Ibne Saad has written that:1 When Uthman was besieged, Marwan fought
furiously at his side, and Ayesha while Uthman was besieged, decided to
undertake journey of Hajj. So Marwan, Zaid bin Thabit and Abdur Rahman bin
Itab came to her and said:
“O mother of believers, you remained here only, because as you can see
Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) is besieged and your remaining at home is something
through which Almighty Allah would remove the calamity from him.”
Ayesha said: I have loaded my beast and have made preparation for journey
and I cannot cancel my plans. They repeated their request and she continued to
maintain her stance. So Marwan arose and recited a couplet:
“Qays instigated the cities against me and when it was enflamed he left it.”2
Ayesha said: “O one, who is quoting verses against me, by God, I wish you
and your companion are destroyed,” and she set out for Mecca.
2. Abdullah Ibne Abbas passed by Ayesha, and Uthman had appointed him
as the caretaker of Hajj. Ayesha was at one of the stages on way to Mecca. She
said:
“O son of Abbas, indeed Almighty Allah has bestowed you with perception,
intellect and a good discourse. So do not keep people away from this transgressor
[Uthman].”
3. It is mentioned in the letter of Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) to Talha, Zubair
and Ayesha, when she was near Basra:
“And you, O Ayesha, who has come out disobeying Allah and His
Messenger and you seek the issue, which is taken away from you, then you think
that you are intending welfare of Muslims. Tell me, whether it is allowed for
women to raise forces and to come out with men to confront Muslims and shed
their blood? You thought that you are retaliating for Uthman’s murder, whereas
you have nothing to do with this. Uthman was from Bani Umayyah and you are
from Teem tribe. Till yesterday you said to companions of Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.a.): “Kill this aged fool, may God kill him; indeed he has apostatized,” and
today you are seeking revenge for him! Fear Allah and return home and cast the
veil on your face. And peace.”3
4. Ibne Abil Hadid has written that:4
Whoever has written books on biography and traditional reports has stated
that Ayesha was the most harsh upon Uthman. So much so that she took out a
shirt of Prophet and hung its outside her house and she said to whoever entered:
“This is the shirt of Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) which is not yet worn out,
but he (Uthman) made his Sunnah worn out.”
They have written: The first, who named Uthman as ‘an old fool’ was
Ayesha and she said:
“Kill this old fool, may Almighty Allah kill him.”
5. Madaini has narrated in his book of Jamal that: When Uthman was killed,
Ayesha was in Mecca. The report of his killing reached her when she was in
‘Sharaaf’ and she did not doubt that Talha would be Caliph. She said: “May this
old fool remain away from divine mercy. O Zal Asbah,5 continue your acts and
words. O Abu Shabal continue! O cousin [Talha] continue! As if I can see his
finger, when allegiance is given to him, move your camels forward.”
Madaini says: When Uthman was killed, Talha took keys of the Public
Treasury and horses of Uthman, which were in house; when his plans failed [he
did not become the Caliph] he gave them to Ali Ibne Abi Talib (a.s.).6
6. It is narrated from different channels that: When Ayesha received the
report of the killing of Uthman, she said:
“May Allah keep him away from His mercy. This was due to acts he
committed and Almighty Allah is not unjust on people.”7
Ibne Athir, Firozabadi, Ibne Manzur and Zubaidi have written that:8
Nathal implies an old fool…and Nathal was an Egyptian, who possessed a long
beard. Abu Ubaid has said that: He resembled Uthman and people abused
Uthman and labeled him as Nathal. It is mentioned in tradition of Ayesha that:
“Kill this old fool, may Almighty Allah kill him.” She implied Uthman…
Balazari has narrated in Ansab that:9 While Ayesha was crying and
saying: “Uthman is killed,” she came out, so Ammar bin Yasir said to her:
“Yesterday, you instigated this and today you are lamenting?”
Allamah Amini says: These reports inform us about the true stance of
Ayesha regarding Uthman: that she did not see any merits in Uthman to remain at
the helm of ruling Muslims.
This viewpoint, which is a little exaggerated is that she wished Uthman to be annihilated, and that she wished that he should be cast into the sea with a heavy tied to his body so that it can never come out again. Or that spears of rebels finish him off and that his disgrace is removed from the society.
That is why she took out of the hair, shirt and sandals of Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.a.) and enflamed passions of people and always, whether at station or
during journey, instigated the community against him and motivated people
against him and she prevented people from assisting him. Ayesha did not give up
this view till Uthman was killed, except when she realized that Talha has not
received Caliphate; as Ayesha had tried much to make him as Caliph; and when
uprising took place against Uthman and she instigated people to eliminate him,
she intended to give preference to Talha.
She wanted rulership to return to Teem tribe once more. Perhaps that is why
Ayesha was heard propagating on way to Mecca and in places of congregation of
Hajj pilgrims in Mecca regarding Talha:
“O Zal Asbah, continue your acts and words. O Abu Shabal continue! O
cousin [Talha] continue! As if I can see his finger, when allegiance is given to
him, move your camels forward.”
And said: “O Zal Asbah, continue. Kudos to you. Know that they have
regarded Talha an equal for Caliphate.”
She also said regarding Uthman: “Kill this old fool. May Allah kill him, as
he has apostatized.”
She said to Ibne Abbas: “Don’t keep people away from this transgressor.”
In Mecca, she said: “May the old fool be deprived from divine mercy;” and
when she got the news of his killing, she said:
“May Allah not have mercy on him. It was due to his acts and Almighty
Allah is not unjust on the creatures.”
But, when she learnt that the Caliphate of Almighty Allah has gone to Ali
(a.s.) and it had come to its proper place against her wish, she said:
“If this really has happened! It would have been better for the heavens to
crash on me.”
Then she expressed regret at the killing of Uthman and returned to Mecca
again, and raised an army to seek revenge for the killing of Uthman, that perhaps
she may be able to restore the kingdom to Talha. Otherwise she was not the heir
of Uthman that she could have sought revenge for killing of Uthman and her
raising of army and undertaking an expedition was not her duty; because she is a
woman and Almighty Allah has created her for staying at home, and like other
wives of Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.).
Especially revealing embellishments and showing her face and hair to non-related males is forbidden for her. Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) warned her in
particular about the incident of Jamal, but she ignored that warning as preferred
to support the claim of Talha. As regards the barking of dogs of Hawwab, she disregarded it although Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) at the time of warning her had mentioned this barking to her; and her hope continued to impel her till Talha was killed and she despaired of his Caliphate and was compelled to accept the will of God.