I was with ‘Uthman ؓ in the house when he was under siege. We would go into an entryway where, when we entered it, we could hear what the people were saying in al-Balat. ʿUthman ؓ entered it one day for some reason, then he came out with his face flushed and said: They were threatening to kill me just now. We said: Allah will suffice you against them, O Ameer al-Muʿmineen. He said: Why would they kill me? I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “It is not permissible to shed the blood of a Muslim man except in one of three cases; a man who disbelieved after having become Muslim, or a man who committed zina after being married, or a man who killed a person not in retaliation of murder But by Allah, I never committed zina either during the Jahiliyyah or in Islam... I never wanted to change my religion since Allah, may He be glorified and exalted guided me, and I never killed anyone So why do they want to kill me? (Using translation from Aḥmad 468)
كُنَّا مَعَ عُثْمَانَ ؓ فِي الدَّارِ وَهُوَ مَحْصُورٌ وَكُنَّا نَدْخُلُ مَدْخَلًا نَسْمَعُ مِنْهُ كَلَامَ مَنْ فِي الْبَلَاطِ فَدَخَلَ عُثْمَانُ ؓ ثُمَّ خَرَجَ مُتَغَيِّرَ اللَّوْنِ قِيلَ يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَا شَأْنُكَ؟ قَالَ إِنَّهُمْ لَيَتَوَاعَدُونِّي بِالْقَتْلِ آنِفًا وَلَمْ أَسْتَيْقِنْ ذَلِكَ مِنْهُمْ حَتَّى كَانَ الْيَوْمُ فَقُلْنَا لَهُ يَكْفِيكَهُمُ اللهُ يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ قَالَ وَبِمَ يَقْتُلُونَنِي؟ وَقَدْ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ لَا يَحِلُ دَمُ امْرِئٍ مُسْلِمٍ إِلَّا بِإِحْدَى ثَلَاثٍ رَجُلٌ كَفَرَ بَعْدَ إِسْلَامِهِ أَوْ زَنَى بَعْدَ إِحْصَانِهِ أَوْ قَتَلَ نَفْسًا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ فَوَاللهِ مَا زَنَيْتُ فِي جَاهِلِيَّةٍ وَلَا فِي إِسْلَامٍ قَطُّ وَلَا أَحْبَبْتُ بِدِينِي بَدَلًا مُنْذُ هَدَانِي اللهُ وَمَا قَتَلْتُ نَفْسًا؛ عَلَامَ يُرِيدُ هَؤُلَاءِ قَتْلِي؟