Re agreed and wrote the following pact in his own handwriting...

Re agreed and wrote the following pact in his own handwriting: "In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful. This is an agreement that 'Uthman, servant of God and Commander of the Faithful writes for that group of believers and Muslims who have been irritated with him, and he undertakes: 1-To act henceforth according to the Book of God and the Prophet's tradition. 2-To reimburse the salaries of those which I have stopped. 3-To give grace to those who fear my rage and safeguard their freedom.

4-To bring back the exiled to their families. 5-To abstain from keeping the soldiers at the frontiers for a long time. 6-To divide the spoils of war among the warriors without any scruple or exception. 'Ali ibn Abi Talib acts on behalf of 'Uthman towards the believers and Muslims as a guarantor for the fulfillment of all these commitments.

The following persons testify the correctness of the above commitments: 1-az-Zubayr ibn al-'Awam 2-Talhah ibn 'Ubayd Allah 3-Sa'd ibn Malik Abi Waqqas 4-'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar 5-Zayd ibn Thabit 6-Sahl ibn Hunayf 7-Abu Ayyub Khalid ibn Zayd. Dated: Dhu al-Qa'dah, 35 of the Hijrah." Then each group took a copy of the above pact and returned.

Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr and governorship of Egypt The accounts given by al-Baladhuri and others show that in addition to the above pact, 'Uthman gave another document to the Egyptians in which he dismissed 'Abd Allah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh from the governorship of Egypt and replaced him by Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. al-Baladhuri writes: Talhah, 'A'ishah's cousin stood up and spoke harshly to 'Uthman.

'A'ishah, too, sent 'Uthman a message to give the right of the Egyptians with the dismissal of 'Abd Allah from his position as governor of Egypt. At this time 'Ali entered and spoke on behalf of the Egyptians, saying: "These people want you to remove 'Abd Allah from his position and appoint another person in his place. They accuse 'Abd Allah of having spilled an innocent person's blood too. Dismiss him and judge between them.