The Prophet ﷺ said of Uthman: Shall I not be shy of a man of whom the angels are shy? And he ﷺ said of Ali: You are to me as Harun was to Musa, except that there is no prophet after me.
Muslim (the shyness) · Bukhari and Muslim (manzilah)
19
Uthman, Ali, and the fitnah
الفتنة
23–40 AH
This is the chapter Tabari is most asked to carry, and the chapter a Muslim must read with wudu of the heart. He reports the killing of Uthman, the Bayah of Ali, the Camel, Siffin, the Khawarij, and the murder of Ali. He reports from both camps. He does not appoint himself a judge over the Companions. Ahl al-Sunnah hold them all in honour, and they hold that Ali was nearer the truth in those wars, and they hold their tongues about what was between them beyond that.
Tabari writes the letters, the sieges, and the names. He often says: this is what so-and-so claimed. The isnad is the warning. Later rafidi and nasibi storytellers both stole from these pages. Steal nothing. Read the chains.
How to sit with Tabari on the fitnah
Nur will not host curses of Aishah, Talhah, al-Zubayr, or Muawiyah. Tabari himself is wider than the sects that mined him.
How to weigh this
Ibn Taymiyyah’s rule is the Nur rule here: we keep silent about what was between them, we ask mercy for all, and we know the truth was with Ali. A report that smears a Companion on a broken isnad is not ‘history.’ It is a wound.