A short biography of 'Uthman Ibn 'Affan and the issues during his caliphate.

1. The Caliphate ofThe Caliphate of

2. Name and Lineage
Murrah
Qilab
Qusayy
Abdul Manaf
HashimAbd Syams
'Affan
AbdullahAbil 'As
Umaiyyah Abdul Muttalib
Uthman

3. During Jahiliyyah
Known for being:
The most beloved of the Banu Umaiyah.
Wealthy
Generous
Shy and soft spoken
Respected
Never prostrated to idols, nor took alcohol.

4. Born 6 years after Muhammad s.a.w.
Married to Ruqayyah
Loving couple
Quraisy said no couple better than 'Uthman & Ruqayyah.
They were the first to do hijrah to Abysinnia.
Later returned back to Makkah to be with Muhammad
s.a.w.

5. Muhammad s.a.w saw Ruqaiyyah combing and washing the hair of Uthman.
- A tradition where the wives used to cater to the physical needs of the husbands.
- Prophet Muhammad s.a.w himself would ask Aishah to comb his hair.
- Asma' binti Abi Bakr used to cater to every physical needs of Zubair Ibn Awwam,
until even changing the shoes of his horse.
He said, “O' my beloved daughter. Be good to Abi Abdillah. For he amongst my
companions is the nearest of akhlaq to me.” - At Tabarani

6. Ruqayyah fell ill prior to Battle of Badr.
'Uthman told to stay and take care of Ruqayyah.
“ There is in Madinah one man that is not with you, but with each of your
step, Allah records a reward for him. He is considered amongst you.”
'Uthman was given his share of the booty of Badr.
Ruqayyah passed away as the Prophet returned from victory at Badr.
The Prophet married him to his other daughter Umm Kalthum..
Never has a man married 2 daughters of a prophet.

7. Personality & Character
l
WEALTH & GENEROSITY
l
Battle of Tabuk
Roman army found at the borders of Tabuk.
An army was formed.
Gardens were full of fruits. Time for harvest.
Long journey.
The prophet asked for infaq.
He gave 1000 dinars, armed camels and horses.
He financed 1/3 of the whole Muslim army.

8. Bi'ir Rumah
When the Muhajirin from Makkah came to Madinah, they had great
difficulty in getting drinking water. Hadrat Uthman (R.A.) bought a well
named “bi'r-i-Rumah” from a Jew for 20000 dirhams for free use of
Muslims.
Expansion of Masjid Nabawi
When the number of Muslims increased, the Prophet's mosque became too
small to accommodate the increasing population,
Uthman responded to the Prophet's call and bought land for its extension.
That land occupies part of Ar-Raudhah in Masjid an Nabawi.

9. Fitan will come like the waves of the ocean enveloping all of you.
The one who sits in his house and breaks his sword will be the best
person.
Allah will test u in this world by your intenal fighting so that in the
next you will be forgiven
My ummah is an ummah that is shown mercy in the next life. All of its
trials are in this life.
Ignorant will be taken as leaders. Would fight against legitimate rulers.
There will be people whose speech are beautiful but actions are harmful.
Huzaifah said that the beginning of fitnah will begin with the death of
'Uthman and end with the coming of Dajjal.
The Prophet's
Prophecy of Fitan

10. Factors Causing
Discontentment
Rapid social, political and religious changes.
Rapid expansion of Islam
Converts converting for political reasons.
A previously hedonistic culture now governed by religion.
Greed and power hunger amongst converts.
Great wealths pouring in from conquered nations.
Wanting a piece of the pie.
Jealousy of stipends given to sahabahs.
Tribalism
Perceived preference of Banu Umaiyah over their own tribes.

11. Complaints against 'Uthman
In 35H
Groups from Egypt, Iraq and Syria performed Haj,
then marched unto Medina.
To air their angst to 'Uthman.
Intention - to get Uthman to step down as caliph.

12. Burning Of The Quran
· Hudhaifa bin Al-Yaman came to Uthman at the time when the people of Sham and the people
of Iraq were waging war to conquer Arminya and Adharbijan. Hudhaifa was afraid of their
(the people of Sham and Iraq) differences in the recitation of the Qur'an, so he said to
'Uthman, “O chief of the Believers! Save this nation before they differ about the Book (Quran)
as Jews and the Christians did before.” So 'Uthman sent a message to Hafsa saying, “Send us
the manuscripts of the Qur'an so that we may compile the Qur'anic materials in perfect copies
and return the manuscripts to you.” Hafsa sent it to 'Uthman. 'Uthman then ordered Zaid
bin Thabit, 'Abdullah bin AzZubair, Said bin Al-As and 'AbdurRahman bin Harith bin
Hisham to rewrite the manuscripts in perfect copies. 'Uthman said to the three Quraishi men,
“In case you disagree with Zaid bin Thabit on any point in the Qur'an, then write it in the
dialect of Quraish, the Qur'an was revealed in their tongue.” They did so, and when they had
written many copies, 'Uthman returned the original manuscripts to Hafsa. 'Uthman sent to
every Muslim province one copy of what they had copied, and ordered that all the other
Qur'anic materials, whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be burnt.
Said bin Thabit added, “A Verse from Surat Ahzab was missed by me when we copied the
Qur'an and I used to hear Allah's Apostle reciting it. So we searched for it and found it with
Khuzaima bin Thabit Al-Ansari. (That Verse was): 'Among the Believers are men who have
been true in their covenant with Allah.' (33.23) (Bukhari)

13. The Exile of Abu Dzar
One of the senior sahabahs, early
converts.
First from outside Makah to embrace
and first to spread da'wah beyond
Makah.
Converted the tribe of Ghifar.
- Highway robbers.

14. 2 qualities of Abu Dzar that caused discomfort among
the people:
Unique view of economics.
- Feels it's haram for a Muslim to have more
wealth than what he needs.
Brutally honest man.
- 'The earth never carried above it, nor did the
sky ever shade under it a more truthful tongue
than Abu Dharr's'.

15. During the time of 'Uthman, he lived under the
governorship of Muawiyah in Syria.
He had distaste for the widespread wealth in the ummah.
He was of the opinion that one should not have more wealth
than that is necessary for living.
Critical of Muawiyah's lifestyle.
Muawiyah wrote a letter telling of Abu Dzar's public views
and discontentment.
'Uthman called him to Medina.

16. Suggested he stayed either with him in Medina or a small
place nearby at Ar-Rabaza.
He sent him his salary and provisions.
He lived alone with his wife and daughter.
On his deathbed, he instructed them to perform ghusl, put a
kafan on him, take his body outside by the roadside, wait
for the first caravan that comes to dig a grave and bury
him.

17. By the qadr of Allah, the first caravan that came was of
Ibn Mas'ud, himself an early convert.
With tears in his eyes, realising it was his friend, he
repeated the words of the Prophet s.a.w.:
'Allah will have mercy upon Abu Dharr. He walks alone,
dies alone, and resurrects alone.'

18. The Issue of Al Hima
The rebels accused him acquiring land for camels to graze
and prevented the people of Madina from using it for
pasture.
Al Hima – land set aside for pasture for camels of
sadaqah and jihad.
Started by 'Umar
He explained that the animals increased in amount, so he
had to increase the size of land.
The camels were not his. He had only 2 camels at that
point in time.

19. Avoided Battle of Badr
Rebels accused him of not participating in Badr.
The Prophet himself considered 'Uthman a participant of
Badr.
The Prophet s.a.w. ordered 'Uthman to take care of
Ruqayyah who had fallen ill.
He was given full share of the booty of Badr.

20. He made an ijtihad and says that he has
taken Makkah as his home. So he can't
perform qasr.
Did not shorten his zuhr
prayers during haj in Mina.

21. Promised 4% of the booty
of Egypt to his relative
4% (1/5 of 1/5) of the war booty is stipulated by Quran for
the khalifah.
ʿAbdallāh ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarh- commander of the army
to conquer Egypt.
As an incentive, 'Uthman offered him his 4% share of the war
booty should Egypt be conquered.
Egypt was won and 'Uthman gave his own share to
'Abdallah.

22. Nepotism
The rebels accused 'Uthman of prefering his family for
posts in the government.
In reality he appointed non-Banu Umaiyah Quraishis,
non-Quraishis, Ansar, and Umaiyah Quraishis in posts of
governance.
Banu Umaiyah and Banu Hashim were the biggest tribes
of the Quraisy.
Because of that, statistically, the chances of a person from
the Banu Umaiyah to be elected is higher.

23. 'Uthman said he had elected some of his family
members into posts of governance, but 'This has
not caused me to cause zulm unto others.'
He made them accountable on their
responsibilities and made sure they performed
their duties.

24. Fled in Uhud and Hunain
They accused him of fleeing the battle during Uhud and Hunain.
Allah Himself forgave them as stated in Ali Imran:115

25. Absent in Bai'atul Ridhuan
In March of 628 C.E. (6 A.H.), the Prophet s.a.w. set out for Mecca to
perform the ritual pilgrimage of Hajj.
The Quraisy denied the Muslims entry into the city and posted themselves
outside Mecca.
The muslims camped outside Mecca, at Hudaybiyyah, and sent Uthman as
his envoy to meet with the leaders of Quraysh and negotiate Muslim entry
into the city.
The Quraisy made Uthman stay longer in Mecca than he originally
planned.
Muslims thought Uthman had been killed by the people of Quraisy.

26. The Prophet s.a.w took a bai'ah of all 1400 muslims to avenge 'Uthman's
death.
They made this pledge by putting their hands atop that of the Prophet s.a.w.
This was known as Bai'atul Ridhwan.
The Prophet took his left hand and placed it in his right and made
'Uthman's pledge on his behalf.