Hazrat ‘Abdullah^(ra) bin Salam arrived when the rebels were plotting to assassinate Hazrat ‘Uthman^(ra). Hazrat ‘Abdullah^(ra) bin Salam was greatly revered within his tribe even when he was a disbeliever and the Jews believed him to be their chief and a peerless scholar. He stood at the door and began to admonish the rebels, and he forbade them from killing Hazrat ‘Uthman^(ra) saying:

“O People! Do not draw the sword of God up your heads. By God! If you draw the sword you will never find an opportunity to put it back into its sheath; conflict and discord among the Muslims shall never end. Pay heed! Today, the government [punishes criminals] by the whip (generally lashing is the penalty for a criminal offence in the Islamic penal code), but if you kill this man, then the State will not be able to maintain order without the sword (i.e. people will be killed for petty crimes)¹. Keep in mind that the angels are the guardians of Madinah at this time; if you kill him, the angels will desert Madinah.”

The benefit that the rebels derived from this admonition was that they drove off ‘Abdullah^(ra) bin Salam, the companion of the Holy Prophet^(sa). In addition, they taunted him with reference to his previous faith saying, “O son of a Jewess! What have you to do with these matters?” It is a shame, that the rebels remembered that ‘Abdullah^(ra) bin Salam was the son of a Jewish lady, but forgot that he had accepted Islam at the hand of the Holy Prophet^(sa). Furthermore, the Holy Prophet^(sa) was immensely pleased when he converted and he too stood by the Holy Prophet^(sa) in every hour of difficulty and suffering. Moreover, the rebels also forgot that ‘Abdullah bin Saba, their leader and instigator – the person who declared Hazrat ‘Ali^(ra) to be the wasi of the Holy Prophet^(sa) and presented him in opposition to Hazrat ‘Uthman^(ra) – was also the son of a Jewess. In fact, he was a Jew himself and was only outwardly expressing Islam.