مسند امام احمد بن حنبل · Hadith 482

It was narrated from al-Mugheerah bin Shu' bah that he entered upon 'Uthman (RA) when he was under siege and said: You are the leader of the people and there has befallen you what you see. I am going to suggest to you three options; choose one of them. Either go out and fight them, because you have numbers and strength, and you are in the right and they are in the wrong; or we will make another door for you other than the door where they are, then you can mount your animal and go to Makkah, for they will not try to kill you there; or go to Syria, for the people of Syria are good people and among them is Mu'awiyah. 'Uthman (RA) said: As for going out and fighting, I will never be the first successor of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) to shed blood among his ummah; as for going out to Makkah because they will never try to kill me there, I heard the Messenger of Allah say, "A man of Quraish will commit profanity in Makkah and half the punishment of the world will be upon him", and I will never be that one; as for going to Syria, because they are the people of Syria and Mu’awiyah is among them, I shall never leave the land to which I migrated, where I am close to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH)’