Musnad Ahmad 5:95

Ishaq bin Isa al-Tabba’ narrated to us, Yahya bin Sulaym narrated to me, from Abdullah bin Uthman bin Khuthaym, from Ubaydullah bin Iyad bin Amr al-Qari, who said: Abdullah bin Shaddad came and entered upon Aisha while we were sitting with her, upon his return from Iraq during the nights Ali was killed. She said to him: "O Abdullah bin Shaddad, will you be truthful to me regarding what I ask you about? Tell me about those people whom Ali killed." He said: "And why would I not be truthful to you?" She said: "Then tell me their story." He said: "When Ali corresponded with Muawiyah and appointed the two arbitrators, eight thousand of the reciters of the people revolted against him. They descended upon a land called Harura, on the side of Kufa. They criticized him and said: 'You have stripped off a garment that Allah the Exalted clothed you with, and a name that Allah the Exalted named you with, then you went and arbitrated in the religion of Allah, and there is no judgment except for Allah the Exalted.'" "When what they criticized him for and separated from him over reached Ali, he ordered a caller to call out: 'Let no one enter upon the Commander of the Faithful except a man who has memorized the Quran.' When the house was filled with the reciters of the people, he called for a great, primary Mushaf (copy of the Quran) and placed it before him. He began to strike it with his hand, saying: 'O Mushaf, speak to the people!' The people called out to him, saying: 'O Commander of the Faithful, what are you asking it for? It is only ink on paper, and we speak based on what we have memorized from it. What do you want?'" "He said: 'These companions of yours who have revolted—between me and them is the Book of Allah the Exalted. Allah the Exalted says in His Book regarding a woman and a man: *“And if you fear dissension between the two, send an arbitrator from his people and an arbitrator from her people. If they both desire reconciliation, Allah will cause it between them.”* The Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is greater in blood and sanctity than a woman and a man. They criticized me for corresponding with Muawiyah: 'Ali bin Abi Talib wrote.' Yet, Suhayl bin Amr came to us while we were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) at al-Hudaybiyah, when he made peace with his people, the Quraysh. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) wrote: 'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.' Suhayl said: 'Do not write: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.' He said: 'How shall we write?' He said: 'Write: In Your name, O Allah.' Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: 'Write: Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah.' He said: 'If I knew that you were the Messenger of Allah, I would not have opposed you.' So he wrote: 'This is what Muhammad bin Abdullah has agreed upon with the Quraysh.'" "He says: Allah the Exalted says in His Book: *“There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day.”* Ali sent Abdullah bin Abbas to them, and I went out with him. When we reached the middle of their camp, Ibn al-Kawwa stood up to address the people and said: 'O carriers of the Quran, this is Abdullah bin Abbas. Whoever does not know him, I know him from the Book of Allah by what he is known: he is among those about whom and whose people it was revealed: *“...rather, they are a people prone to dispute.”* Turn him back to his companion and do not debate the Book of Allah with him.' Their speakers stood up and said: 'By Allah, we will debate the Book of Allah with him. If he brings a truth we recognize, we will follow him, and if he brings a falsehood, we will refute him with his falsehood.'" "They debated the Book with Abdullah for three days, and four thousand of them returned, all of them repentant, including Ibn al-Kawwa, until he brought them in to Ali in Kufa. Ali sent word to the rest of them, saying: 'What has happened between us and the people is what you have seen. So stay where you wish until the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gathers. Between us and you is that you shall not shed forbidden blood, nor cut off a path, nor wrong a protected person (dhimmi). For if you do that, we have cast war back to you on equal terms; indeed, Allah does not love the treacherous.'" Aisha said to him: "O son of Shaddad, so he killed them?" He said: "By Allah, he did not send for them until they cut off the path, shed blood, and made the protected people lawful." She said: "By Allah?" He said: "By Allah, besides Whom there is no god, it was so." She said: "What is this thing that has reached me, which the people of Iraq talk about? They say: 'The one with the breast-like growth (Dhu al-Thudayyah), and the one with the breast-like growth.'" He said: "I saw him, and I stood with Ali over the slain. He called the people and said: 'Do you recognize this?' Many people came and said: 'I saw him praying in the mosque of such-and-such tribe,' and 'I saw him praying in the mosque of such-and-such tribe.' They did not bring any proof regarding him that was known other than that." She said: "What was Ali’s statement when he stood over him, as the people of Iraq claim?" He said: "I heard him say: 'Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth.'" She said: "Did you hear him say anything other than that?" He said: "By Allah, no." She said: "Indeed, Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth. May Allah have mercy on Ali; it was among his habits that he would not see anything that pleased him except that he would say: 'Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth.' So the people of Iraq go and lie about him, and add to the narration."