It was neither possible for the rebels to be affected, nor were they effected. However, as for those gifted with insight, this response of Hazrat ‘Uthman(ra) was so replete of the exemplary attributes of humility and modesty that the audacity and shamelessness of these rebels becomes even more evident. The rebels forged a letter and accused Hazrat ‘Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, of deception and lies. Furthermore, Hazrat ‘Ali(ra) and Muhammad bin Maslamah(ra) deduced [the true state of affairs] from the events and openly charged the rebels of deceit. Even Hazrat ‘Uthman(ra) himself, who was being accused and against whom this conspiracy was being hatched, cleared himself of the charges, but never said, ‘You have forged this letter.’ In fact, he actually covered their mistake by merely stating, “You are aware that a letter can resemble another, a stamp can be replicated, and even a camel can be stolen.”
Some people, who believe Hazrat ‘Uthman(ra) to be absolved of this allegation but are also inclined to think positively about the rebels, believe that perhaps Marwan wrote this letter and sent it on his own accord. However, in my view this notion is absolutely false. The events clearly show that this letter was forged by the rebels themselves, and was not written by Marwan or any other person. Furthermore, it is also wrong to object that if the rebels had forged this letter, how then did the servant of Hazrat ‘Uthman(ra) and a camel given in sadaqah come into their custody; how did they forge the letter of a scribe of Hazrat ‘Uthman(ra); and how was it stamped by the ring of Hazrat ‘Uthman(ra)? For many reasons exist, which suggest that it was the rebels who had forged this letter. It appears, however, from the events and seems most likely that this deception was the work of a few leaders alone. It would not be surprising if this was the doing of ‘Abdullah bin Saba alone and a few of his intimate accomplices; and that the other rebels, even if they were army chiefs, had no knowledge of this.