Part of The Ten Given Glad Tidings of Paradise (series completed)
· Lesson 11 of 30
The ten promised Paradise | Episode (11) | Othman bin Affan, may God be pleased with him (Part 1)
0:000:00
Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
0:00
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
0:04
Mawaddah Association
0:06
presents:
0:07
The Ten Promised Paradise
0:10
Uthman ibn Affan,
0:15
may Allah be pleased with him.
0:17
Loving the Companions and the Prophet's kin is an established Sunnah,
0:22
which I shall present to my Lord when He resurrects me.
0:27
Love for the Companions and the Prophet's kin—
0:30
indeed, he was the foremost youth of Quraysh,
0:33
its revered nobleman,
0:35
possessing inherently noble manners,
0:38
boasting high lineage among his people,
0:40
and beloved by all his clan.
0:44
Even women from Quraysh,
0:46
when bouncing their young children, would say:
0:50
"By the Most Merciful, I love you
0:52
as Quraysh loves Uthman!"
0:55
So who was this Uthman?
0:58
He was Uthman ibn Affan,
1:00
son of Abi al-As, son of Umayyah,
1:02
son of Abd Shams,
1:04
son of Abd Manaf, son of Qusay.
1:06
Thus, he belonged to Banu Umayyah
1:09
and met in lineage with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
1:13
at his fourth grandfather, Abd Manaf.
1:16
Therefore, he is the closest of the Ten Promised Paradise
1:19
in lineage to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
1:22
after Ali, may Allah be pleased with him.
1:26
Uthman's mother was Arwa bint Kurayz,
1:29
and Arwa's mother was Umm Hakim al-Bayda',
1:33
daughter of Abd al-Muttalib,
1:35
the twin sister of Abdullah,
1:36
father of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
1:41
Thus, Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him,
1:43
was the son of the Prophet's maternal first cousin.
1:48
He was therefore among his relatives, peace be upon him,
1:52
on both his father's and mother's sides.
1:55
Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, was born in Makkah
1:58
in the sixth year after the Year of the Elephant,
2:01
and grew up amidst its mountains and valleys,
2:05
within the embrace of its Ancient House.
2:08
If you saw Uthman,
2:11
you saw a man endowed with a striking beauty that delighted the onlooker.
2:16
He had a handsome face, a full beard,
2:19
and was of medium height,
2:21
neither tall nor short.
2:23
He had broad shoulders,
2:25
a wide chest,
2:28
a fair complexion tinged with tan,
2:31
smooth skin,
2:33
dense hair on his forearms and legs,
2:36
and the hair of his head reached below his ears.
2:39
Abdullah ibn Hazm al-Mazini said of him:
2:43
"I never saw a face more handsome than his."
2:46
During the days of Jahiliyyah, may Allah be pleased with him, he was
2:50
among the finest of his people.
2:52
He possessed vast influence, wealth,
2:55
extreme modesty,
2:56
and gentle speech.
2:58
His people loved him immensely and held him in deep veneration.
3:03
He never prostrated to an idol in Jahiliyyah,
3:06
nor did he ever commit an indecency.
3:09
He never drank wine before Islam,
3:12
and used to say:
3:14
"It deprives one of reason,
3:16
and reason is the noblest gift Allah has bestowed upon man;
3:20
a person ought to elevate it,
3:22
not suppress it."
3:24
He said of himself:
3:26
"I never sang, nor wished for vanity,
3:29
nor touched my private parts with my right hand
3:31
since I swore allegiance with it to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
3:36
I never drank wine in Jahiliyyah nor in Islam,
3:40
nor did I ever commit adultery in Jahiliyyah nor in Islam."
3:45
He, may Allah be pleased with him, possessed extensive knowledge of Arab lore in Jahiliyyah,
3:51
including genealogies, proverbs, and historical tribal battles.
3:55
He traveled widely across the land,
3:57
journeying to the Levant and Abyssinia,
3:59
and mingled with non-Arab peoples,
4:02
learning about their affairs and customs in ways others did not.
4:07
He focused on his trade, which he inherited from his father,
4:11
and his wealth grew
4:12
until he became one of the prominent figures of Banu Umayyah
4:16
who held a revered standing in Quraysh.
4:20
These qualities are sufficient to draw a person close to goodness,
4:25
entering its doors without hesitation.
4:28
So how could it be otherwise for Uthman ibn Affan,
4:30
who was a close companion and beloved, intimate friend
4:33
of Abu Bakr?
4:36
One day, Abu Bakr came to him
4:39
after the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was commissioned with prophecy,
4:43
when Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, had joined him,
4:46
along with a small group no larger than the fingers of one hand.
4:51
Al-Siddiq said to him:
4:53
"Woe to you, O Uthman!
4:55
By Allah, you are a prudent man
4:58
who cannot fail to distinguish truth from falsehood.
5:01
These idols that your people worship—
5:04
are they not deaf stones
5:06
that neither hear nor see,
5:08
nor harm nor benefit?"
5:10
Uthman replied:
5:12
"Indeed, by Allah, they are so!"
5:15
Abu Bakr said:
5:16
"This is Muhammad ibn Abdullah,
5:19
whom Allah has sent with His message to all His creation.
5:23
Will you not go to him and listen to him?"
5:26
He replied: "Yes."
5:28
So they both went to him,
5:29
and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
5:32
"O Uthman,
5:34
respond to Allah's call to His Paradise,
5:36
for I am Allah's Messenger to you and to all His creation."
5:41
Uthman said:
5:42
"By Allah, no sooner did I hear his words than I embraced Islam,
5:46
testifying that there is no god but Allah, alone without partner,
5:51
and that Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger."
5:55
Uthman was just past thirty-four years of age
5:58
when Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, invited him to Islam;
6:03
thus, he was among the early pioneers.
6:06
Abu Ishaq,
6:08
the biographer, said:
6:09
"Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, was the first person to accept Islam
6:13
after Abu Bakr, Ali, and Zayd ibn Harithah."
6:17
He was, therefore, the fourth man to embrace Islam.
6:22
Perhaps this early conversion to Islam
6:24
was inspired by an incident that occurred upon his return from the Levant.
6:29
Uthman related:
6:30
"O Messenger of Allah,
6:32
I had recently arrived from the Levant,
6:35
and while we were between Mu'an and al-Zarqa',
6:38
resting as if asleep,
6:40
a caller suddenly cried out to us:
6:42
'O sleepers, awake!
6:45
For Ahmad has appeared in Makkah.'
6:48
So when we arrived, we heard news of you."
6:51
Faith shone brightly in Uthman's pure heart,
6:55
which Jahiliyyah had never defiled with its idols and impurities.
7:00
Yet how could this light abide without being tested?
7:06
People's love for Uthman turned into hatred,
7:09
and their affection into enmity.
7:12
Among his most fierce persecutors
7:15
was his uncle, al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As,
7:18
who seized him and bound him tightly with ropes,
7:21
saying:
7:22
"Do you renounce the creed of your forefathers for a newly invented religion?
7:26
By Allah, I will never untie you
7:29
until you renounce this religion of yours!"
7:33
Uthman replied:
7:34
"By Allah, I will never renounce it, nor shall I ever abandon it!"
7:38
His uncle used to wrap him in a mat of palm leaves
7:43
and light a fire beneath him,
7:45
causing smoke to billow up
7:47
until Uthman was on the verge of suffocation and death,
7:51
all while demanding that he renounce his faith,
7:54
yet Uthman only grew firmer and more resolute in it.
7:59
When his uncle despaired of breaking him,
8:01
he abandoned him and left him alone.
8:04
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
8:07
had previously married his daughter Ruqayyah
8:09
to Utbah, the son of his uncle Abu Lahab,
8:13
and married her sister Umm Kulthum
8:15
to Utaybah, the son of Abu Lahab.
8:18
When Surah al-Masad was revealed,
8:21
Abu Lahab said to his two sons, Utbah and Utaybah:
8:25
"My head is forbidden from yours
8:28
unless you divorce the daughters of Muhammad!"
8:31
Their mother—
8:33
the carrier of firewood—also said to them:
8:35
"Part from the daughters of Muhammad,
8:37
for they have abandoned their ancestral faith."
8:40
So they divorced them before consummating the marriages,
8:44
an honor bestowed by Allah Almighty upon the two daughters
8:47
and a humiliation for the sons of Abu Lahab.
8:50
No sooner had Uthman ibn Affan, may Allah be pleased with him,
8:53
heard the news of Ruqayyah's divorce
8:56
than he was overjoyed.
8:58
He hastened to ask for her hand from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
9:03
who married her to him, peace be upon him.
9:07
The Mother of the Believers, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, may Allah be pleased with her, escorted her in the bridal procession.
9:13
Uthman was among the most handsome men of Quraysh in appearance,
9:16
and she matched him in grace and beauty;
9:20
thus, when she was led to him, it was said of them:
9:24
"The finest couple ever seen by human eyes
9:27
are Ruqayyah and her husband, Uthman!"
9:30
The fruit of this blessed marriage was that
9:33
Allah granted them a beautiful, striking boy,
9:37
whom he named Abdullah,
9:39
and after whom Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, took his agnomen (Kunya).
9:43
However, this young boy did not live long with his parents,
9:48
as a rooster pecked him in his eye
9:50
when he reached six years of age,
9:53
causing the boy to fall ill and pass away.
9:56
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, entered upon them one day
10:01
while Ruqayyah was washing Uthman's hair,
10:04
and he said: "O my daughter, treat Abu Abdullah well,
10:09
for he is the most similar of my Companions to me in character."
10:14
Persecution by Quraysh against the Muslims intensified,
10:16
including against the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
10:20
So the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, gave them permission
10:23
to migrate to Abyssinia.
10:25
'Uthman and his wife Ruqayyah, may Allah be pleased with them both, were
10:30
among the very first to migrate to Abyssinia.
10:33
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said regarding them:
10:37
"May Allah accompany them both;
10:38
'Uthman is indeed the first to migrate for the sake of Allah with his family
10:42
since Lot, peace be upon him."
10:46
Before long, 'Uthman and his wife returned along with those who returned,
10:50
after rumors had spread that the people of Makkah had accepted Islam.
10:54
However, the situation was quite the opposite,
10:57
so they both returned, may Allah be pleased with them, to Abyssinia once more.
11:01
Later, they returned to Makkah
11:04
and stayed there
11:05
until Allah decreed for them the migration to Madinah.
11:09
Thus, they were among those who undertook both migrations, may Allah be pleased with them both.
11:15
In Madinah,
11:16
his loving wife, Ruqayyah, fell ill
11:19
just as the Muslims were setting out for the Battle of Badr.
11:23
So the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, commanded him
11:26
to remain behind at his wife's side to care for her.
11:30
On the very day the Muslims returned from Badr,
11:33
victorious and overjoyed,
11:36
shocking news suddenly met them in Madinah:
11:40
the passing of Ruqayyah, may Allah be pleased with her,
11:44
the daughter of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
11:47
and the wife of 'Uthman Ibn 'Affan, may Allah be pleased with him.
11:51
Sorrow enveloped Madinah in general,
11:54
and 'Uthman in particular, may Allah be pleased with him,
11:58
over the loss of his wife
12:00
and the severance of his familial bond by marriage to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
12:05
Then the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, met him
12:08
near the door of the mosque
12:10
and said, "O 'Uthman, this is Gabriel;
12:14
he has informed me that Allah has commanded me
12:16
to marry Um Kulthum to you
12:19
for a dowry equal to Ruqayyah's,
12:21
and upon the same terms of companionship."
12:24
And the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
12:26
"I did not marry Um Kulthum to 'Uthman
12:29
except through divine revelation from the heavens."
12:32
Delight and joy returned
12:34
to his face once again,
12:37
and happiness entered his home
12:39
with the entrance of Um Kulthum, may Allah be pleased with her.
12:43
Thus, 'Uthman was given the title "Dhu al-Nurayn" (Possessor of the Two Lights)
12:46
for marrying two daughters of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
12:51
No other man is known to have married two daughters of a prophet besides him,
12:55
may Allah be pleased with him and be pleased with him.
12:59
In the ninth year after the Hijrah,
13:01
'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, was struck by tragedy once more
13:05
with the passing of his wife Um Kulthum,
13:08
and he grieved for her most deeply.
13:11
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
13:14
"Marry 'Uthman off;
13:16
if I had a third daughter, I would surely have married her to him."
13:21
In the next episode, Allah willing,
13:24
we will learn about the most important achievements of 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him,
13:28
for the Muslims
13:30
and his service to this great religion.
13:33
Until that meeting,
13:36
we entrust you to Allah's care.
13:59
Peace be upon Abu Bakr,
14:04
Abu 'Ubaydah,
14:06
the two Sa'ds, and the Caliphs.