luʾluʾah, the enemy of God and al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah’s slave—he stabbed him!” they answered.
I returned to ʿUmar, who was waiting for me to bring the report. I said, “O Commander of the Faithful, God’s enemy Abū Luʾluʾah stabbed you!”
“God is Great!” exclaimed ʿUmar. “Praise be to God, who ensured that my assassin would not vie with me on the Day of Resurrection over a single prostration made to God!274 I did not suspect that the Arabs would kill me.”
Shortly thereafter a doctor came to see him. He poured ʿUmar date wine to drink,275 and it came out from his belly. “This is the redness of blood,” the people said. Later a different doctor came to him and poured him milk to drink, and the milk came out glistening white. The one who poured the milk for him then said to him, “Make your testament, O Commander of the Faithful.”
“The man from the Muʿāwiyah clan276 has told me the truth,” ʿUmar responded.
28.5
Al-Zuhrī said, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar:
Next ʿUmar called for the group of six: ʿAlī, ʿUthmān, Saʿd, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, and al-Zubayr—I don’t know if he mentioned Ṭalḥah or not. Then ʿUmar declared, “I have examined the people, and I have not seen discord in their midst. If discord does arise, then it shall be from you. Arise now, convene to consult one another, and appoint one of your number as Commander of the Faithful.”
28.6
Maʿmar said: al-Zuhrī said: Ḥumayd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to me on the authority of Miswar ibn Makhramah, who said:
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf came to see me on the third night that the Shura was being held.277 After as much time had passed into the night as God willed, he found me asleep. He said, “Wake him up!” They woke me up, whereupon he said, “Did I just find you sleeping? By God, sleep has hardly touched my eyes these past three nights. Go now, and call these persons to come see me”—all of whom were early converts to Islam from the Allies. I called for them to come, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān spoke to them alone inside the mosque for a long time. Later, when they stood up to leave, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān said, “Call for al-Zubayr to come, as well as Ṭalḥah and Saʿd.” I called for them to come, and he conferred with them for some time. Again they stood up to leave, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān said to me, “Call for ʿAlī to come.” I called for him to come, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān conferred with him for a long time. Then ʿAlī stood to leave, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān said to me, “Call for ʿUthmān to come.” I called for him to come, and when ʿAbd al-Raḥmān began to confer with ʿUthmān nothing interrupted them until the call for the morning prayer.
Ṣuhayb then led the people in prayer.278 When he had finished, the people gathered around ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, who praised God and then proceeded to declare:
“Now, I have examined the people, and I have found none among them equal to ʿUthmān. And you, ʿAlī, take care not to expose yourself to reproach. You, ʿUthmān, do you accept the burden of God’s testament and His covenant, His pact and that of His Messenger, and that you shall act in accord with God’s Scripture and the practice of His Prophet and with the precedent of the two caliphs who came after him?”
“Yes,” answered ʿUthmān.
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān then placed his hand on ʿUthmān’s and pledged him his allegiance, and the people pledged their allegiance soon thereafter, as did ʿAlī.
Later, as ʿAlī left, Ibn ʿAbbās met up with him and said, “You were deceived.”
“Was that indeed deception?” ʿAlī replied.
ʿUthmān acted in accordance with the precedent of his predecessors for six years, falling short in nothing for a full six years; however, after that the old man became feeble and frail and others dominated his rule.
Al-Zuhrī said: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab reported to me that:
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr—whom we’ve never known to lie—said at the time that ʿUmar was killed, “I once came upon Hurmuzān, Jufaynah, and Abū Luʾluʾah as they were discussing something in secret. I startled them, so they jumped up, and out from their midst fell a dagger with a blade on both ends, its handle in the middle.” ʿAbd al-Raḥmān later said, “Look to see with what type of weapon ʿUmar was killed.” They looked and found the dagger just as ʿAbd al-Raḥmān had described it.
Thus it was that ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar set off with his sword sheathed until he reached Hurmuzān, whereupon he said, “Get up. Let’s take a look at one of my horses.” Hurmuzān had extensive knowledge of horses, so he set out walking in front of ʿUbayd Allāh. ʿUbayd Allāh then raised his sword to strike him, and when he felt sting of the sword, he cried, “There is no god but God!” and ʿUbayd Allāh killed him.
Next he went to Jufaynah, who was a Christian. ʿUbayd Allāh summoned him over and when Jufaynah got within striking distance, he attacked him with his sword, and Jufaynah made the sign of the cross between his eyes.
Lastly he came to Abū Luʾluʾah’s daughter, a small girl who claimed to have embraced Islam, and killed her. Thus did a dark shadow fall over Medina and its people that day.
ʿUbayd Allāh then turned around with his sword blazing in his hand, “By God I won’t leave a single captive alive in Medina, or anyone else!” and it seemed as though he was alluding to certain individuals from the Emigrants.279 They started to say, “Throw down your sword!” but he refused, and they were too terrified to go near him. At last ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ came and said, “Give me the sword, nephew!” ʿUbayd Allāh gave ʿAmr the sword, and then ʿUthmān jumped up and grabbed him by the head, and the two scuffled with one another280 until the people stepped between them.
When ʿUthmān was made ruler, he declared, “Lend me your counsel concerning this man, who has sowed such dissension in Islam”—by whom he meant ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar. The Emigrants advised ʿUthmān to kill him, but the majority of the people said, “ʿUmar was killed only yesterday—do you wish to make his son follow him to his grave today? God damn Hurmuzān and Jufaynah!”
ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ stood and declared, “May God spare you of this matter while you have authority over the people! Indeed, this matter did not transpire when you were in power. Pardon him, O Commander of the Faithful!” The people dispersed after hearing ʿAmr’s oration, and ʿUthmān paid the blood price for the two men and the girl.
28.8
Al-Zuhrī said: Ḥamzah ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar reported to me that his father, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, said:
May God have mercy on Ḥafṣah if she was indeed the one who spurred on ʿUbayd Allāh to kill Hurmuzān and Jufaynah.281
28.9
Al-Zuhrī said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Thaʿlabah—or he said, “the son of his tribe’s ally”—al-Khuzāʿī, who said:
I saw al-Hurmuzān raise his hand as he prayed behind ʿUmar.
28.10
Maʿmar said: someone other than al-Zuhrī said:
ʿUthmān said, “I will assume responsibility for al-Hurmuzān, Jufaynah, and the girl, and will pay their blood price.”