The Outset of Dissension in Islam — Page 115
115 Everyone would send curse upon the rebels and reproach them, but they did not care, because all the power was in their hands at the time. For up to twenty days the rebels tried to convince Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra to somehow step down from Khilafat through dialogue alone. However, Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra plainly refused and said: “Neither can I remove the garment which God the Exalted, has clothed me with, nor can I leave the people of Muhammad sa unsheltered so that anyone who wishes may oppress another. ” 97 Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra continued to admonish the rebels to refrain from creating conflict and went on to say: “Today these people create disorder and detest my very existence. But when I shall be no more, they shall wish, ‘If only each and every day of the life of ‘Uthm a n ra was transformed into one year each and would that he had not departed from us so soon. ’ For after me there shall be severe bloodshed, rights shall be violated and governance shall take a completely different turn. ” (As such, in the Ban u Umayyah period, khil a fat was replaced by secular rule and these rebels were given such harsh punishments that they forgot all their mischief ). 97. T a r i khu t-T abar i , vol. 5, p. 180, Dhikrul-Khabari ‘ An Qatlih i Wa Kaifa Qutila, Published by D a rul-Fikr, Beirut, 2002 edition