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).
Loving the Companions and the Prophet's kin is a Sunnah—
With which I shall meet my Lord as long as I live.
Loving the Companions and the Prophet's kin.
Modesty is a noble character trait,
And it brings nothing but good.
The most sincerely modest of this Ummah
Is 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (may Allah be pleased with him),
As informed by the Truthful, the Verified, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) relates
That the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
Was lying down in his home
With his shins uncovered.
Abu Bakr asked permission to enter,
And he gave him permission
To enter while he remained in that state,
And they conversed.
Then 'Umar asked permission to enter,
And he gave him permission while he was still in that state,
And they conversed.
Then 'Uthman asked permission to enter,
So the Prophet (peace be upon him) sat up and adjusted his clothing.
'A'ishah said,
"O Messenger of Allah,
Abu Bakr entered,
And you did not stir for him nor pay special heed,
Then 'Umar entered,
And you did not stir for him nor pay special heed,
Then 'Uthman entered,
And you sat up and adjusted your clothes."
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) replied,
"Should I not feel modest before a man whom the angels feel modest before?"
And he (peace be upon him) said,
"'Uthman is truly modest and deeply reserved,
Before whom the angels feel modest."
And 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him)
Possessed an intense fear and awe of Allah Almighty.
Whenever he stood beside a grave,
He would weep until his beard became soaked.
It was said to him,
"You remember Paradise and the Fire without weeping,
Yet you weep because of this?"
He replied,
"The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,
'The grave is the very first stage of the Hereafter;
If one is saved from it,
What comes after it is easier.
But if one is not saved from it,
What comes after it is even more severe.'"
How magnificent was 'Uthman!
Fear filled his heart,
Even though he had been given the glad tidings of martyrdom in the cause of Allah
And a Paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth,
From the lips of him who does not speak from desire.
For the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) once ascended
Mount Uhud
Accompanied by Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and 'Uthman,
And the mountain trembled beneath them.
So the Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
"Be still, O Uhud!
For upon you are only a Prophet, a Siddiq, and two martyrs."
Among the exalted qualities of 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him)
Was his profound humility,
Far removed from pride and arrogance.
He was frequently seen sleeping in the mosque wrapped in a simple cloak,
With no one around him,
Even while he was the Commander of the Faithful.
Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
"I saw 'Uthman ibn 'Affan taking a midday nap in the mosque
While he was Caliph at the time,
And when he stood up, the marks of the pebbles were imprinted on his side."
Al-Hasan was asked about those who take midday naps in the mosque,
And he said,
"I saw 'Uthman ibn 'Affan sleeping in the mosque
With his cloak tucked under his head,
And a man would come and sit beside him,
Then another man would come and sit beside him,
As though he were just one of them."
It is also narrated of 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him)
That he used to attend to preparing his own wudu water at night himself.
It was said to him,
"If only you would instruct some of your servants, they would suffice you."
He replied, "No, the night is for them to rest."
One day, he grew angry with a servant of his
And pinched his ear until it pained him.
But he quickly remembered the retribution of the Hereafter,
So he summoned his servant and said to him,
"I pinched your ear, so take retribution from me."
The servant felt shy
And refused to place 'Uthman in that position.
But 'Uthman insisted upon him,
So the servant took hold of 'Uthman's ear.
Whereupon 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said,
"Pinch harder! How wonderful is retribution in this world,
Rather than retribution in the Hereafter!"
And 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was among those who strived devotedly
In acts of worship.
It has been narrated through multiple chains
That he recited the entire Glorious Qur'an
In a single rak'ah
Beside the Black Stone during the days of Hajj.
It was his habit
To begin reciting the Qur'an on Thursday evening
And complete its recitation on Wednesday evening.
He used to fast continuously
And stand in prayer through the night,
Except for a brief rest at its beginning.
And he (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say,
"Three things from this world have been made beloved to me:
Feeding the hungry,
Clothing the naked,
And reciting the Qur'an."
He would also say,
"I truly hate for a day to pass over me
In which I do not look into the Covenant of Allah,"
Meaning the Mus-haf.
And he used to say,
"I can never get my fill of the Speech of your Lord."
And it was he who narrated to the Ummah
The saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):
"The best among you are those who learn the Qur'an
And teach it."
And he (may Allah be pleased with him)
Used to manumit every Friday
A slave for the sake of Allah,
Ever since he embraced Islam,
So that the total number of slaves he freed
Was two thousand four hundred
Slaves approximately.
We have mentioned previously
That 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (may Allah be pleased with him)
Was among the wealthiest of the Companions,
Knowing how to earn wealth,
As well as knowing how and where to spend it,
And how to attain Allah's pleasure and His Paradise through his wealth.
Among such instances
Was that when the Muslim Emigrants arrived in Medina,
They found its water unpalatable.
There was a well belonging to a Jewish man,
Known as the Well of Ruma,
Who used to sell its fresh water;
He sold its water,
And among the Muslims were those who could not afford the price.
So the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,
"Who will buy the Well of Ruma,
Placing his bucket alongside the buckets of the Muslims,
In exchange for something better for him in Paradise?"
Thereupon 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) hastened
To fulfill the wish of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
He went to the Jewish man
And negotiated with him to purchase it,
But the man refused.
So 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) negotiated
To buy half of it,
Purchasing it from him for twelve thousand dirhams,
And he dedicated it to the Muslims,
On the condition that the well would be his for one day
And the Jewish man's for the next.
So the Muslims would draw water on the day of 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him)
Enough to suffice them for two days.
When the Jewish man saw this,
He said to 'Uthman,
"You have ruined my trade,
So buy the other half."
'Uthman agreed to that
And bought it for eight thousand dirhams,
Making the entire well a endowment for the Muslims.
Later, the Prophet's Mosque became overcrowded with worshippers after the Conquest of Khaybar,
And there was a house adjacent to the mosque.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,
"Who will expand our mosque by purchasing this house,
In exchange for a house in Paradise?"
So 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) bought the house for twenty-five thousand
And expanded the mosque with it.
Among what has been narrated of his generosity (may Allah be pleased with him)
Is that the people were stricken by severe hardship and famine during the caliphate of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him).
They gathered before Abu Bakr and said,
"The sky has withheld its rain,
The earth has produced no vegetation,
And the people are in dire distress."
Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said,
"Disperse and be patient,
For evening will not fall before relief comes to you from Allah, Allah willing."
Before the remainder of that day had passed,
A caravan belonging to 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) arrived from the Levant,
Consisting of one hundred mounts laden with everything the people needed.
The merchants gathered at 'Uthman's door
And knocked on it.
'Uthman came out to them and said,
"What do you desire?"
They said,
"We have learned that you have food supplies;
Sell to us so that we may bring relief to the poor among the Muslims."
'Uthman replied,
"With all honor and gladness!
"Enter and buy."
Then he said:
"O merchants!
How much profit will you offer me?"
They replied:
"Twelve dirhams for every ten."
'Uthman said:
"I have been offered more."
They said:
"Fifteen for every ten."
'Uthman said:
"I have been offered more."
The merchants said:
"O Abu 'Amr!
There are no merchants left in Medina besides us,
so who could have offered you more?"
He said:
"Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, has offered me more:
ten dirhams for every single dirham.
Can you offer me any more than that?"
They said:
"By Allah, no!"
He said:
"Then I call Allah to witness
that I have pledged this entire caravan, with everything in it,
as charity for the poor among the Muslims."
Despite 'Uthman's (may Allah be pleased with him) well-known fame for wealth, riches, and abundant capital,
he was also renowned for his ascetic detachment from the fleeting pleasures and adornments of this worldly life.
Among the accounts transmitted about him
is that he would serve the people the lavish meals fit for a ruler,
yet return to his own home and eat simple vinegar and oil.
Abu al-'Abbas al-Sarraj (may Allah have mercy on him) relates:
"Abu Ishaq al-Qurashi said to me one day:
'Who was the most generous of people after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)?'
I replied: ''Uthman Ibn 'Affan.'
He asked: 'How did you arrive at 'Uthman from among all people?'
I said: 'Because I saw that true nobility manifests in two things: wealth and soul.
And I found that 'Uthman freely gave his wealth for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),
and then freely surrendered his life to protect his kin.'
He said: 'How excellent you are, O Abu al-'Abbas!'"
He (may Allah be pleased with him) was also among the foremost fighters striving in the cause of Allah.
He never lagged behind in any military expedition led by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
except on the day of Badr,
when he was occupied with nursing the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).
He remained behind in Medina on her account,
yet the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) assigned to him
a full share of the spoils and rewarded him with its spiritual recompense,
so he is counted among those who attended Badr.
He subsequently witnessed Uhud, al-Khandaq, al-Hudaybiyyah,
Khaybar, and the Fulfilled 'Umrah,
and he was present at the Conquest of Mecca, Hawazin, al-Ta'if,
and the Expedition of Tabuk.
Among his memorable actions that history has recorded in letters of gold
was his stance on the day of al-Hudaybiyyah.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) desired
to convey to Quraysh his true intent and purpose in coming to Mecca.
So he called 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him)
and dispatched him to Quraysh, saying:
"Inform them that we have not come to fight or wage war,
but rather we have come only as pilgrims performing 'Umrah"—
meaning they sought solely to perform the lesser pilgrimage.
So 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) set out
as directed by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).
He came to Quraysh
and delivered the message he carried to their leaders.
When he finished delivering his message,
they said to him:
"If you wish to circumambulate the House, go ahead and do so."
But he (may Allah be pleased with him) replied:
"I would never do so
until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) circumambulates it first."
When Quraysh saw this resolute stance from 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him)—
a stance that displeased them greatly—
they detained 'Uthman in their midst.
They likely intended by this delay
to consult among themselves regarding the current situation,
finalize their decision,
and then send 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) back with their formal reply.
However, his detention dragged on,
to the point that a rumor spread among the Muslims that 'Uthman had been killed.
When this rumor reached the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
he was outraged for the sake of 'Uthman and declared:
"We shall not leave until we engage the people in battle!"
He then called his Companions to take an oath of allegiance,
so they rushed toward him to pledge that they would not flee;
indeed, a group pledged allegiance to him unto death.
The first to pledge allegiance to him was Abu Sinan al-Asadi,
and Salamah Ibn al-Akwa' pledged allegiance to him unto death three separate times:
among the first people, in the middle, and at the end.
Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) took
his own right hand and said:
"This hand is 'Uthman's."
He then struck it against his left hand and said:
"This pledge is on behalf of 'Uthman."
Thus, the hand of the Prophet (peace be upon him) acting on 'Uthman's behalf
was better than 'Uthman's own hand for himself,
and better than the hands of all the Companions for themselves.
When the pledge of allegiance was completed and word of it reached the people of Mecca,
they grew fearful, released 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him),
and sought a peaceful reconciliation.
The Glorious Qur'an commemorated the news of this allegiance,
praised those who participated in it,
and declared Allah's pleasure with them.
Allah Almighty says:
And during the Expedition of Tabuk,
'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) equipped the Army of Hardship
with nine hundred and fifty camels,
completed the full thousand with fifty horses,
and poured a thousand dinars into the lap of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
He also brought seven hundred ounces of gold and poured it before the Messenger of Allah,
until the Prophet (peace be upon him) began turning it over in his lap and repeating:
"Nothing 'Uthman does after today can ever harm him!
Nothing 'Uthman does after today can ever harm him!"
Imam al-Dhahabi said:
"No one ever spent a greater contribution than the spending of 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him)."
Join us in the next episode
as we learn how the pledge of allegiance to 'Uthman for the Caliphate took place,
along with the most significant achievements of his reign—may Allah be pleased with him and grant him contentment.
To the Chosen One, the best companions were granted victory over anxieties,
In the Eternal Paradise, victory increased their honor;
They are Talhah, Ibn 'Awf, al-Zubayr, along with
Abu 'Ubaydah, the two Sa'ds, and the Caliphs.