254 - And I heard Abu Bakr ibn Sadaqah saying: Ibrahim al-Harbi said one day, while mentioning the hadith of Layth from Mujahid, and he began saying: 'Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah narrated this in the gathering before the heads of the people. How many do you think were in the gathering? Twenty thousand. Do you think that if a person had stood up to 'Uthman and said: "Do not narrate this hadith," or had openly expressed his rejection of it, do you think he would have left that place without being killed?' Abu Bakr ibn Sadaqah said: 'And he spoke the truth; the verdict upon him in my view is nothing but death.'