In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Mawaddah Association
Presents:
The Ten Promised Paradise
Uthman ibn Affan
May Allah be pleased with him.
Love for the Companions and the Prophet's kin is a Sunnah established;
Through it I present my faith to my Lord as long as I live.
Love for the Companions and the Prophet's kin is a Sunnah established.
When Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) was stabbed
and was close to death, it was said to him,
"Appoint a successor, O Commander of the Faithful!"
He said,
"I do not find anyone more worthy of this matter
than these six individuals
with whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was pleased
when he passed away."
They were: Ali ibn Abi Talib,
Uthman ibn Affan,
Al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam,
Talhah ibn Ubayd Allah,
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas,
and Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf,
may Allah be pleased with them all.
Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) instructed them
to select the Caliph from among themselves
within three days
and not to delay beyond that.
He appointed Suhayb al-Rumi (may Allah be pleased with him)
to lead the people in prayer
during these three days,
and formed a detachment of the Ansar
to maintain order and security in Medina.
When the Companions finished burying Umar (may Allah be pleased with him),
the group of six convened to select the Caliph.
Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) said,
"Entrust your authority to three among you."
Al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) said,
"I have entrusted my authority to Ali."
Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him) said,
"I have entrusted my authority to Uthman."
Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) said,
"I have entrusted my authority to Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf."
Thus, three candidates stepped down from the candidacy for the caliphate:
Al-Zubayr, Talhah, and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas.
The candidates remaining for the caliphate were
Uthman, Ali, and Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf,
may Allah be pleased with them all.
Then Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) stepped down,
entrusting the matter to Uthman and Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both).
He said to them,
"Which of you is willing to renounce his claim to this matter,
so that we may assign it to his companion?"
Both elders remained silent.
Abd al-Rahman (may Allah be pleased with him) said,
"Will you then entrust it to me,
so that I may choose one of you?
By Allah, I pledge that I will not deviate from selecting the most virtuous of you."
They replied, "Yes."
He then took Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) by the hand and said to him,
"You possess close kinship with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
and precedence in Islam.
I adjure you by Allah:
if I appoint you, will you act with justice?
And if I appoint Uthman ibn Affan,
will you listen and obey?"
Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) replied, "Yes."
Then he met privately with Uthman
and said the same to him,
to which Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) replied, "Yes."
Once he had taken this pledge from them,
he gathered the people and said,
"Extend your hand, O Uthman."
So he pledged allegiance to him,
followed by Ali (may Allah be pleased with him),
and then the rest of the people followed in giving him their pledge of allegiance.
Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was sworn in as Caliph
on Saturday, the first day of Muharram,
in the twenty-fourth year after the Hijrah.
His caliphate lasted twelve years minus a few nights,
and it was among the most distinguished eras of the Rightly Guided Caliphate.
During his reign (may Allah be pleased with him),
the domain of Islam expanded immensely,
and conquests reached lands never attained before.
Prosperity, peace, and security prevailed,
urban development flourished,
financial stipends increased,
and prices dropped.
He (may Allah be pleased with him) used to ask the people about their news and conditions
and closely attended to their affairs.
In the twenty-sixth year after the Hijrah,
Uthman ibn Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) noticed
the overcrowding of worshippers in the Sacred Mosque (Al-Masjid al-Haram).
Consequently, he demolished the houses surrounding the mosque
after compensating their owners,
and incorporated them into the Sacred Mosque.
He was the first to introduce roofed porticoes
and marble columns to the Sacred Mosque.
He did the same with the Prophet's Mosque,
which had remained in its original structure—
built of mud bricks and palm fronds,
with wooden pillars.
Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) renovated it,
expanding it significantly.
He built its walls with carved stones and plaster,
crafted its pillars from decorated stones,
and roofed it with teak wood,
which was imported from India.
Among the monumental and enduring achievements of the Commander of the Faithful, Uthman
(may Allah be pleased with him),
was his compilation of the Noble Qur'an.
The background of this event was that
when Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) returned
from the fields of jihad and the territories of conquest,
he was alarmed by the discrepancies among the people in reciting the Qur'an.
He went to Uthman ibn Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) and said,
"O Commander of the Faithful!
Save this Ummah before they differ regarding the Scripture,
as the Jews and Christians differed."
So Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) sent word
to the Mother of the Believers, Hafsah (may Allah be pleased with her), saying,
"Send us the manuscripts so that
we may transcribe them into master copies and then return them to you."
Hafsah sent them to Uthman (may Allah be pleased with them both).
He then commissioned Zayd ibn Thabit,
Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr,
Sa'id ibn al-As,
and Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham
(may Allah be pleased with them) to transcribe them.
They transcribed them into master copies (Mus-hafs).
Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said to the three Qurayshi men,
"If you and Zayd ibn Thabit disagree on anything in the Qur'an,
write it in the dialect of Quraysh,
for it was revealed in their tongue."
They did so,
and when they had completed transcribing the manuscripts into master copies,
Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) returned the original manuscripts to Hafsah (may Allah be pleased with her).
He dispatched a copy of the transcribed Qur'an to every province of the Islamic world,
and ordered that any other Qur'anic text, whether on a sheet or in a manuscript, be burned.
Imam al-Qurtubi said:
"This action by Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him)
came after he gathered the Muhajirun, the Ansar, and the prominent scholars of Islam
and consulted them regarding the matter.
They agreed to compile it according to the authentic, established recitations famous from the Prophet (peace be upon him),
and to discard everything else.
They deemed his decision sound,
and it was indeed a wise and guided choice—
may Allah have mercy upon him and upon them all."
The Commander of the Faithful, Uthman ibn Affan (may Allah be pleased with him),
was deeply solicitous toward the Muslims,
sincere in giving them counsel,
and spared no effort in guiding and benefiting them.
An example of this is
that he once called for water to perform ablution.
He performed ablution,
washing his palms three times,
then rinsing his mouth and sniffing water into his nose and blowing it out.
He then washed his face three times,
then washed his right arm up to the elbow three times,
then washed his left arm likewise.
He then wiped over his head,
then washed his right foot up to the ankles three times,
then washed his left foot likewise.
He then said,
"I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) perform ablution like this ablution of mine."
He then added,
"Whoever performs ablution similar to this ablution of mine,
and then stands and prays two units of prayer
without allowing his mind to wander,
his past sins will be forgiven."
Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) addressed the people one day,
saying to them:
"O people!
Shun intoxicants,
for they are the root of all evils.
There was a devout man among those who came before you.
A seductive woman fell in love with him,
so she sent her maidservant to him,
who said to him,
'We invite you to bear witness.'
So he went with her maidservant.
As he passed through each door, she locked it behind him,
until he reached a beautiful woman
sitting with a young boy
and a vessel containing wine.
She said,
'By Allah, I did not call you to bear witness;
rather, I called you so that you might commit adultery with me,
or drink a cup of this wine,
or kill this boy.'
The worshipper considered his options and thought,
'The least harmful of the three options
is drinking wine.'
So he said to her,
'Pour me a cup of this wine.'
She poured him a cup,
and he then said, 'Give me more!'
He did not leave his spot until he committed adultery with her and killed the boy.
"So avoid wine,
for by Allah, faith and habitual wine drinking can never coexist in a servant's heart
without one almost expelling the other."
'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was never
too proud to return to the truth once it became clear to him,
for the truth is most deserving of being followed,
regardless of his personal standing
or his position as the Commander of the Faithful.
A woman who had given birth after six months of marriage was brought before him,
so 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said,
"I see no reason for her giving birth so soon except that she has committed an evil act,"
and he ordered that she be stoned.
Then 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) entered upon him and said,
"What is this, O Commander of the Faithful?"
'Uthman replied,
"What do you mean?
She gave birth after only six months!"
'Ali said,
"Has Allah Almighty not said, 'And the bearing of him and the weaning of him is thirty months,'
“And We have commended unto man kindness toward parents. His mother beareth him with reluctance, and bringeth him forth with reluctance, and the bearing of him and the weaning of him is thirty months, till, when he attaineth full strength and reacheth forty years, he saith: My Lord! Arouse me that I may give thanks for the favour wherewith Thou hast favoured me and my parents, and that I may do right acceptable unto Thee. And be gracious unto me in the matter of my seed. Lo! I have turned unto Thee repentant, and lo! I am of those who surrender (unto Thee).” (46:15)
and said, 'And his weaning is in two years'?
So if nursing takes two full years,
the period of pregnancy can be six months."
'Uthman submitted to 'Ali's reasoning (may Allah be pleased with them both)
and retracted the order to stone her.
During the caliphate of 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him),
conquests expanded far and wide,
and the Islamic realm extended to the farthest reaches of the east and west.
Al-Andalus and Cyprus were conquered,
as well as the region of Qayrawan;
Al-Mada'in, Al-Ahwaz, and Khurasan were also liberated.
Chosroes was slain,
and his kingdom was completely erased.
Tribute and revenues were gathered from all across the earth to the treasury of the Muslims.
In the twenty-eighth year of the Hijrah,
the Commander of the Faithful, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (may Allah be pleased with him),
ordered the construction of the first naval fleet in Islam.
This came after persistent efforts by Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) to convince him.
'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) eventually agreed,
but stipulated that no Muslim be forced to fight at sea,
saying to him, "Do not draft anyone;
rather, whoever willingly chooses naval warfare, assist him."
And Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) complied.
This was out of 'Uthman's deep concern for the safety of the Muslims at sea
and his careful compassion toward them.
In the next episode, Allah willing,
we will learn about the turmoil that erupted during the final days of 'Uthman's caliphate
and the circumstances of his martyrdom (may Allah be pleased with him and grant him contentment).
To the Chosen One, they are the finest Companions—
explicit text confirms their exalted rank;
in the Eternal Paradise, two explicit texts increase their honor:
Talhah, Ibn 'Auf, Al-Zubayr, along with
Abu 'Ubaydah, the two Sa'ds, and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs.