The Outset of Dissension in Islam — Page 143
143 Consequently, she got out of the way. After this, he made another attack upon Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra and severely wounded him. Then, in the thought that perhaps he had not yet died and may survive, when Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra was writhing in agony and fell unconscious due to the pain of his wounds, this wretched person immediately took to his neck and began to strangle him. This man did not release the neck of Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra until his soul departed his physical body and flew to the heavenly world, eagerly accepting the invitation of the Holy Prophet sa. 122 [meaning, surely, to Allah we belong and to Him shall we return]. 123 At first, overwhelmed by the horror of this scene, the wife of Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra was unable to speak. She finally called out for help and the people sitting at the door rushed inside. However, any help was now useless; what was to happen had already taken place. When the freed-slave of Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra saw the blood-stained sword, which had been used to martyr Hadrat ‘Uthm a n ra , in the hands of Saud a n, he was unable to restrain himself. He advanced and severed the head of Saud a n with his sword. In turn, one of his [Saud a n’s] associates killed him. Now the throne of the Islamic Empire was empty of a Khalifah. The people of Madinah deemed further efforts to be futile and all of them returned to their respective homes. After martyring 122. T a r i khu t-T abar i , vol. 5, pp. 176/181-182, Dhikrul-Khabari ‘ An Qatlih i Wa Kaifa Qutila, Published by D a rul-Fikr, Beirut, 2002 edition [Publishers] 123. Al-Baqarah (2:157) [Publishers]