The ten promised Paradise | Episode (14) | Othman bin Affan, may God be pleased with him (Part 4)

0:00 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

0:03 Mawaddah Association

0:06 presents "The Ten Promised Paradise":

0:13 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, may Allah be pleased with him.

0:17 "Loving the Companions and the Prophet's kin is a Sunnah

0:22 with which I hope to meet my Lord when He gives me life.

0:27 Loving the Companions and the Prophet's kin..."

0:30 Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, may Allah be pleased with him, performed wudu at his home,

0:34 then went out and said,

0:36 "I will surely stay close to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

0:40 and I will certainly spend this entire day with him."

0:43 So he came to him while he was sitting at the well of Aris,

0:47 having uncovered his shins and dangled them into the well.

0:51 He greeted him with peace,

0:52 then stepped back and sat at the gate,

0:55 saying,

0:56 "Today I shall be the gatekeeper of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him."

1:01 Then a man came and asked to enter,

1:04 so the Prophet, peace be upon him, said to Abu Musa,

1:08 "Open for him, and give him the glad tidings of Paradise."

1:11 So he opened for him,

1:13 and behold, it was Abu Bakr!

1:15 He gave him the glad tidings of what the Prophet, peace be upon him, had said,

1:19 and Abu Bakr praised Allah.

1:21 Then he entered and sat to the right of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

1:26 dangling his legs into the well.

1:29 Then another man came and asked to enter,

1:32 so the Prophet, peace be upon him, said,

1:35 "Open for him, and give him the glad tidings of Paradise."

1:38 So he opened for him,

1:40 and behold, it was 'Umar!

1:42 Abu Musa informed him of what the Prophet, peace be upon him, had said,

1:47 and 'Umar praised Allah.

1:48 Then he entered and sat to the left of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

1:53 dangling his legs into the well.

1:56 Then another man asked to enter,

1:58 so the Prophet, peace be upon him, said,

2:01 "Open for him, and give him the glad tidings of Paradise, along with a trial that will afflict him."

2:06 So he opened for him,

2:08 and behold, it was 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him!

2:11 He informed him of what the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, had said,

2:15 and 'Uthman praised Allah,

2:17 then said, "Allah's help is sought."

2:21 Then he entered and sat opposite the Prophet, peace be upon him,

2:25 on the other side of the well.

2:29 Their seating positions were interpreted as representing their graves.

2:33 Time moved on,

2:36 and long years passed,

2:38 until the Commander of the Believers, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, came

2:43 to that very same well,

2:45 six years into his caliphate.

2:48 He sat upon its edge,

2:51 and in his hand was the ring of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him—

2:55 that ring which remained in the Prophet's hand, peace be upon him, until his death,

3:02 then was in the hand of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him,

3:06 then in the hand of 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him,

3:09 and then came into the hand of 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him.

3:12 'Uthman removed the ring from his hand and sat contemplating it,

3:17 when it fell from his hand into the well.

3:20 'Uthman was dismayed and began searching for it,

3:23 as did the Muslims who were with him.

3:25 The search inside the well continued for three days,

3:29 so much so that they drained all the water from the well,

3:32 yet the ring was not found.

3:34 'Uthman and the Muslims were deeply grieved by that,

3:37 and that was only because of the immense value of this ring in their hearts.

3:42 Imam al-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

3:45 "From the moment the ring fell,

3:47 discord arose among the Muslims;

3:50 it was as though the ring had been a safeguard for them."

3:55 Tribulations began creeping across the far-flung realms of the Islamic state,

4:00 and among the reasons for this, perhaps,

4:02 was 'Uthman's forbearance, may Allah be pleased with him, and his gentle disposition.

4:06 On the other hand,

4:08 there was tribal factionalism,

4:11 the greed of certain tribes for power,

4:14 and also the widespread prosperity among people and their inclination toward luxury,

4:19 which gave rise to a generation of zealous youth lacking knowledge and sound judgment.

4:25 Nor can we overlook the most significant cause of the fitnah,

4:28 which was the role of the Saba'iyyah—

4:30 the followers of 'Abdullah ibn Saba', the Jew—

4:33 in spreading rumors and hatching conspiracies against the Muslims.

4:38 For Ibn Saba' and his cohorts were spreading false rumors among the people,

4:43 which were seized upon by those of weak faith,

4:46 who then turned with resentment against the Commander of the Believers.

4:49 An example of this is that a man from the people of Egypt came to perform the pilgrimage to the House.

4:54 He saw a group of people sitting together and asked,

4:57 "Who are these people?"

4:59 They replied, "These are a group from Quraysh."

5:02 He asked, "Who is the elder among them?"

5:05 They replied, "'Abdullah ibn 'Umar."

5:08 So he said, "O Ibn 'Umar,

5:10 I wish to ask you about something, so tell me:

5:14 Do you know that 'Uthman fled on the day of Uhud?"

5:17 He said, "Yes."

5:19 The man asked, "Do you know that he was absent from Badr and did not attend it?"

5:24 He said, "Yes."

5:26 The man asked,

5:27 "Do you know that he was absent from the Pledge of Ridwan and did not attend it?"

5:32 He said, "Yes."

5:34 Thereupon the man said,

5:35 "Allahu Akbar!"

5:37 So Ibn 'Umar said,

5:39 "Come, let me explain to you.

5:41 As for his fleeing on the day of Uhud,

5:43 I bear witness that Allah pardoned him and forgave him.

5:47 As for his absence from Badr,

5:49 the daughter of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was his wife,

5:54 and she was sick,

5:56 so the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said to him:

6:00 'You shall have the reward of a man who attended Badr, as well as his share of the spoils.'

6:04 As for his absence from the Pledge of Ridwan,

6:07 had there been anyone more influential in the valley of Mecca than 'Uthman,

6:11 he would have sent him in his place.

6:13 And the Pledge of Ridwan took place after 'Uthman had departed for Mecca,

6:18 so the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, gestured with his right hand and said,

6:22 'This is 'Uthman's hand,'

6:25 and struck it against his other hand, saying,

6:28 'This is on behalf of 'Uthman.'

6:30 Then Ibn 'Umar said to him,

6:32 "Now take these facts along with you!"

6:34 Among the matters for which the rebels resented 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him,

6:40 was his appointment of five of his relatives over provinces.

6:44 Yet what objection could there be to that,

6:46 especially when they were people of competence, insight, and wisdom,

6:51 which they proved during their tenures of governance?

6:54 They also held other grievances against him,

6:57 the motives of which were mere personal desire and the instigations of the Saba'iyyah,

7:01 all of which the scholars thoroughly refuted and dismantled.

7:04 The agitators of discord set out from Egypt, heading toward the Prophet's City,

7:10 to confront the Commander of the Believers, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, may Allah be pleased with him.

7:15 When the people heard of their departure,

7:18 they came to Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, may Allah be pleased with him—

7:21 he was, may Allah be pleased with him,

7:23 the keeper of the secret of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him—to question him.

7:28 They said, "These people have marched toward 'Uthman;

7:33 what do you say?"

7:35 He replied, may Allah be pleased with him,

7:37 "By Allah, they will kill him!"

7:39 They asked, "Where will he be?"

7:42 He said, "In Paradise, by Allah."

7:46 They asked, "And where will his killers be?"

7:49 He said, "In the Fire, by Allah."

7:52 When the Commander of the Believers learned of their coming,

7:55 he went out to meet them before their arrival

7:58 and met them in a village outside Medina.

8:02 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, accompanied him.

8:06 Each side voiced what was on their minds,

8:10 and they agreed upon terms satisfying both parties and serving the common good:

8:16 that the exiled be returned to their homes,

8:19 that the deprived be granted what they had been denied,

8:22 that the fay' revenues be distributed adequately,

8:24 that distribution be carried out justly and trustworthy, capable men be appointed,

8:28 and that Ibn 'Amir be reinstated as governor of Basra

8:32 and Abu Musa al-Ash'ari as governor of Kufa.

8:35 They drew up a document to that effect;

8:38 the people were satisfied, and then departed on their way back.

8:42 Once reconciliation had been reached between the Commander of the Believers, 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him,

8:47 and these rebellious agitators,

8:50 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, wrote a letter concerning this to the provinces,

8:55 whereupon minds were eased and unrest ceased.

8:58 However, this outcome did not please the instigators of discord;

9:03 their plot had failed,

9:05 and their vile objectives were thwarted.

9:08 Therefore, they devised another scheme to reignite the fitnah anew

9:12 and destroy the reconciliation achieved between the people of the provinces and the Commander of the Believers, 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him.

9:19 They forged a letter in the name of the Commander of the Believers

9:23 and dispatched a man ahead of the Egyptian delegation.

9:27 The man came near them,

9:29 repeatedly crossing their path to draw their attention.

9:33 They said to him, "What is the matter with you?

9:35 You clearly have something going on; what is your business?"

9:38 He said, "I am the messenger of the Commander of the Believers to his governor in Egypt,

9:43 and I carry a letter from him to the governor."

9:46 So they seized him and searched him,

9:48 and they found the letter.

9:50 To their shock, it was purportedly from 'Uthman, the Commander of the Believers, may Allah be pleased with him,

9:55 bearing his seal,

9:57 ordering his governor

9:59 that once the delegation reached Egypt,

10:02 he should seize them and crucify them,

10:04 or kill them,

10:06 or cut off their hands and feet until they died.

10:10 The people were infuriated,

10:12 assuming it was an act of treachery on the part of 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him,

10:15 and a breach of the covenant.

10:17 So they turned back until they arrived in Medina,

10:20 where they came to 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him,

10:22 and said,

10:24 "Have you not seen what the enemy of Allah has done?

10:26 He wrote such-and-such concerning us,

10:28 and Allah has rendered his blood lawful!

10:31 So rise with us against him!"

10:33 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said,

10:35 "By Allah, he never wrote any letter concerning you at all!

10:39 And by Allah, I will never rise with you!"

10:42 So they left him and marched toward 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him,

10:46 and said,

10:47 "[They alleged:] 'You wrote such-and-such.'"

10:49 So he, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

10:51 "There are only two fair courses:

10:53 Either you produce two Muslim witnesses who will testify against me regarding this,

10:58 or you must accept my oath by Allah, besides Whom there is no deity worthy of worship:

11:02 I never wrote it, nor did I dictate it, nor did I have any knowledge of it.

11:06 And you well know that a letter can be forged in a man's name,

11:11 and a seal's imprint can be counterfeited."

11:14 But they said:

11:15 "By Allah, Allah has made your blood lawful!"

11:18 Thus they broke the covenant and pledge,

11:20 laid siege to him in his house,

11:22 and demanded that he abdicate the Caliphate.

11:25 The truth is that the Commander of the Faithful, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, may Allah be pleased with him,

11:30 had been anticipating the eruption of this tribulation,

11:33 as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had already informed him of a tribulation that would befall him,

11:38 and that he would attain martyrdom therein.

11:41 He had also commanded him never to surrender the Caliphate to the rebels, saying:

11:46 "O 'Uthman!

11:47 Indeed, Allah will clothe you with a garment,

11:50 so if they seek to strip it from you, do not take it off for them."

11:54 At the outset, 'Uthman

11:58 would go out to the mosque and lead the people in prayer,

12:01 regarding the rebels as baser in his eyes than mere dust.

12:05 Then they barred him from leaving his home,

12:08 so he, may Allah be pleased with him, began praying inside his house.

12:12 He engaged them in debate using the Book of Allah and admonished them;

12:15 among the things he said to them was:

12:19 "If you find in the Book of Allah

12:22 authority to place my feet in shackles, then place them!"

12:25 Thus he silenced them, may Allah be pleased with him,

12:28 through the sheer strength of his argument

12:31 and his deep knowledge of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace be upon him).

12:36 Then he began reminding them of some of his virtues,

12:39 that they might fear Allah regarding him and cease their rebellion.

12:43 He looked down upon them and said:

12:46 "I adjure you by Allah:

12:48 Do you know that when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

12:52 arrived in Medina, there was no water

12:55 palatable to drink except the well of Rumah?

12:58 So he said: 'Who will purchase the well of Rumah,

13:01 making his bucket equal alongside the buckets of the Muslims,

13:04 in exchange for something better for him in Paradise?'

13:07 And so I purchased it entirely from my own personal wealth!

13:10 Yet today, you prevent me from drinking from it?"

13:13 They replied: "By Allah, yes."

13:16 He then said: "I adjure you by Allah:

13:19 Do you know that the mosque became too crowded for its congregation,

13:22 and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

13:25 'Who will purchase the plot of so-and-so's family,

13:28 to annex it to the mosque,

13:31 in exchange for something better for him in Paradise?'

13:34 And so I purchased it entirely from my own personal wealth!

13:37 Yet today, you prevent me from praying two rak'ahs in it?"

13:41 They replied: "By Allah, yes."

13:44 He then said: "I adjure you by Allah:

13:47 Do you know that I fully equipped the Army of Hardship (Jaysh al-'Usrah)

13:50 out of my own wealth?"

13:53 They replied: "By Allah, yes."

13:56 He said: "I adjure you by Allah:

13:59 Do you know that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

14:02 was once atop Mount Thabir in Mecca,

14:05 accompanied by Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and myself,

14:08 and the mountain shook

14:11 so violently that its stones tumbled into the ravine?

14:14 Whereupon he struck it with his foot and said:

14:17 'Be still, Thabir! For there are upon you none other than

14:20 a Prophet, a Siddiq, and two martyrs!'"

14:23 They replied: "By Allah, yes."

14:26 He exclaimed: "Allahu Akbar!

14:29 By the Lord of the Ka'bah, you have testified that I am a martyr!"

14:32 Yet despite his admonitions and reminders,

14:36 the rebels only tightened the siege

14:39 around the Commander of the Faithful, may Allah be pleased with him,

14:42 preventing food and drink from reaching

14:45 him — and Allah alone is the source of help.

14:48 The Mother of the Believers, Safiyyah, may Allah be pleased with her, attempted

14:51 to smuggle food into him secretly,

14:54 but one of them discovered it

14:57 and struck the face of her mule until it retreated.

15:00 She then laid a wooden plank between her house

15:03 and the house of the Commander of the Faithful —

15:06 as she was his neighbor —

15:09 in order to transport food and drink to him.

15:12 The Mother of the Believers, Umm Habibah, may Allah be pleased with her, also attempted

15:15 to bring food to him secretly,

15:18 so she approached his house.

15:21 They asked: "Who is this?"

15:24 She replied: "I am your mother, Umm Habibah."

15:27 But they said: "By Allah, you shall not enter!"

15:31 The stance of the Companions in Medina was by no means passive;

15:34 they came forward alongside their sons

15:37 to defend the Commander of the Faithful.

15:40 However, 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, strictly commanded them

15:43 to restrain their hands, sheathe their swords,

15:46 and return to their homes.

15:49 He said to them: "I adjure anyone over whom

15:52 I hold authority of obedience not to fight!"

15:55 So they withdrew, leaving behind their sons as guards.

15:59 The Ansar, may Allah be pleased with them, also came to him

16:02 and said: "We will support Allah twice over:

16:05 we supported the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),

16:08 and now we shall support you!"

16:11 But he, may Allah be pleased with him, replied:

16:14 "I have no need of that; go back."

16:17 His insistence on this was solely

16:20 to spare the blood of the Muslims

16:23 from being spilled on his account.

16:26 Moreover, the people of Medina were few in number compared to the rebels,

16:29 whose strength exceeded

16:32 one thousand fierce fighters.

16:35 Furthermore, 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him,

16:38 had surrendered entirely to the divine decree and predestination of Allah,

16:41 since the Prophet (peace be upon him) had already informed him

16:44 that he would die murdered in this tribulation.

16:47 The rebels grew anxious that the matter would drag on,

16:50 that the pilgrims would return from Hajj,

16:53 and that delegations would arrive from the regional garrisons

16:56 to come to the defense of the Commander of the Faithful.

16:59 Thus, they hastened to execute their heinous crime —

17:02 to Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return.

17:06 On the morning of Friday,

17:09 the twelfth of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah,

17:12 in the thirty-fifth year of the Hijrah,

17:15 the rebels seized the opportunity

17:18 of the scarcity of people and their absence during the Hajj season.

17:22 They clashed with the guards drawn from the sons of the Companions

17:25 in a fierce battle.

17:28 'Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr sustained severe wounds,

17:31 as did al-Hasan ibn 'Ali,

17:34 along with others, may Allah be pleased with them all.

17:37 At that point, 'Uthman ordered the sons of the Companions

17:40 to depart for their homes,

17:43 and likewise commanded his wives and servants

17:46 to cease defending him.

17:50 He fastened his lower garment tightly

17:53 so that his private parts would not become exposed if he were slain.

17:56 He then turned to his Mus-haf,

17:59 spread it out before him, and began reciting from it;

18:02 he was fasting that day.

18:05 He had just seen the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a dream,

18:08 accompanied by Abu Bakr and 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them,

18:11 saying to him:

18:14 "Be patient, for you shall break your fast with us tonight!"

18:17 One of the besiegers broke into his presence,

18:20 and when 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, saw him,

18:23 he said: "Between you and me stands the Book of Allah."

18:26 Overcome with shame, the man turned back.

18:29 Then another entered:

18:32 a dark-skinned man from the people of Egypt,

18:35 known as Jabalah.

18:38 He seized 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, by the throat,

18:41 then struck at him with a sword,

18:44 severing his hand.

18:47 Whereupon 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

18:50 "By Allah, that was the very first hand to transcribe the Mufassal surahs!"

18:53 This was because 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him,

18:56 was among the first to record the Qur'an

18:59 as dictated directly by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).

19:02 When his hand was severed,

19:05 blood splattered across the Mus-haf laid before him,

19:08 landing directly upon the words of the Almighty:

19:11 "Allah will suffice you against them,

19:14 and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing."

19:17 The man then lunged at him with the sword and assassinated him.

19:20 His murder, may Allah be pleased with him, was truly heinous —

19:23 so much so that whenever Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him,

19:26 recalled what had been done to 'Uthman,

19:29 he would weep aloud, sobbing uncontrollably.

19:32 His martyrdom, may Allah be pleased with him, was indeed

19:36 an immense calamity for the Muslims,

19:39 leaving a deep wound in the body of the Islamic Ummah

19:42 from which it continues to suffer to this day —

19:45 and Allah alone is the source of help.

19:48 Yet Allah took vengeance on behalf of 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him,

19:51 even in this worldly life;

19:54 for of all those who took part in his murder,

19:57 not a single one died a normal death.

20:00 Imam al-Dhahabi said:

20:03 "Practically all who had a hand in the blood of 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him,

20:06 were violently slain, while their ultimate reckoning remains in the Hereafter

20:09 before the Just God, Glorified be He."

20:12 The Commander of the Faithful, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, passed away,

20:16 may Allah be pleased with him,

20:19 at the age of eighty-two.

20:22 He was washed, shrouded, and prayed over by only a few

20:25 of the Companions, who followed his funeral cortege

20:28 due to the perilous circumstances

20:31 that enveloped Medina at the time.

20:35 He was buried in Hush Kawkab,

20:38 which had been an orchard belonging to a man from Medina

20:41 named Kawkab,

20:44 situated to the east of al-Baqi'.

20:47 'Uthman had previously purchased it from him to incorporate it into al-Baqi'.

20:50 May Allah be pleased with the Rightly Guided Caliph,

20:53 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, slain in patient endurance,

20:56 who was given the glad tidings of Paradise on multiple occasions;

20:59 may Allah be pleased with him and make him well-pleased,

21:02 to the Chosen Prophet,

21:07 the best companions, clearly specified by texts.

21:10 They are

21:13 in the Garden of Eternity,

21:16 explicitly named by texts that increased their

21:19 honor. They are Talhah,

21:22 Ibn 'Awf,

21:25 and al-Zubayr, along with

21:28 Abu 'Ubaydah,

21:31 the two Sa'ds, and the Caliphs.

The ten promised Paradise | Episode (14) | Othman bin Affan, may God be pleased with him (Part 4)

Transcript