Uthmân
bin Affân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) | Name and Pedigree:
His family lineage is Uthmân bin
Affân bin Abu Al-Âs (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
bin Umayyah bin Abd Shams bin Abd Munâf bin Qusai bin Kilâb bin Murrah bin Ka'b
bin Luai bin Ghâlib. His appellation was Abu Amr in the state of Ignorance.
However, after confessing Islam, he married Ruqayyah (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ), the daughter of the Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم) who gave birth to Abdullah, so his appellation
changed to Abu Abdullah. The maternal grandmother of Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) was the full sister of Abdullah bin
Abdul-Muttalib, the father of the Prophet (صلى الله
عليه وآله وسلم). Thus Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
was the cousin of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم).
Excellences:
He was matchless in modesty. Zaid
bin Thâbit (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
reports the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
to have said, "When Uthmân once passed by me, one angel told me: 'I feel
ashamed in front of him for the people will assassinate him.'" The Prophet
(صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) said, "Angels
show modesty to Uthmân as he shows it to Allâh and His Messenger." When
someone mentioned Uthmân's modesty to Hasan (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ), he remarked: "When Uthmân wants to take a bath, he feels
so much ashamed of taking off his clothes even after closing the doors that he
is unable to stand erect." He migrated twice, to Abyssinia and Al-Madinah.
He resembled the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
in his physical appearance.
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) engaged the hand of his daughter Ruqayyah
(رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) to Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) before his
attainment of Prophethood. When she died on the day of the battle of Badr, he
married his second daughter Umm Kulthum (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) to him. He is, therefore, known as "The Man of two
Lights". She also died in 9 AH. No man in the world other than Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) ever married two
daughters of a Prophet. He knew more than anyone else about the rites of Hajj.
He was the fourth man to embrace Islam.
He accepted Islam through the
efforts of Abu Bakr (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ).
He was very wealthy among the Companions and most generous. He spent lavishly
in the way of Allâh. He could not take part in the battle of Badr due to the
serious illness of Ruqayyah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
and stayed behind in Al-Madinah with the permission of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم). However, he was
given his share from the spoils of war equal to the participants. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) said, "Uthmân
should be included among the Companions of Badr." He had a remarkable
position among the Companions for his excessive prayers. He would sometimes
stand in prayer the whole night and fasted for years. He had bought a piece of
land adjacent to the Prophet's Mosque for the wives of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم).
Once famine broke out in Al-Madinah.
Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) rose to the occasion
and distributed food grains among the needy. The Muslims of Al-Madinah once
were suffering due to the scarcity of water. A Jew had a well but he used to
sell water at a very high rate. He purchased the well from the Jew for
thirty-five thousand dirhams and gave it for use by the Muslims at large. He
never told a lie.
From the day he came to the fold of
Islam, he would set one slave free every week. He never took pride in his being
wealthy and never took wine even in the state of Ignorance. He would narrate
the Ahâdith with special care and precision. He gave in the way of Allâh six
thousand camels and fifty horses for the expedition of Tabuk. He was reckoned
among the richest men of Makkah in the Age of Ignorance.
Physical
Appearance:
He was a man of medium stature and
his face was pockmarked. He had a thick beard and he colored it with henna. His
bones were wide, complexion reddish, hands long, hair curled, shoulders wide
and he had beautiful teeth.
Selection
for Caliphate
Umar Fâruq (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) had, after allotting three days, asked
Miqdâd (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) not to allow entry
of anybody into the assembly of the nominated panel while it was in session
except Abdullah bin Umar (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
to make the number of the members of the panel odd, which would make it seven.
However, the Caliph had already ordained that Abdullah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) must not be elected as caliph. In reply
to a question he had explained that the burden of the caliphate was heavy
enough to be carried by one person of the family and others must not be thrown
into it to deprive him of many comforts of life. When Umar Fâruq (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) was requested to
nominate someone as caliph, he replied, "It would be valid for me if I
nominate anyone as caliph following the way of Abu Bakr. However, if I were to
nominate a caliph, he would be Abu Ubaidah bin Al-Jarrâh, but he was departed
before me; or he would be Sâlim, the slave of Abu Hudhaifah, but he too died
before me." Saying this, he set up a panel composed of six members, which
have already been mentioned.
After the burial service was
performed, Miqdâd bin Al-Aswad (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
and Abu Talhah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
appointed Suhaib (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
as acting Caliph and Imam for three days as per the will left by Umar (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ). Afterwards, they
along with their men contacted Ali, Uthmân, Zubair, Saad, Abdur-Rahmân bin Auf
and Abdullah bin Umar (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ),
and assembled them in the house of Miswar bin Makhramah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) or Aishah (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) and sat down at the door. Talhah (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) was still out of Al-Madinah. Meanwhile, Amr bin Al-Âs (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) and Mughirah bin
Shu'bah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) also came and sat
down at the door. When Saad bin Abu Waqqâs (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) came to know of this, he came and made them leave the place so
that they could not say they were included in the consultative body. When all
the members arrived, Abdur-Rahmân bin Auf (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) got up and said, "Who among those nominated for the
caliphate withdraws his name so that he may be given power to appoint the most
excellent and suitable among you as caliph?" All the persons present kept
silent. After a while he announced, "I give up my candidacy and I am ready
to perform the duty of appointing a caliph." All of them agreed to it and
empowered him to appoint the Caliph. However, Ali (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) kept silent. When Abdur-Rahmân (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) asked him about his silence, he said, "I agree with the
opinion of other members, but, you first must promise to make your decision
without any favor and personal involvement and do it with an eye on the truth
and for the welfare of the whole Ummah."
Abdur-Rahmân bin Auf (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) said, "I give
my word that I will do it without showing any favor to anyone and without any
personal involvement just for the sake of truth and for the welfare of the
Ummah. But all of you should also promise to agree on the one who I choose for
the post, and you will rise against one who disagrees with me." Having
heard this, Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
and all those present said with one voice, "We all will lend support to
your choice and help you in its enforcement."
With this promise on both sides, the
session was over and the members went home and waited for three days for the
final verdict. During this period, Abdur-Rahmân bin Auf (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) kept meeting men of sound judgement and
discussing the issue with them. He says that when he said to Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) in private, "In
case I fail to pledge allegiance to you, whom will you offer me to do
this?" He replied, "You should pledge allegiance to Ali."
Abdur-Rahmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
then put the same question to Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ
عَنْهُ) when he was alone, and he took the name of Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ). Abdur-Rahmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) then asked Zubair (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) to give his
decision, he said, "Pledge your allegiance to either Uthmân or Ali."
He then referred the issue to Saad (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ
عَنْهُ) in private, he took the name of Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ). When he took advice of other men of
sound judgement, the majority appeared to be in favor of Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ).
On the night before the day of
announcing the decision the members of the panel again assembled in the same
house. Abdur-Rahmân bin Auf (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
called Zubair and Saad (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
separately in private and said, "Most of the people appear to be in favor
of Uthmân and Ali." They too also favored the two. Abdur-Rahmân then
talked to Uthmân and Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
separately. The night ended and after the Fajr prayer the mosque was crowded
with people, all of them were eagerly awaiting the announcement of Abdur-Rahmân
bin Auf (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ).
Before Abdur-Rahmân bin Auf (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) could say anything,
some persons other than the members of the panel began to speak in favor of
this and that. Ammâr (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
rose in favor of Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
while Ibn Abu Sarh and Abdullah bin Abu Rabi'ah thought Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) worthier than
others. In such a crucial development, Saad bin Abu Waqqâs (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) pressed Abdur-Rahmân bin Auf (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) to make a hurried
announcement lest some trouble might raise its head. Abdur-Rahmân bin Auf (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) got up and said
addressing the audience, "I did all within my power to know the opinion of
all the groups and classes of people and nobody is now to go against my
decision. All the members of the consultative body and nominated panel have
already conceded to my decision and I have spent all my power to arrive at this
decision." Saying this he called Uthmân (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) near him and asked him to declare his resolve to follow the
path shown by Allâh and His Messenger (صلى الله عليه
وآله وسلم) and the Righteous Caliphs that passed away before him. Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) declared that he
would try his level best to follow the commands of Allâh and His Messenger (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) and follow the
examples of Abu Bakr Siddiq (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
and Umar Fâruq (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ).
Following this, Abdur-Rahmân bin Auf (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ
عَنْهُ) himself first pledged his allegiance to Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) and others followed
suit.
At first Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) looked a little aggrieved at this sight
and was about to move out of the mosque. But, he turned back in haste and moved
towards the new Caliph passing through the rows and took Bai'ah at the hands of
the Chief of the believers. Talhah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ
عَنْهُ) was not present on the occasion and hence could not take part
in the deliberations. When he called on Uthmân (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) to pledge his allegiance, the latter told him that he was
elected Caliph in his absence, for they could not wait any longer. Thus if he
(Talhah) claimed the caliphate for himself, he (Uthmân) was ready to give it up
in his favor. Talhah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
said, "I don't want to create any rift among the Muslims at this
stage." Saying this he stretched his hand for taking Bai'ah at the hands
of the new Caliph of Islam.
At the end of the Bai'ah session,
Uthmân bin Affân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
came to the pulpit and addressing the congregation asked them to follow the good
deeds. He also asked them to fear the evil effects of abundant wealth and
stressed on keeping the Pleasure of Allâh in view. After his preliminary
address, he issued an order in the name of the governors and officers
mentioning the demise of Umar Fâruq (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ
عَنْهُ) and his own election as the Caliph of Islam. All of them were
enjoined to work with honesty and in good faith.
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