She cried out: "Kill this "Na'thal" for his infidelity.

She cried out: "Kill this "Na'thal" for his infidelity."218 As soon as these words were uttered by her, they acted as a flame to a heap of dry grass and were repeated by each person to another. This verdict was quoted by all those who never expected it and dared not utter it for their fear of the Quraysh leaders in Medina. Now let us see what the word "Na'thal" means. The following are the meanings of the word "Na'thal" as found in the dictionary: 1-A male hyena 2-Stupid and ignorant old man.

3-In Egypt: a man with a long beard had this name. 4-In Medina: a Jew who had such a name and 'Uthman was likened to him. It should be said that to 'A'ishah who was very intelligent, not only was this word familiar in its various meanings, but also owing to her natural eloquence and fluency of expression she concentrated all its meanings in that short and decisive sentence and flung it like a deadly arrow straight at 'Uthman to remain as a lasting stain on him and his character.

That short sentence was used by the enemies of 'Uthman as a maxim, and even after the caliph was overthrown and killed on the basis of that very verdict, the word "Na'thal" continued to be used for a long time by his enemies, and has been recorded in history.

al-A'war ash-Shanni speaks of it in his poem as follows219: "I am wearied of both Na'thal 'Uthman and son of Sakhr, Mu'awiyah." Muhammad ibn Abi Siarah ibn Abi Zuhayr al-Qurayshi says in his poem220: "We killed Na'thal 'Uthman in the name of tradition when he checked the advance of our glittering banners!" And when 'Amr ibn al-'As recited the following line in the battle of Siffin: "Bring back to us our master (meaning 'Uthman) as he was," 217. The Holy Qur'an, Chapter at-Tahrim, Verse 10. 218.

History of at-Tabari 4/477, History of Ibn A'tham 1/155, Ibn al-Athir 3/87, Ibn Abi al-Hadid 2/77, and an- Nihayah of Ibn al-Athir 4/156. Ansab al-ashraf of al-Baladhuri 5/105. Book of Siffin, pages 256, 257, 454 and Ibn Abi al-Hadid 1/482.