Uthman ibn Affan

In short

In Arabic

عثمان بن عفان

Name

Uthman ibn Affan ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayyah

Title

Dhun-Nurayn, the possessor of the two lights

Tribe

Banu Umayyah, of Quraysh; his line meets the Prophet's ﷺ at Abd Manaf

Mother

Arwa bint Kurayz, whose mother was Umm Hakim, the Prophet's ﷺ aunt

Born

In Makkah, about six years after the Year of the Elephant (about 576 CE)

Accepted Islam

Early, through Abu Bakr

Caliph

24 to 35 AH (644 to 656 CE)

Died

Martyred in his house in Madinah, 18 Dhul Hijjah 35 AH (June 656 CE), in his eighties

Buried

Al-Baqi, Madinah

In short: Uthman accepted Islam early, through Abu Bakr. He married the Prophet's ﷺ daughter Ruqayyah and emigrated with her to Abyssinia, and after her death he married her sister Umm Kulthum, so he is called Dhun-Nurayn. He bought the well of Rumah for the Muslims and paid for much of the army of Tabuk. He was the Prophet's ﷺ envoy to Quraysh at Hudaybiyyah. As caliph for twelve years he expanded the Muslim lands and had the Quran copied in one standard text. Rebels besieged his house, and he refused to let the Companions fight for him, and was martyred while reading the Quran.¹

How he accepted Islam

Ibn Ishaq lists Uthman among the first who accepted Islam through Abu Bakr.¹ He was one of the few wealthy men of Quraysh to do so early, and his own clan pressured him to leave it. He married Ruqayyah, the daughter of the Prophet ﷺ, and they were among the first to emigrate to Abyssinia to escape persecution. They later returned and made the Hijrah to Madinah.

Key events

Badr and the two daughters

Uthman did not fight at Badr because Ruqayyah was gravely ill and the Prophet ﷺ told him to stay with her. The Prophet ﷺ said he would have the reward and the share of one who was present.² Ruqayyah died while the army was away, and the Prophet ﷺ then married him to her sister Umm Kulthum, which is why he is called the possessor of the two lights.

His generosity

When he was besieged at the end of his life, he reminded the Companions that the Prophet ﷺ had said, "Whoever digs the well of Rumah will have Paradise", and he had paid for it, and that the Prophet ﷺ had said, "Whoever equips the army of hardship will have Paradise", and he had equipped it, and they confirmed it.³ For Tabuk he brought a thousand dinars and poured them into the Prophet's ﷺ lap, and the Prophet ﷺ said, "Nothing Uthman does after today will harm him".⁴

Hudaybiyyah

The Prophet ﷺ sent him to Makkah as his envoy. When a rumour came that he had been killed, the Companions gave the Pledge of Ridwan, and the Prophet ﷺ placed his own right hand for Uthman, saying, "This is the hand of Uthman".⁵ See the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.

The caliphate and the Quran

After Umar's death the six Companions he had named chose Uthman. During his twelve years the Muslim lands reached North Africa, Armenia and Khurasan, and the first Muslim fleet was built. When Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman saw Muslims from Syria and Iraq disputing over the recitation of the Quran, he urged Uthman to act. Uthman had Zayd ibn Thabit and others copy the Quran from the copy kept by Hafsah, in the dialect of Quraysh, sent a copy to each region, and ordered other written pieces to be burned so that the ummah would have one text.⁶ See the history of the Quran.

His virtues in the hadith

• Abu Musa guarded a garden for the Prophet ﷺ. He was told to admit Abu Bakr and Umar with the glad tidings of Paradise, then Uthman "with the glad tidings of Paradise, with a trial that will befall him".⁷
• He is one of the "two martyrs" on Mount Uhud with the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr and Umar,⁸ and one of the ten promised Paradise by name.⁹

His martyrdom

In 35 AH rebels from Egypt, Kufa and Basra came to Madinah with complaints against his governors and besieged his house for weeks. The Companions offered to fight for him; he refused to let blood be shed in Madinah on his account. While he was reading the Quran, the rebels broke in and killed him, on 18 Dhul Hijjah 35 AH.¹⁰ He was in his eighties; the sources give his age as anywhere from 82 to 90. He was buried in al-Baqi. His killing opened the great trials (fitnah) of the years that followed, as the Prophet ﷺ had foretold in the hadith of the garden.

Lessons from his life

• Haya (modesty) is part of faith, and Uthman was its example.
• Wealth spent for Allah is wealth kept: the well of Rumah and the army of hardship.
• The Quran's one text is a trust he protected for the whole ummah.
• Patience in trial: he chose to be wronged rather than have Muslims fight over him.

In the seerah

Uthman's life is woven into the life of the Prophet ﷺ. For the whole story in order, see the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ life timeline, and for the battles and turning points, the seerah events. More Companions are on the Sahaba page, and the meaning of the word is on Sahaba meaning.

Questions

Sources

1. Ibn Hisham, al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, from Ibn Ishaq.
2. Sahih al-Bukhari 3130 and 3698, from Ibn Umar.
3. Sahih al-Bukhari 2778, from Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami.
4. Jami at-Tirmidhi 3701, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Samurah, graded hasan.
5. Sahih al-Bukhari 3698.
6. Sahih al-Bukhari 4987, from Anas.
7. Sahih al-Bukhari 3695, from Abu Musa.
8. Sahih al-Bukhari 3675, from Anas.
9. Jami at-Tirmidhi 3747, graded sahih.
10. Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah, the killing of Uthman.
11. Sahih Muslim 2401, from Aishah.
12. Quran: Arabic from the Tanzil Uthmani text, transliteration from Tanzil, English by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic is the standard wording of the collection named; gradings are given for every hadith outside al-Bukhari and Muslim.