Uthmaan 's Life

Uthman bin Affaan was born seven years after the Holy Prophet Muhammad. He belonged to the Umayyad branch of the Quraish tribe. He learned to read and write at an early age, and as a young man became a successful merchant. Even before Islam Uthman had been noted for his truthfulness and integrity. He and Abu Bakr were close friends, and it was Abu Bakr who brought him to Islaam when he was thirty-four years of age. Some years later he married the Prophet's second daughter, Ruqayya . In spite of his wealth and position, his relatives subjected him to torture because he had embraced Islaam, and he was forced to emigrate to Abyssinia. Some time later he returned to Mecca but soon migrated to Medina with the other Muslims. In Medina his business again began to flourish and he regained his former prosperity. Uthman 's generosity had no limits. On various occasions he spent a great portion of his wealth for the welfare of the Muslims, for charity and for equipping the Muslim armies. That is why he came to be known as 'Gani' meaning 'Generous.'

Uthman 's wife, Ruqayya was seriously ill just before the Battle of Badr and he was excused by the Prophet Muhammad from participating in the battle. The illness Ruqayya proved fatal, leaving Uthman deeply grieved. The Prophet Muhammad was moved and offered Uthman the hand of another of his daughters, Kulthum . Because he had the high privilege of having two daughters of the Prophet as wives Uthman was known as 'The Possessor of the Two Lights. '

Uthmaan participated in the Battles of Uhud and the Trench. After the encounter of the Trench, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) determined to perform Hajj and sent Uthmaan as his emissary to the Quraish in Mecca, who detained him. The episode ended in a treaty with the Meccans known as the Treaty of Hudaibiya.

The portrait we have of Uthman is of an unassuming, honest, mild, generous and very kindly man, noted especially for his modesty and his piety. He often spent part of the night in prayer, fasted every second or third day, performed hajj every year, and looked after the needy of the whole community. In spite of his wealth, he lived very simply and slept on bare sand in the courtyard of the Prophet's mosque. Uthmaan knew the Qur'aan from memory and had an intimate knowledge of the context and circumstances relating to each verse.

Uthmaan 's Caliphate
During Uthmaan 's rule the characteristics of Abu Bakr 's and Umar 's caliphates - impartial justice for all, mild and humane policies, striving in the path of God, and the expansion of Islaam  continued. Uthman 's realm extended in the west to Morocco, in the east to Afghanistan, and in the north to Armenia and Azerbaijan. During his caliphate a navy was organized, administrative divisions of the state were revised, and many public projects were expanded and completed. Uthman sent prominent Companions of the Prophet Muhammad as his personal deputies to various provinces to scrutinize the conduct of officials and the condition of the people.

Uthmaan 's most notable contribution to the religion of God was the compilation of a complete and authoritative text of the Qur'ân. A large number of copies of this text were made and distributed all over the Muslim world.

Uthmaan ruled for twelve years. The first six years were marked by internal peace and tranquility, but during the second half of his caliphate a rebellion arose. The Jews and the Magians, taking advantage of dissatisfaction among the people, began conspiring against Uthmaan , and by publicly airing their complaints and grievances, gained so much sympathy that it became difficult to distinguish friend from foe.

It may seem surprising that a ruler of such vast territories, whose armies were matchless, was unable to deal with these rebels. If Uthmaan had wished, the rebellion could have been crushed at the very moment it began. But he was reluctant to be the first to shed the blood of Muslims, however rebellious they might be. He preferred to reason with them, to persuade them with kindness and generosity. He well remembered hearing the Prophet Muhammad say, "Once the sword is unsheathed among my followers, it will not be sheathed until the Last Day."

The rebels demanded that he abdicate and some of the Companions advised him to do so. He would gladly have followed this course of action, but again he was bound by a solemn pledge he had given to the Prophet Muhammad . "Perhaps God will clothe you with a shirt, Uthmaan " The Prophet had told him once, "and if the people want you to take it off, do not take it off for them." Uthmaan said to a well-wisher on a day when his house was surrounded by the rebels, "God's Messenger made a covenant with me and I shall show endurance in adhering to it."

After a long siege, the rebels broke into Uthmaan 's house and murdered him. When the first assassin's sword struck Uthmaan , he was reciting the verse, 

"Verily, God sufficeth thee; He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing" Al-Qur'ân Soorah Baqarah 2:137

Uthman breathed his last on the afternoon of Friday, 17 Dhul Hijja, 35 A.H. (June. (656 C. E.). He was eighty-four years old. The power of the rebels was so great that Uthman 's body lay unburied until Saturday night when he was buried in his blood-stained clothes, the shroud which befits all martyrs in the cause of God.