Did Uthman banish Abu Dharr to al-Rabadha?

Abu Dharr al-Ghifari went to al-Rabadha during the caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan, after a dispute with Mu'awiya in Syria, and lived there until his death. The question is whether this was a banishment by the caliph or Abu Dharr's own choice. Ibn al-Athir, under the year 30, records that Mu'awiya sent him to Medina and that Uthman banished him to al-Rabadha ¹; al-Sallabi devotes a section to arguing the opposite ². The card sets out the Sunni position al-Sallabi adopts first and then the other views, without a verdict from the museum.

Al-Sallabi holds that the charges laid against Uthman in Abu Dharr's story rest on no sound report, and that Abu Dharr settled at al-Rabadha by choice after reaching an understanding of a verse in which the Companions disagreed with him and holding to it. ² The soundest report, in his view, is al-Bukhari's from Zayd ibn Wahb: he passed Abu Dharr at al-Rabadha and asked him, and Abu Dharr said he had disagreed with Mu'awiya over the verse on hoarding in Surat al-Tawba — Mu'awiya said it was revealed about the People of the Book, Abu Dharr said about us and them — so Mu'awiya wrote to Uthman complaining of him, Uthman summoned him to Medina, people crowded around him, and Uthman said, if you wish, withdraw and stay nearby; Abu Dharr added that even if an Abyssinian were made his commander he would hear and obey. ^{2 3}

He cites a report given by Ibn Hajar in which Uthman told Abu Dharr, we sent for you only so that you would live near us in Medina, and Abu Dharr replied that he had no need of that and asked leave to go to al-Rabadha, which Uthman granted. ³ He adds Ibn Sa'd's report that people from Kufa invited Abu Dharr at al-Rabadha to raise a banner against Uthman and he refused. ⁴ He quotes Ibn al-Arabi that what happened between Abu Dharr and Mu'awiya, and between Abu al-Darda' and Mu'awiya, were matters of public interest that impugn no one's religion, and that any report of a banishment is false. ⁵ He notes that al-Rabadha was a station on the Iraqi pilgrim road not far from Medina, and that Uthman is reported to have assigned him a small herd of the alms camels, given him two slaves and granted him a stipend. ⁶

He reports that Ghalib al-Qattan asked al-Hasan al-Basri, did Uthman expel Abu Dharr? and he said, no, God forbid; and that Ibn Sirin used to say he left of his own accord and Uthman did not send him away. ^{6 7} He states that the only report explicitly asserting the banishment, in Ibn Sa'd, has in its chain Burayda ibn Sufyan al-Aslami, of whom Ibn Hajar said: not strong, and with Rafidi leanings. ⁶

Al-Sallabi reports that most Companions disagreed with Abu Dharr and applied the threat to those who withhold zakat, citing the hadith "No alms are due on less than five awaq", and that Ibn Abd al-Barr said the majority hold the blameworthy hoard to be wealth on which zakat has not been paid, with only some ascetics such as Abu Dharr dissenting. ^{8 4} He explains Abu Dharr's view by a report in Ahmad from Shaddad ibn Aws (may God be pleased with him) that Abu Dharr would hear a strict instruction from the Prophet ﷺ, the Prophet would later grant a concession, and Abu Dharr, not hearing it, held to the strict rule. ⁴

On the other side are reports that present the matter as a banishment, among them Ibn al-Athir's statement in al-Kamil that Uthman banished Abu Dharr from Medina to al-Rabadha. ¹ Al-Sallabi reports that the Imami scholar Ibn al-Mutahhar al-Hilli (d. 726 AH) asserted the banishment and added that Uthman beat Abu Dharr severely, and that Ibn Taymiyya answered him. ⁷ He also notes that al-Tabari, after giving the reports that Abu Dharr withdrew of his own accord, said that others had related ugly things about its cause which he disliked mentioning. ⁶

Some reports claim that Abdullah ibn Saba met Abu Dharr in Syria and inspired in him the duty of spending all wealth beyond need; Ahmad Amin compared Abu Dharr's view with that of the Persian Mazdak, and Sa'id al-Afghani in his 'A'isha wa-l-Siyasa magnified Ibn Saba's role in the strife. ^{2 7} Al-Sallabi rejects this: Mu'awiya did not mention Ibn Saba when he complained of Abu Dharr, Ibn Saba does not appear in the accounts of Ibn Kathir, al-Bukhari or the biographical works, and al-Tabari's report of it is ascribed to "those who excused Mu'awiya". ⁹ He argues from chronology: Ibn Saba appeared in Basra three years into the governorship of Abdullah ibn Amir, which began in 29, that is around 32, whereas Abu Dharr's debate with Mu'awiya was in 30 and he died at al-Rabadha in 31 or 32. ^{9 10}

Al-Sallabi relates that when death came to Abu Dharr at al-Rabadha he told his wife and servant how to prepare him, a party of travellers including Abdullah ibn Mas'ud passed by, and Ibn Mas'ud wept and recalled the Prophet's words that he walks alone, dies alone and will be raised alone; they prayed over him and buried him, then told Uthman in Mecca, who took Abu Dharr's family into his own household. ^{10 11} See also the death of Abu Dharr at al-Rabadha.