Othman bin Affan, son-in-law of the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, the fourth to convert to Islam, and one of the most spenders in the way of God. One, he was killed by the people of sedition in his home in Medina in the year 35 AH, and he was buried in Al-Baqi.
His name and lineage
He is Othman bin Affan bin Abi Al-Aas bin Umayyah bin Abd Shams bin Abd Manaf bin Qusai bin Kilab bin Murra bin Ka’b bin Luay bin Ghalib bin Fahr bin Malik bin Al-Nadr bin Kinana bin Khuzaymah bin Mudraka bin Elias bin Mudar bin Nizar bin Maad bin Adnan. He is an Umayyad Quraysh whose lineage meets the Messenger - may God bless him and grant him peace - in the fifth grandfather on his father's side (Abdul Manaf).
He was called “Dhu al-Nurayn” for his marriage to the two daughters of the Messenger of God, Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum, whom he married after the death of Ruqayyah, and he was nicknamed Abu Abdullah and Abu Amr. Shura owners who were chosen by Omar Ibn Al-Khattab when he died to consult in the matter of succession after him.
His father, Affan bin Abi Al-Aas bin Umayyah bin Abd Shams, the cousin of the great companion Abu Sufyan bin Harb, his tribe is known as people of honor, money, generosity and existence, and it is one of the richest tribes of Quraysh, as they were people of trade.
He died in the summer on one of his trips to the Levant, and left after him great money for his family, so Othman - may God be pleased with him - grew up as a rich merchant.
His venerable companion mother Arwa bint Kariz bin Rabia bin Habib bin Abd Shams bin Abd Manaf bin Qusai bin Kilab bin Murra bin Ka’b bin Luay bin Ghalib bin Fahr bin Malik bin Al-Nadr bin Kinana bin Khuzaymah bin Mudraka bin Elias bin Mudar bin Nizar bin Ma’ad bin Adnan .
She is the daughter of the aunt of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. Her mother is Al-Bayda bint Abd Al-Muttalib, the aunt of the Messenger, and she has two sons from her husband, Affan: Othman and his sister, Amna. She died during the caliphate of her son and was buried in Al-Baqi.
Birth and upbringing
The great companion Othman bin Affan was born in the year 576 AD, in Taif, 6 years after the year of the elephant, according to the correct opinion, that is, after the birth of the Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - by 6 years.
He grew up in Quraysh on nobility, magnanimity, and generosity, and he was called "the most suitable Quraysh for Quraysh." As for his close friends, they were Abu Bakr, Abd al-Rahman bin Awf, and Talha bin al-Zubayr bin al-Awam, and their council was in the house of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, and it was councils for people with money, humility, and morals.
Othman bin Affan, may God be pleased with him, married 9 wives who bore him 9 males and 6 females. Among his wives were Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum, daughters of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace.
His physical and moral qualities
He was good-looking, handsome in face, round in stature, thick with hair on his head covering his arms, a thick beard, he was thin in complexion, his nose was furrowed, and he was white in color. On the fall he girded her with gold.
Othman bin Affan was known for his good morals, his intensity of modesty, generosity, wisdom, rationality, chastity, and his abundance of spending in the way of God, his piety, good treatment, and softness with his covens.
In the pre-Islamic era, he was the leader of his people and their leader, beloved among them, humble despite his upbringing in a luxurious environment.
He never committed an indecency, did not drink alcohol, did not prostrate to an idol, did not kill anyone, did not eat dead meat, was chaste in tongue, and lived in luxury during the pre-Islamic era and Islam.
He allowed buying and selling, satisfied with a small profit, hated monopoly and exploitation of people, helped the poor and helped small merchants.
An expressive picture of life in ignorance (social networking sites)
The story of his conversion to Islam
Uthman embraced Islam at the age of 34 at the hands of Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq when he said to him, “Woe to you, O Uthman, by God, you are a resolute man who does not conceal truth from falsehood from you. These idols that your people worship, are they not deaf stones that do not hear or see, do not harm or benefit ?
He said, “Yes, by God, it is.”
Abu Bakr said, “This is Muhammad bin Abdullah.
Immediately, the Messenger of God passed by and said, "O Othman, answer God to his heaven, for I am the Messenger of God to you and to all his creation." His partner, and that Muhammad is the servant of God and His Messenger.” Othman bin Affan was the fourth of the Companions to convert to Islam.
No one was able to touch him in his body after his conversion to Islam except for his uncle Al-Hakam bin Abi Al-Aas bin Umayyah, and they used to harm him with words at times, and in his trade, but his uncle gathered a group of his slaves, so they grabbed Othman and tied him with chains, and he shouted at him, saying, “Do you desire the religion of your fathers to a religion?” Updated! By God, I will never make you dark until you leave what you are upon of this religion.” He said, “By God, I will never leave him.” you could not.
I left him
Othman counted the first to migrate to Abyssinia with his wife, Ruqayyah, the daughter of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, then 10 men and 4 women followed him, led by Othman bin Maz’un, may God be pleased with him, and then the migration to Abyssinia continued until the number of immigrants reached 33 people.
When the rumor of Islam of Quraysh spread and reached Abyssinia, the emigrants rejoiced there and returned to Mecca, but they discovered the truth of the matter upon their return. , leaving his trade and money, and stayed as a guest with Aws bin Thabit, the brother of Hassan bin Thabit, the poet of the Messenger, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and the brother of the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, between him and Aws, may God be pleased with them both.
Othman began his trade in Medina since his arrival.
Equipping the army of hardship
Othman bin Affan was known for his generosity and spending for the sake of God in all situations, except that his greatest spending was equipping the Al-Usrah Army, which is the army of the Tabuk invasion that took place in the ninth year of Hijrah, and it was named after the spring of Tabuk water in an area between Medina and Damascus, as it was called the Al-Usrah Battle Because it happened at a time when people were going through hardship, intense heat, distance in place, and a lack of the necessary equipment for war.
The Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, urged his companions to spend and equip the army, and he said, “Whoever equips the army of hardship will have paradise.” So the companions raced to equip, so Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq spent 4 thousand dirhams, and Omar bin Al-Khattab spent half of his money, and Abdul Rahman bin Awf half of his money, and Othman bin Affan equipped 300 camels with their saddlebags and saddlebags, then he brought a thousand dinars and placed them in the lap of the Messenger of God. He, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, rejoiced and said, “What harm Uthman did after today,” so his spending was the greatest and contributed greatly to the preparation of the Al-Usra army.
His assumption of the caliphate and his achievements in it
When Omar Ibn Al-Khattab - may God be pleased with him - felt that his death was approaching after he was stabbed, he nominated 6 companions for the caliphate after him: Othman bin Affan, Ali bin Abi Talib, Abdul Rahman bin Awf, Al-Zubayr bin Al-Awwam, Talha bin Obaidullah, and Saad bin Abu Waqqas, may God be pleased with them all, and he believed that the most qualified of them for the caliphate were Othman and Ali.
The Companions were afraid of the differences of Muslims and the division of the nation, so some of them suggested that Omar Ibn Al-Khattab bequeath the caliphate to his son Abdullah, but he refused and was keen to keep it away from his family and relatives.
Omar bin Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, set a maximum of 3 days to end the matter, so he commanded them to consult between them and agree on a name with weighting among them, and if the votes were equal, the matter was presented to Abdullah bin Omar to decide on the issue, and the team he chose would be among them the caliph, if they were not satisfied with the ruling of Abdul God bin Omar, he commanded them to be with the class that included Abdul Rahman bin Auf.
Then Umar ibn al-Khattab asked Abu Talha - may God be pleased with him - to choose 50 fighters from the Ansar in order to guard this issue and protect it, so that the dispute would not expand if it happened, and he made Al-Miqdad ibn Al-Aswad responsible for holding the meeting, and Al-Farouq died, may God be pleased with him.
The meeting took place in the room of Mrs. Aisha, may God be pleased with her, and Abd al-Rahman bin Auf decided to manage the meeting to avoid disagreements, so he started talking and suggested that the matter be with 3 of them, so he chose Ali bin Abi Talib, Othman bin Affan, and Abd al-Rahman bin Awf, and suggested Abd al-Rahman bin Auf to isolate himself, provided that the choice is his, and he takes a mandate from the rest of the decision, so he isolated himself from the caliphate and sought 3 days and nights in order for all people to participate in these elections.
And when the night that resulted in the morning was the fourth day of the death of Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, and when the period was nearing the end, Abd al-Rahman Ibn Awf went to the house of his nephew, al-Masoul Ibn Makhramah, so he asked him to invite Saad and al-Zubayr to consult them, and after he knew the opinion of all the nation, he asked The beggar to call on Ali, so he called him until midnight, and when Ali came out, he asked the beggar to call Othman, so he begged him until the muezzin for dawn separated them, and after that it became clear to Abd al-Rahman bin Awf that the nation was divided equally, and that he had to decide.
So Abd al-Rahman bin Awf went out to the dawn prayer, and he ordered that everyone attend, so the mosque was filled, and there was no place left for Othman and he sat at the end of the mosque because he was a little late. And between himself, then he asked Ali bin Abi Talib, may God be pleased with him, to ascend to the pulpit, so he took his hand and asked him to pledge allegiance to him on the condition that he follow the Book of God, the Sunnah of His Prophet, and the act of Abu Bakr and Umar. And the Sunnah of His Prophet, but he will strive with his energy as Abu Bakr and Omar did, but he may not adhere, so Abd al-Rahman refused, and he came with Uthman and asked him the same question, and Uthman, may God be pleased with him, agreed. Hear and bear witness, O God, hear and bear witness, O God, I made what is on my neck of that on the neck of Uthman.”
Othman bin Affan was called "Dhu al-Nurayn" and equipped the Muslim armies (Al-Jazeera)
Abd al-Rahman bin Awf extended his hand and pledged allegiance to Othman as the Commander of the Faithful, and the first person to swear allegiance after Abd al-Rahman bin Awf was Ali bin Abi Talib, then the Muhajireen, the Ansar, and the general public crowded on him, and no one left behind to pledge allegiance, and Othman bin Affan, may God be pleased with him, became the third Rightly Guided Caliphs, at the age of 68.
The most prominent of what Uthman bin Affan did - may God be pleased with him - during his caliphate:
Adopting the policy of following and delegating: Whereas Uthman followed the Book of God Almighty and the Sunnah of His Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and adhered to all the decisions of the caliphs before him and their jurisprudence, and followed what was agreed upon by the people of the Shura, and did not interfere in the affairs of the people, except in the event of a crime or violation of a limit of Borders necessitate the intervention of the ruler.
Installing the Shura Council: Othman established the Shura Council in his time, which is a council composed of a group of companions who help him in managing the state, and they are Ali bin Abi Talib, Abd al-Rahman bin Awf, Abdullah bin Omar, Talha bin Obaidullah, al-Zubayr bin al-Awam, and Saad bin Abi Waqqas, may God be pleased with him. God for them all.
Building the court: Othman bin Affan, may God be pleased with him, is considered the first to build the court, and among the most famous judges who were in his reign: Zaid bin Thabit over Medina, Abu Darda’ over Damascus, Ka’b bin Sur over Basra, Shuraih over Kufa, and Ya’la bin Umayyah over Yemen. Thumamah over Sanaa, and Othman bin Qais over Egypt.
Administration of states: Othman rearranged the states and their rulers and did not leave them as they were in the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab, and he managed them in consultation with the senior companions.
He joined some of the states to each other for what he saw in the interest of the Muslims, so he joined the states of the Levant to each other, and joined Bahrain to Basra.
He was also always advising his rulers to be shepherds of the nation and not to be masters over it, and he commanded them to be just and merciful, to give rights to its people, and to ask them for their duties. About heresies, as well as interest in the Arabic language, and the preservation and reading of the Qur’an.
Uthman's rise in Islamic economics
Othman followed the financial policy of Omar Ibn Al-Khattab himself, and his reign was a period of prosperity for the Muslims, and he followed some of the foundations in his financial policy, the most important of which are:
Applying an Islamic public financial policy.
Not prejudice the collection of care.
Giving Muslims what they have from the Muslim treasury.
Taking what is owed by the Muslims by right to the treasury of the Muslims.
Choosing Kharaj workers from those who are honest and loyal.
Taking what is owed by the people of the dhimma to house the Muslims’ money with the right and giving them what they have and not oppressing them.
Avoid any financial distractions.
The collection of the Noble Qur’an during the reign of Othman bin Affan
Othman decided to reunite the Muslims on one Qur’an, which was later called the Othman Qur’an or the Imam’s Qur’an, due to the spread of many written and transmitted copies incorrectly, which led to disputes among people over the correct Qur’an.
And Othman gathered the Muslims on the Quraish language, i.e. the Quraish dialect, and 6 copies were written and a copy was distributed to each state, so the copies were in Iraq, Egypt, Persia, Africa and the Levant, and a copy remained with Othman bin Affan.
Othman ordered the burning of all other copies in the hands of the people in order to make sure that there are no wrong copies of the Noble Qur’an.
The conquests of Othman bin Affan
Among the most important works of Uthman is the expansion of the Islamic state. During the days of his caliphate, Egypt, Alexandria, Armenia, Cyprus, Africa (currently Tunisia), Kerman, Khorasan, the Caucasus and Sijistan were conquered. He established the first naval fleet to protect the Islamic shores from the attacks of the Byzantines.
Othman divided the military fronts into 3 sections:
The Northern Front: The center of this front is Damascus, and from there the Muslims set out to fight the Romans, and many conquests took place there, such as the conquests of Habib bin Maslama Al-Fihri and the invasion of Cyprus.
The Eastern Front: This front was divided into two camps, Kufa and Basra, and a number of conquests were undertaken by Saeed bin Al-Aas, from which Saeed bin Al-Aas invaded the Tabaristan region.
The Western Front: The center of this front is the city of Fustat, which was built by Amr ibn al-Aas, which is now Egypt. Some of the conquests that took place in it were: the conquest of Africa and Nubia.
The great strife
A group of people of sedition fabricated false actions against Uthman, may God be pleased with him, and attacked his governors in the regions, and challenged their credibility, and the sedition grew at the hands of Abdullah bin Saba the Jew, known as Ibn al-Sawda, and he was claiming Islam, and he went to Basra and tried to cause sedition in it Then a group of people who listened to him gathered around him, but he was expelled from it, and he went to Kufa, where he did the same as he did in Basra, and he was expelled from it, so he settled in Egypt, and remained in contact with the people of sedition from Basra and Kufa.
Most of Abdullah bin Saba's talk was about vilifying the rulers of Uthman, slandering them, and attacking them, then he dared to attack the caliph himself.
And they were planning to come to Makkah during the Hajj season and to rebel against the Commander of the Faithful and disobey him publicly.
And news reached Othman of what the people of sedition are planning in Basra and Kufa from two men who witnessed the planning and planning, so he sent to the Kufans and Basrans and called out: Prayer is inclusive!
So the two men accepted, and testified of what they knew.
All the Muslims said: Kill them.
The Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: “Whoever calls to himself, or to someone and to the people as an imam, upon him is the curse of God, so kill him.”
Othman said, "Rather, we forgive and accept, and we see them with our effort, and we do not deviate from anyone until he rides a limit, or shows disbelief."
Then the Commander of the Faithful began to respond to their allegations and fabrications, and the Muhajireen and Ansar supported him, until the people of sedition succumbed, so they returned to their countries and resolved to return during the Hajj season to storm the city.
During the pilgrimage season, the people of sedition gathered in Medina in an organized manner agreed upon in advance, and they besieged the caliph's house and harassed him, and many of those who were deceived participated in the sedition.
They confronted Uthman with their accusations, and he responded to them all their false accusations, but they refused to listen to him, and they remained insistent on their position and gave him the choice between isolating himself or killing him, so he refused, may God be pleased with him.
So they besieged him, and the siege intensified against him, so he sent for Ali, Talha, and Al-Zubayr, so they attended, then Othman supervised them and said, “O people, sit down.” So they sat down the warrior and the peacemaker.
Then he said: I adjure you by God, do you know that you prayed to God when Omar was afflicted to choose for you, and to unite you on the best among you?
Do you say: God did not respond to you and you insulted him while you are the people of his right?
Or do you say: His religion was easy for God, so He did not care who is the guardian of the religion, whose family was not separated on that day?
Or do you say: It was not taken from advice but rather it was arrogance, so God entrusted the nation if it disobeyed Him and they did not consult in the leadership?
Or do you say: God did not know the end of my affair!
And he began to explain to them the inviolability of the intention to kill him and the punishment for killing him with God, and he said to them, “I adjure you by God, do you know for me a good precedent and a good precedent that God presented to me, which obliges everyone who came after me to know its virtue for me! He committed adultery after his marriage, or disbelief after his faith, or killed a person unjustly, because if you kill me, you will put the sword on your necks, then God will never remove the difference from you.”
Then he committed his house and ordered the people of Medina to return, so they returned with the exception of a group of companions, and after 18 nights of siege they heard of soldiers from the cities preparing to support Othman, so they tightened the siege on him and prevented him from everything, even water.
A group of the Companions and their children remained defending him, and the people of sedition increased their dawn and insisted on falsehood.
The caliph ordered the Companions to leave and stop defending him, and Abdullah bin Amer bin Rabia narrates what happened, saying, “I was with Uthman in the house, and he said: I intend for everyone who sees that he has to listen and obey, except for the restraining of his hand and his weapon. Then he said: Get up, Ibn Omar - and Ali Ibn Umar had his sword in a girdle - so he told the people about it. So Ibn Umar and Al-Hassan bin Ali came out. Zaid bin Thabit came and said to him: These Ansar are at the door saying: If you wish, we will be the Ansar of Allah, twice. Uthman said: I have no need for that, stop.
Abu Hurairah said to him, "Today, have a good beating with you." He said: "I begged you to leave." Al-Hassan bin Ali was the last to leave his presence, for Al-Hassan, Al-Hussein, Ibn Umar, Ibn Al-Zubayr, and Marwan came. To grow up and a fight occurs between the companions and the people of sedition.
It was said that the duration of this siege lasted between 20-40 days, and at the end of it they did not even allow him to go to prayer.
An exact copy of the Qur’an written during the reign of Othman bin Affan without punctuation or formation (Al-Jazeera)
The martyrdom of Othman bin Affan
Several narrations are mentioned in the martyrdom of Uthman:
On the authority of Osama’s freed slave, Rita, she said, “I was in the house, when they entered upon him, and a man came from behind Uthman with a wet palm leaf, and struck his forehead with it, and I saw blood flowing.
Mujalid said on the authority of al-Sha’bi, “A man came from Tajib from among the Egyptians and the people around Uthman, so he drew his sword and then said: Release them, so release them for him.” So a fly put his sword in Uthman’s stomach, so Naila bint al-Farafsa, Uthman’s wife, grabbed the sword to prevent him, so the sword cut her fingers. And it was said: Who was killed by a
man He is called a donkey.
Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd al-Aziz said, “I heard Ibn Abi Awn say: Kinanah ibn Bishr struck his forehead with an iron pole, and Sudan al-Muradi struck him, killing him.
On the authority of al-Mughira, he said, "They besieged him for twenty-two days, then they burned the door, so those in the house left."
And on the authority of Abu Saeed, the freed slave of Abi Usaid, he said: “Uthman opened the door and placed the Qur’an in his hands, and a man entered upon him and said: Between you and me is the Book of God, so he went out and left it, then another entered upon him and said: Between you and me is the Book of God.” By God, it was the first hand that traversed al-Mufassal, and a man called the Black Death entered upon him and strangled him before striking him with the sword. He said: By God, I did not see anything softer than his throat.
He was martyred, may God be pleased with him, in the month of Dhu al-Hijjah in the year 35 AH, after completing 12 years of caliphate, and was buried in al-Baqi.