حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ سُلَيْمَانَ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ مُغِيرَةَ بْنَ مُسْلِمٍ أَبَا سَلَمَةَ يَذْكُرُ عَنْ مَطَرٍ عَنْ نَافِعٍ عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ أَنَّ عُثْمَانَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ أَشْرَفَ عَلَى أَصْحَابِهِ وَهُوَ مَحْصُورٌ فَقَالَ عَلَامَ تَقْتُلُونِي فَإِنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ لَا يَحِلُّ دَمُ امْرِئٍ مُسْلِمٍ إِلَّا بِإِحْدَى ثَلَاثٍ رَجُلٌ زَنَى بَعْدَ إِحْصَانِهِ فَعَلَيْهِ الرَّجْمُ أَوْ قَتَلَ عَمْدًا فَعَلَيْهِ الْقَوَدُ أَوْ ارْتَدَّ بَعْدَ إِسْلَامِهِ فَعَلَيْهِ الْقَتْلُ فَوَاللَّهِ مَا زَنَيْتُ فِي جَاهِلِيَّةٍ وَلَا إِسْلَامٍ وَلَا قَتَلْتُ أَحَدًا فَأُقِيدَ نَفْسِي مِنْهُ وَلَا ارْتَدَدْتُ مُنْذُ أَسْلَمْتُ إِنِّي أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
مسند امام احمد بن حنبل · Hadith 452
It was narrated from Nafi', from Ibn 'Umar, that 'Uthman (RA) looked out at his companions when he was under siege and said: Why do you want to kill me? I heard the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) say: "It is not permissible to shed the blood of a Muslim man except in one of three cases: a man who commits zinn after being married, so he is to be stoned; or a man who killed deliberately (committed murder), so he is to be killed in retaliation; or a man who apostatised after having become Muslim, so he is to be executed." By Allah, I never committed zinu either during the Jahiliyyah or in Islam; I never killed anyone such that my life should be taken in retaliation; and I never apostatised since I became Muslim. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger.
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020