Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 112
حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا الْفَرَجُ بْنُ فَضَالَةَ، عَنْ رَبِيعَةَ بْنِ يَزِيدَ الدِّمَشْقِيِّ، عَنِ النُّعْمَانِ بْنِ بَشِيرٍ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، قَالَتْ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " يَا عُثْمَانُ إِنْ وَلاَّكَ اللَّهُ هَذَا الأَمْرَ يَوْمًا فَأَرَادَكَ الْمُنَافِقُونَ أَنْ تَخْلَعَ قَمِيصَكَ الَّذِي قَمَّصَكَ اللَّهُ فَلاَ تَخْلَعْهُ " . يَقُولُ ذَلِكَ ثَلاَثَ مَرَّاتٍ . قَالَ النُّعْمَانُ فَقُلْتُ لِعَائِشَةَ مَا مَنَعَكِ أَنْ تُعْلِمِي النَّاسَ بِهَذَا قَالَتْ أُنْسِيتُهُ وَاللَّهِ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
'Ali ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Abu Mu'awiyah narrated to us; al-Faraj ibn Fadalah narrated to us, from Rabi'ah ibn Yazid al-Dimashqi, from al-Nu'man ibn Bashir, from 'Aishah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Uthman, if Allah ever appoints you over this matter, and the hypocrites want you to remove the shirt with which Allah has clothed you, do not remove it. He said this three times. Al-Nu'man said: I asked 'Aishah: What kept you from informing the people of this? She said: I was made to forget it, by Allah.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic metaphor is a “shirt” Allah clothed him with and does not explicitly gloss it as the caliphate; the English witness adds that interpretation.