During the lifetime of the Prophet we considered Abu Bakr as peerless and then `Umar and then `Uthman (coming next to him in superiority) and then we used not to differentiate between the companions of the Prophet.

I was informed that Gabriel came to the Prophet while Um Salama was with him. Gabriel started talking (to the Prophet). Then the Prophet asked Um Salama, "Who is this?" She replied, "He is Dihya (al-Kalbi)." When Gabriel had left, Um Salama said, "By Allah, I did not take him for anybody other than him (i.e. Dihya) till I heard the sermon of the Prophet wherein he informed about the news of Gabriel." The subnarrator asked Abu `Uthman: From whom have you heard that? Abu `Uthman said: From Usama bin Zaid.

Allah's Apostle wore a gold ring or a silver ring and placed its stone towards the palm of his hand and had the name 'Muhammad, the Apostle of Allah' engraved on it. The people also started wearing gold rings like it, but when the Prophet saw them wearing such rings, he threw away his own ring and said. "I will never wear it," and then wore a silver ring, whereupon the people too started wearing silver rings. Ibn `Umar added: After the Prophet Abu Bakr wore the ring, and then `Umar and then `Uthman wore it till it fell in the Aris well from `Uthman.

Malik related to me that he heard Ibn Shihab say, "The stray camels in the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab were numerous and left alone. No one touched them until the time of Uthman ibn Affan. He ordered that they be publicised and then sold, and if the owner came afterwards, he was given their price."

Malik related to me that he had heard that Uthman ibn Affan was brought a woman who had given birth after six months and he ordered her to be stoned. Ali ibn Abi Talib said to him, "She does not deserve that. Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, says in His Book, 'Their carrying and weaning is thirty months,' (Sura 46 ayat 15) and he said, 'Mothers suckle their children for two full years for whoever wishes to complete the suckling.' (Sura 2 ayat 233) Pregnancy can then be six months, so she does not deserve to be stoned." Uthman ibn Affan sent for her and found that she had already been stoned.

Malik related to me that he asked Ibn Shihab about someone who committed sodomy. Ibn Shihab said, "He is to be stoned, whether or not he is muhsan."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Said ibn al- Musayyab that Umar ibn al-Khattab and Uthman ibn Affan and A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say, "When the circumcised part touches the circumcised part, ghusl is obligatory."

Malik related to me from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr ibn Hazm that his father told him that he was sitting with Aban ibn Uthman, and an argument was brought to him between some people from the Juhayna tribe and some people from the Banu al-Harith ibn al-Khazraj. A woman of the Juhayna tribe was married to a man from the Banu al-Harith ibn al- Khazraj, called Ibrahim ibn Kulayb. She died and left property and mawali, and her son and husband inherited them from her. Then her son died and his heirs said, "We have the wala' of the mawali. Her son obtained them." Those of the Juhayna said, "It is not like that. They are the mawali of our female associate. When her child died, we have their wala' and we inherit them." Aban ibn Uthman gave a judgement that the people from the Juhayna tribe did indeed have the wala' of the mawali.

The Prophet (saws) sent Khalid ibn al-Walid to Ukaydir of Dumah. He was seized and they brought him to him (i.e. the Prophet). He spared his life and made peace with him on condition that he should pay jizyah (poll-tax).

Yahya related to me from Malik, from Jafar ibn Muhammad, from his father, that al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad once went to see AIi ibn Abi Talibat as-Suqya, where he was feeding some young camels of his with a mash of meal and leaves, and he said to him, "This man Uthman ibn Affan is telling people that they cannot do hajj and umra together."

Al-Miqdad said, "Ali ibn Abi Talib went off with bits of meal and leaves on his forearms - and I shall never forget the sight of the meal and the leaves on his arms - and went to see Uthman ibn Affan and asked him, 'Are you saying then that people cannot do hajj and umra together?' Uthman replied, 'That is my opinion.' Whereupon AIi got angry and went out saying, 'I am at your service, O Allah, I am at your service for a hajj and an umra together.' "

Malik said, "Our position (here in Madina) is that someone who does hajj and umra together should not remove any of his hair, nor should he come out of ihram in any way until he has sacrificed an animal, if he has one. He should come out of ihram at Mina, on the day of the sacrifice."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abd al- Malik ibn Marwan had started to do talbiya at the mosque of Dhu'l-Hulayfa, after the animal he was riding on had stood up, and that Aban ibn Uthman had told him to do this.

I saw the Messenger of Allah (saws) that he kissed Uthman ibn Maz'un while he was dead, and I saw that tears were flowing (from his eyes).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from as-Sa'ib ibn Yazid that Uthman ibn Affan used to say, "This is the month for you to pay your zakat. If you have any debts then pay them off so that you can sort out your wealth and take the zakat from it."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Ibn Shihab said, "I have heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took jizya from the magians of Bahrain, that Umar ibn al- Khattab took it from the magians of Persia and that Uthman ibn Affan took it from the Berbers."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that he was asked about the hadd of the slave for wine. He said, "I heard that he has half the hadd of a freeman for drinking wine. Umar ibn al-Khattab, Uthman ibn Affan, and Abdullah ibn Umar flogged their slaves with half of the hadd of a freeman when they drank wine."

The daughter of Abi Umaiyya, was the wife of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab. 'Umar divorced her and then Mu'awiyya bin Abi Sufyan married her. Similarly, Um Al-Hakam, the daughter of Abi Sufyan was the wife of 'Iyad bin Ghanm Al-Fihri. He divorced her and then 'Abdullah bin 'Uthman Al-Thaqafi married her.

Mujashi (bin Mas`ud) took his brother Mujalid bin Musud to the Prophet and said, "This is Mujalid and he will give a pledge of allegiance to you for migration." The Prophet said, "There is no migration after the Conquest of Mecca, but I will take his pledge of allegiance for Islam."

Abdullah ibn AbuSarh used to write (the revelation) for the Messenger of Allah (saws). Satan made him slip, and he joined the infidels. The Messenger of Allah (saws) commanded to kill him on the day of Conquest (of Mecca). Uthman ibn Affan sought protection for him. The Messenger of Allah (saws) gave him protection.

The Prophet entered the Ka`ba along with Usama bin Zaid, `Uthman bin Talha and Bilal and remained there for a long time. When they came out, I was the first man to enter the Ka`ba. I asked Bilal "Where did the Prophet pray?" Bilal replied, "Between the two front Pillars."

`Affan told us: Shu`bah told us: `Alqamah bin Marthad told me... and he said in it: “Whoever learns the Qur`an or teaches it.”

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Rubayyi bint Muawwidh ibn Afra came with her paternal uncle to Abdullah ibn Umar and told him that she had divorced her husband for a compensation in the time of Uthman ibn Affan, and he heard about it and did not disapprove. Abdullah ibn Umar said, "Her idda is the idda of a divorced woman."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said and Rabia ibn Abi Abd arRahman from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad that al Furafisa ibn Umayral-Hanafi said, "I only learnt Sura Yusuf (Sura 12) from the recitation of it by Uthman ibn Affan in the subh prayer because of the great number of times he repeated it to us."

I offered the prayer with the Prophet, Abu Bakr and `Umar at Mina and it was of two rak`at. `Uthman in the early days of his caliphate did the same, but later on he started praying the full prayer.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abu'n Nadr, the mawla of Umar ibn Ubaydullah, said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, when Uthman ibn Madhun's funeral procession passed by him, "You have gone and you were not involved in any of it."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Said ibn al- Musayyab that Nufay, a mukatab of Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, divorced his free wife twice, so he asked Uthman ibn Affan for an opinion, and he said, "She is haram for you."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Talha ibn Abdullah ibn Awf said, and he knew that better than them, from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf that Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf divorced his wife irrevocably while he was terminally ill, and Uthman ibn Affan made her an heir after the end of her idda.

Messenger of Allah, appoint me the leader of the tribe in prayer. He said: You are their leader, but you should follow on who is the weakest of them: and appoint a mu'adhdhin who does not charge for the calling of adhan.

Yazid al-Farisi said: I heard Ibn Abbas say: I asked Uthman ibn Affan: What moved you to put the (Surah) al-Bara'ah which belongs to the mi'in (surahs) (containing one hundred verses) and the (Surah) al-Anfal which belongs to the mathani (Surahs) in the category of as-sab'u at-tiwal (the first long surah or chapters of the Qur'an), and you did not write "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful" between them?

Uthman replied: When the verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the Prophet (saws), he called someone to write them down for him and said to him: Put this verse in the surah in which such and such has been mentioned; and when one or two verses were revealed, he used to say similarly (regarding them). (Surah) al-Anfal is the first surah that was revealed at Medina, and (Surah) al-Bara'ah was revealed last in the Qur'an, and its contents were similar to those of al-Anfal. I, therefore, thought that it was a part of al-Anfal. Hence I put them in the category of as-sab'u at-tiwal (the seven lengthy surahs), and I did not write "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful" between them.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard from his grandfather, Malik ibn Abi Amir that Uthman ibn Affan said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to me, 'Do not sell a dinar for two dinars nor a dirham for two dirhams.' "

Allah's Apostle had a silver ring made for himself and it was worn by him on his hand. Afterwards it was worn by Abu Bakr, and then by `Umar, and then by `Uthman till it fell in the Aris well. (On that ring) was engraved: 'Muhammad, the Apostle of Allah."

The Prophet once climbed the mountain of Uhud with Abu Bakr, `Umar and `Uthman. The mountain shook with them. The Prophet said (to the mountain), "Be firm, O Uhud! For on you there are no more than a Prophet, a Siddiq and two martyrs.

The person who increased the number of Adhans for the Jumua prayers to three was `Uthman bin `Affan and it was when the number of the (Muslim) people of Medina had increased. In the lifetime of the Prophet there was only one Mu'adh-dhin and the Adhan used to be pronounced only after the Imam had taken his seat (i.e. on the pulpit).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Humayd at-Tawil that Anas ibn Malik said, "I stood behind Abu Bakr and Umar and Uthman and none of them used to recite 'In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate' when they began the prayer."

An Ansari woman who gave the pledge of allegiance to the Prophet that the Ansar drew lots concerning the dwelling of the Emigrants. `Uthman bin Maz'un was decided to dwell with them (i.e. Um Al-`Ala's family), `Uthman fell ill and I nursed him till he died, and we covered him with his clothes. Then the Prophet came to us and I (addressing the dead body) said, "O Abu As-Sa'ib, may Allah's Mercy be on you! I bear witness that Allah has honored you." On that the Prophet said, "How do you know that Allah has honored him?" I replied, "I do not know. May my father and my mother be sacrificed for you, O Allah's Apostle! But who else is worthy of it (if not `Uthman)?" He said, "As to him, by Allah, death has overtaken him, and I hope the best for him. By Allah, though I am the Apostle of Allah, yet I do not know what Allah will do to me," By Allah, I will never assert the piety of anyone after him. That made me sad, and when I slept I saw in a dream a flowing stream for `Uthman bin Maz'un. I went to Allah's Apostle and told him of it. He remarked, "That symbolizes his (good) deeds."

(The Caliph `Uthman ordered Zaid bin Thabit, Sa`id bin Al-As, `Abdullah bin Az-Zubair and `Abdur- Rahman bin Al-Harith bin Hisham to write the Qur'an in the form of a book (Mushafs) and said to them. "In case you disagree with Zaid bin Thabit (Al-Ansari) regarding any dialectic Arabic utterance of the Qur'an, then write it in the dialect of Quraish, for the Qur'an was revealed in this dialect." So they did it.