1. Understanding the Differences of the Companions Session 1
Campaign of Vilification Against Uthman

2. As it is today, there seems to be for every fitnah encountered by the Muslims the Jews were behind it. The fitnah that occurred with the companions began during the Caliphate of Uthman with a man named Ibn Saba who was responsible for beginning a religious movement against Islam
It aimed at the subversion of Islam by creating doubts among the Muslims with regard to certain matters of their belief.
Ibn Saba's movement was patronized by the Jews, and had its links with foreign countries. With the triumph of the Muslim arms, under the incitement of the Byzantines, Ibn Saba's movement became a political movement as well.
The agents of Ibn Saba in various towns launched a campaign of vilification against Uthman and his government. The movement tried to sow discord among the Muslims on one pretext or the other.
The non-Arabs were incited to object to the supremacy of the Arabs. Among the Arabs the differences between the northerners and the southerners were exploited. Differences were also exploited between the Quraish and the other Arabs. Differences between' the Bedouins and the city dwellers were exploited

3. The people were fed on fictitious stories about the tyrannies of the Government of Uthman. Even whatever good had been done by Uthman was presented in false color.
As a result of such subtle propaganda the peace of the country came to be disturbed. No specific charges against Uthman or his government were forthcoming. Only vague and hearsay allegations floated from ear to ear.
In Madina, the companions and other leaders of public opinion were flooded with anonymous letters containing vague allegations against Uthman and his government.
This is very much how it is today. People don't like you so they make up falsehoods against you and then find others to support them and together they send vicious s to people of authority alleging things about you that can not even be proven, just to lay the seed. This is what they did to Uthman

4. As done even today, when planning to take down a person you must find people with grievances against the person to use. And if the person you are trying to take down is righteous there will always be disgruntled people to use, and such was the case with Uthman.
Ibn Saba was very smart. He not only found disgruntled persons but persons of esteem or good families to make his case look even better such as:
Amr b Al 'Aas who had been deposed by Uthman from the governorship of Egypt. He had a personal grievance against Uthman, and in some way or the other he played into the hands of the Ibn Saba and his supporters.
Muhammad b Abl Hudhaifa was a young man whose father had been martyred in one of the campaigns under Abu Bakr. After the death of his father Muhammad came to live with Uthman who treated him as a son. Muhammad grew into a wayward young man. When Uthman became the Caliph, Muhammad aspired to be made the Governor of some province. When Muhammad requested Uthman to be made the Governor of some province, Uthman said that if he had considered him fit to be made the Governor he would have done that, and that as he was still very young he should wait for some time till he acquired some maturity. That annoyed Muhammad and he moved to Egypt

5. Also used in the ploy of Ibn Saba was Muhammad b Abu Bakr was the son of Abu Bakr
His mother was Asma, whom Abu Bakr, married after the death of her husband Jaffar b Abu Talib.
After the death of Abu Bakr, Asma married Ali. Muhammad b Abu Bakr thus grew up under the guardianship of Ali.
When Uthman became the Caliph, Ali felt unhappy at being passed over. Muhammad b Abu Bakr therefore came to adopt at an early age an attitude which was critical of Uthman.
Later Muhammad b Abu Bakr was a party to a case. Uthman gave his verdict against Muhammad b Abu Bakr. That annoyed Muhammad b Abu Bakr. He left Madina for Egypt.

6. In Egypt Muhammad b Abi Hudhaifa and Muhammad b Abu Bakr came under the influence of Ibn Saba, and came to indulge in propaganda against Abdullah b Saad the Governor of Egypt as well as Uthman.
They ingratiated themselves with the army, and tried to seduce the soldiers from the cause of Uthman.
When the Muslims won the naval battle known as the "Battle of the Masts" and felt proud of the victory, the two Muhammads tried to belittle this achievement by declaring that such victories were of no avail when the caliphate itself was indulging in anti-Islamic practices.
When Abdullah b Sa'ad came to know of this propaganda he reported the matter to Uthman and wanted his permission to take action against Muhammad b Abi Hudhaifa and Muhammad b Abu Bakr.
Uthman withheld the permission saying that Muhammad b Abi Hudhaifa was his son, and that because of his regard for Abu Bakr he could not contemplate any action against his son.

7. Such is always the case of the righteous person
Such is always the case of the righteous person. Even when faced with betrayal he finds it hard to retaliate against someone you loved. Such was the case with Uthman
He has raised Muhammad b Hudaifah as his own so he could not bring it upon himself to harm him.
And the other Muhammad was the son of his beloved Abu Bakr so thus he could not retaliate upon him either
So thus Uthman chose to just ignore them and their propaganda which is often what the people of the truth do today.
We hear rumors of betrayal from those whom we love and trust and chose to ignore them in hopes that the rumors will die out or the people we love will turn back to the truth
However later we realize had we addressed those people then we could have stopped a great fitnah from ocurring, and thats the mistake Uthman made for those whom he loved and trusted were the ones who brought his end to him.

8. In Egypt 'Amr b Al 'Aas had a party, and as 'Amr b Al 'Aas was unhappy at his deposition, his party joined those who were critical of Abdullah b Sa'ad and Uthman. Thus Egypt became a hot bed of sedition against the administration of Uthman.
And this is how it works even today. One unhappy group joins with another and then you have sedition.
The movement of Ibn Saba won allies in Madina and elsewhere, Ibn Sabaites declared that they were working for the caliphate of Ali. That won for them the sympathies of the followers of Ali.
Ali himself did not espouse their cause, but the Ibn Sabaites had every reason to believe that as they were working for the cause of Ali, his sympathies could not be denied to them.
Most of the companions in Madina chose to be neutral, but some companions such as as Abu Dhar were critical of the luxurious style of living Uthman and those in power had. The Ibn Sabaites exploited this position, and tried to give out that they were with Abu Dhar. They even went so far as to lie and accuse Uthman and his government of harassing Abu Dhar for his views

9. The rumors and sedition continued to grow through out the Islamic states
In Kufa, the people had demanded the removal of Saeed b 'Aas and the appointment of Abu Musa Ash'ari as governor. In the interests of peace Uthman yielded to the demand.
In a letter addressed to the people of Kufa, Uthman hoped that as he had acceded to their demand there would be no more trouble from their side.
On assuming office as Governor Abu Musa Ashari warned the people to desist from their subversive activities. He said that he would not lead them in prayer until they had assured him of their loyalty to Uthman.
The people assured him of their loyalty to Uthman and gave a solemn undertaking that they would maintain peace and would not indulge in any agitation.

10. So thus, from the cruel designs of one Jewish man, the whole muslim nation was in sedition
Not from anything that could be proven to be true of Uthman, but rumors and allegations based on people who had it out for him simply because he did not support some wrong or desires of theirs.
Such is the same for many of us today . When faced with fitnah, we look back to how it was in the beginning to try to figure what did we do wrong to bring this upon ourselves. And often times we come up empty handed.
Such was the case with Uthman.
Tomorrow – Facing the Challenge of the Seditionists