(d. 35 A.H)
"0 Allah, Be pleased with 'Uthman for I am pleased with him."
The Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam)
During the reign of the Caliph 'Umar (radiy-Allahu 'anhu) in the year known as "the year of Ramaadah", when the the people at Madina suffered a severe draught, to the extent that they resorted to eating tree leaves out of starvation, news came that 'Uthman (radiy-Allahu 'anhu) was expecting a caravan of 1000 camels loaded with food supplies. The merchants of the Madina rushed to him to buy those loads of food to make money out of them. Our hero asked them how much they would pay him. They offered double and triple the price of those camel loads, and kept raising their offers. What was 'Uthman's answer to them? He replied, "I have been offered more by Allah Who has promised ten to seven hundred folds." (See Qur'an, Chapter 2, verse 261) He gave the whole 1000 camel caravan load in charity to the needy people of the city. This is a typical behaviour of our great hero, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, the fifth person to embrace Islam and the third Righteous Caliph (radiy-Allahu 'anhu). For throughout his life in Islam, our hero was a model of the generous Muslim who was fully convinced that whatever wealth he had was to be used in seeking the Pleasure of his Creator, Allah, through helping his fellow Muslims and serving the Cause of Islam. Many examples can be cited but we will mention only a few in the following paragraphs.
In the year 9 of Hijra (circa 630 G), the Prophet Muhammad (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) decided to launch an attack against the Arab vassals of the Roman Empire, as a deterrent to the Romans who were reported to have been preparing to wage war against the Muslims. It was summer, and the affairs of the Muslims were not going well. Many a believer wanted to join the army, but was prevented by poverty and scarcity of means. To save the day our hero, 'Uthman (radiy-Allahu 'anhu) gave 10,000 gold dinars, three hundred fully equipped camels, and fifty horses for this Battle of Tabuk. Besides, he supplied three hundred of the learned companions of the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) with full provisions to accompany the army. The Prophet's reaction was, "Nothing will hurt 'Uthman after this day." The Prophet then prayed, 0 Allah, be pleased with 'Uthman, for I am pleased with him."
However, generosity is not the only distinctive quality of our hero. He was also known for his modesty, charitable nature and kindheartedness as well as for some major contributions to Islam and the Community of Islam at large, of which more to follow later.
Let us pause to mention one special asset he was honoured with by the Prophet (salla- Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) for which our hero was given the nickname or title of Dhu-Noorayn ('the man with two lights'). This is the fact that our hero was the only man In Islamic history who was given two daughters of Prophet Muhammad (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) in marriage. They were Ruqayya and Omm Kulthoom.
Early in the history of the mission of the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) at Makkah, the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) gave his daughter Ruqayya to our hero in marriage. She accompanied Uthman (radiy-Allahu 'anhu) and other early Muslims in their migration to Abyssinia.
Upon her death after the Battle of Badr, the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) gave him his other daughter in marriage. This is itself a clear testimony to the great character of our hero (radiy-Allahu 'anhu) and to the opinion of the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) of his personality.
The standard copy of the Qur'anic text:
I am sure every learned Muslim must have heard of the Mus-haf Al-Uthmani ("Uthman's Mus-haf'), which is considered the master copy of the Our'anic Text (Mus-haf) from which all subsequent authentic copies of the Qur'an have been made. The story of this copy of the Qur'an runs as follows:
Reports came to the Caliph 'Uthman (radiy-Allahu 'anhu) at Madina that Muslims were in dispute with regards to the Qur'anic text each claiming to have the correct version. To abort the disastrous consequences of such quibbling, our hero decided to compile one hard copy of the Qur'anic text (Mus-haf) to be referred by Muslims everywhere.
Naturally, the Qur an was also preserved through its memorization by scores of the companions of the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam), as well as it preserved in writing, being compiled earlier at the commands of the first Caliph, Abu Bakr Al- Siddeeq (radiy-Allahu 'anhu), when the lives of many companions who memorized the Qur'an by heart were in danger due to the wars they fought first against the 'apostates' in Arabia who disbelieved after their faith due to the death of the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam), Then against the Persian and Byzantine armies.
That compilation was kept for safe-keeping with the Caliph Abu Bakr, then the Caliph 'Umar, and finally, with the former wife of the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) and daughter of Umar ibn Al-Khattab, Hafsa (radiy-Allahu 'anhuma).
During this process recording and copying, whenever, there was a difference in the pronunciation of a certain word the Quraish dialect was given priority, since the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) was from Quraish.
Upon the completion of the writing of the whole Qur'an and the approval of the compilation by the Caliph 'Uthman (himself being an authority on the subject), he ordered four true copies to be made, one copy for each of the major regions of the Islamic world at the time, to be referred as a standard master copy. All other duplicate versions were completely destroyed at the strict orders of the Caliph. Thus our hero saved Muslims and Islam from a very serious threat and the danger of divisions among Muslims, due to the permissible variations in its recitation. This great feat was initiated by our hero in the year 25 A.H.
Muslims owe the establishment of the first navy in Islam to Uthman, which was done at his orders to his governor in Greater Syria (ash-Shaam, as it was called) Mu'aawiyah.
To him the Muslims of Central Asia and South China are indebted for bringing Islam to their lands.
Martyrdom of 'Uthman and the Jewish Plot:
It is a well known fact that since its inception, Islam and its followers were targets of Jewish conspiracy. Jews had always instigated the pagan Makkans against Prophet Muhammad (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) and his followers when they were at their home town in Makkah.
Their jealousy and hatred of Islam and its Messenger increased many folds when the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) migrated to Yathrib (Madina), which was one of their strongholds in Arabia. For before the advent of Islam, the Jews had the upper hand in Yathrib, where they managed to keep the two major Arab tribes (Al-Aws and Al-Khazraj) constantly at war with each other. But when many Yathribites embraced Islam these two tribes started to get united under the banner of the new faith. Despite the fact they signed a pact with the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa- sallam) of mutual respect and protection, the Jews not only conspired with the hypocrites of Madina, they also kept instigating the Makkan polytheists against Prophet Muhammad and his followers.
At the battle of AI-Ahzaab (the confederates), which was one of the most dangerous battle entered into by the Muslims to that date, the Jews broke their pact with the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) and treacherously attacked the Muslims from their back, which they were supposed to protect. Naturally, they were adequately revenged by being expelled from Madina.
However, Jewish conspiracy never stopped. One of the Jews of Arabia, by the name of Abdullah ibn Saba' pretended to have embraced Islam only to destroy the Muslim community from within. He was responsible for two of the biggest lies in early Islamic history. The first lie was that the sincere companions of the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) had plotted against the cousin of the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) and his son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib, and usurped him of the right to the Caliphate after the death of the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa- sallam). The second lie was that our hero 'Uthman (radiy- Allahu 'anhu) was working against lslam: hence, he had to be not only removed from the caliphate but be killed.
These rumours were spread throughout the Muslim lands. Some young misguided Muslims, unfortunately, believed at least the second lie, which was about our hero. They conspired to meet after the Hajj season to attack the Caliph in his own seat of government, and these misguided insurgents or rebels marched to Madina. They were met by Ali ibn Abi
Talib (radiy-Allahu 'anhu) at the outskirts of the town, and he explained to them the gravity of the error they were going to commit and he warned the falsehood of the rumours. They pretended to have been convinced of his arguments, but they treacherously went to the house of the Caliph 'Uthman (radiy-Allahu 'anhu) where he discussed with them their unbased grievances and pointed to them the wrong impressions they were given of his conduct. Yet they insisted on murdering him.
Ali ibn Abi Talib sent his sons Al- Hasan and Al-Hussain (ridwan-Allahu 'anhum) to defend our hero, along with some others, but our hero, typical of his peaceful nature, refused to fight the rebels for fear of causing the death of many innocent Muslims.
At night some of the misguided insurgents climbed over the walls of the Caliph's house, and they murdered him, who was then over eighty years of age while he was reading the Qur'an. Thus, ended the life of another great martyr and hero of Islam. For he was one of the ten companions of the Prophet (salla-Llaahu 'alayhi wa-sallam) foretold by him to be among the dwellers of Paradise. May Allah reward him for the great services and sacrifices he rendered for Islam and the Muslims!
Source: "HEROES OF ISLAM" by Prof. Mahmoud Esma'il Sieny
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