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Uthmān bin Affan [ra]
Uthmān bin Affan, the third Rightly-guided Caliph [24-35 H/ 644-656 CE], was born in Makkah in the year 577 CE, some forty-seven years before the Prophet’s [s] Hijrah to Madinah. His full name was Uthman bin Affan Abu Amr al-Qurashi.
He belonged to the great Banu Umayyah clan of the Quraysh tribe. His father’s name was Affan bin Abil Ās bin Umayyah al-Qurashi. Abu Amr was his title. Of noble lineage, wealthy, and extremely handsome, Uthmān entered Islam at the invitation of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, shortly after the Prophet’s [s] mission began in Makkah. He was one of the few people of Makkah who knew how to read and write.
Uthmān was a wealthy merchant and an accomplished man of the world. He was a remarkably handsome man. He married the Prophet’s [s] daughter Ruqayyah. He took part in the two emigrations to Abyssinia [Ethiopia], along with Ruqayyah. He later joined the Emigrants in Madinah. He could not take part in the Battle of Badr, because of the illness of his wife Ruqayyah. After the death of Ruqayyah, Uthmān’s alliance with Allah’s Messenger [s] was renewed by his marriage with the Prophet’s [s] another daughter Umm Kulthum. Umm Kulthum died while Uthmān [ra] was away from Madinah, participating in the Tabūk Expedition.
He earned the title of Dhun Nūrayn: he of the two lights, because of his having married two of the daughters of the Messenger of Allah [s], Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum, at different times. Allah’s Messenger [s] is reported to have said to Uthmān that if he had had another unwedded daughter, he would have given her to him in marriage
The Prophet’s [s] Envoy to Quraysh at al-Hudaybiyyah
Allah’s Messenger [s] had halted at the place called al-Hudaybiyyah, just outside the Haram [the Holy Precinct], with about 1400 of his Companions. There he waited the outcome of events when prevented from making the Lesser Pilgrimage or Umrah by the Makkans. The Quraysh had stopped the pilgrims at al-Hudaybiyyah, about ten miles from Makkah.
Allah’s Messenger [s] sent Uthmān, who had powerful relatives among the Quraysh, to negotiate with the Makkans. When he did not return at the expected time, a rumour spread that he had been killed or captured and that all was lost. In that moment of peril, Allah’s Messenger [s] took the pledge of allegiance from his Companions, which is known as the Pledge of Good Pleasure or the Bay’āt ar-Ridwān. The Prophet [s] himself represented the absent Uthmān by proxy in this oath. Sitting beneath an acacia tree that was green with its spring foliage breaking into leaf, Allah’s Messenger [s] put out his left hand, as the hand of Uthmān, and grasping it with his right hand, pledged the allegiance. The rumour, however, turned out to be false, and there was great rejoicing when he returned to the camp. Uthmān was greatly admired for his courage and wisdom during the mission.
The Virtues of Uthmān bin Affan
Once, Allah’s Messenger [s] was sitting at a place where there was water, and he had his knees or one knee uncovered. And when Uthmān entered, he covered them. [al-Bukhari] Uthmān was the most modest of all Companions, and so the Prophet [s] covered his knees out of consideration for him.
Once, Allah’s Messenger [s] ascended Mount Uhud, and with him there were Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthmān, and the mountain trembled. Allah’s Messenger [s] said, ‘Be steady, Uhud! For upon you there are but a Prophet, a man of truth, and two martyrs. [al-Bukhari] The man of truth here, obviously, denotes Abu Bakr as-Siddiq; while the two martyrs were Umar and Uthmān. The Prophet’s [s] prediction later came true.
When the early Muslims migrated to Madinah, there was near that town a spring called Rumah, which belonged to a man called Banu Ghifār. Its water was far better than that of Madinah, and the owner used to sell it at a heavy price. When the Prophet [s] requested him to give the spring as a gift to the Muslim Community, he refused. Thereupon Uthmān bought it for 3500 dinars [gold coins], and made it a waqf [endowment] for the whole community, and in addition to the spring, he had dug by its side a well and had it faced with solid masonry.
'The Prophet [s] said, "Whoso digs the well of Rumah, his steps shall be in Paradise"; and Uthmān dug it.’ [al-Bukhari]
At the time of sending troops for the Campaign of Tabūk, Allah’s Messenger [s] said, ‘Whoso fits out the Army of Difficulty, his shall be the Paradise; and Uthmān fitted it.’ [al-Bukhari]. The Campaign of Difficulty [Jaysh al-Usrah – The Ghazwat al-Usrah] was a name given to the Campaign of Tabūk on account of its extremely difficult circumstances under which it took place. Uthman donated three hundred camels with their equipage and one thousand gold dinars for the Campaign. Thereupon Allah’s Messenger [s] said, ‘Nothing Uthmān does after today will harm him.’
Uthmān bin Affan belonged to the ten, to who in their lifetime Paradise had been announced by the Messenger of Allah [s]. The other nine were: Abu Bakr; Umar’ Ali; Abu Ubaydah bin al-Jarrah; Sa’id bin Zayd; az-Zubayr; Talhā; Sa’d; and Abdur Rahmaan bin Awf. May Allah be well-pleased with them all.
Uthmān was always a very close Companion to the Prophet [s]. he related 146 Ahādith from the Messenger of Allah [s].
Uthmān bin Affan’s Caliphate
He was the third of the Rightly-guided Caliphs [al-Khulafā ar-Rāshidūn]. His Caliphate came about as a result of the unanimous agreement of the Companions. The actual process was as follows: Umar [ra] had excluded his own sons from the succession to the Caliphate, which he left to be decided by a consultative council [Shūra] consisting of six members, namely Talhah, az-Zubayr, Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas, Uthmān, Ali, and Abdur Rahman bin Awf. Uthmān was unanimously elected Caliph by this Consultative Council. Then the rest of the people all pledged their allegiance. He was a rightful leader [Imām] until the day he was martyred. He accepted the Caliphate after Umar’s [ra] death in 23 H.
During his Caliphate, Armenia, Caucasia, Khurasan, Kirmān, Sijistan, Cyprus, and much of North Africa were added to the dominion of Islam. Everyday, more and more people embraced Islam.
In the beginning, Uthmān continued the same policies and principles that were adopted by Umar. One specific achievement of the rule of Uthmān was the establishment of a navy. It was a major development in Islamic history. It made Muslims stronger in defending their shores. It helped facilitate the conquest of islands such as Crete and Cyprus.
The first half of Uthmān’s Caliphate was peaceful. Afterwards, revolt began in Iraq and Iran. Civil war arose and the unity of the Prophet’s [s] time was shattered. Despite the troubles of his Caliphate, Uthmān is held innocent of them.
In the beginning, the policies adopted by Uthmān worked well. But the trouble began with some important officials appointed by the Caliph. Some of the officials did not behave in a responsible manner. Some of them treated the common people unjustly. This took place particularly in lands distant from Madinah, in regions where most people had just recently embraced Islam.
Umar [ra] was very careful and strict about the activities of his governors and other officials in various parts of the Islamic Territory. Whenever he discovered any trace of corruption by any official, he would replace him. But after his death, things changed rapidly. Uthmān was extremely gentle. He was a very humble person. He was not as strong as Umar was. He started to receive complaints against some of his governors and other officials in distant regions of the Islamic Territory. On the basis of these complaints he changed the governors of the provinces of Kūfa in Iraq and Egypt, but this not did satisfy many people in these regions.
A number of people once came to Madinah from Kūfa, Basra, and Egypt to complain against their governors in their regions. Uthmān listened to them carefully. He assured them that he would take action against each and every corrupt official, if found guilty. On hearing this, the group of complainers left Madinah satisfied by the Caliph’s assurance. But on their way out of the city, something mysterious took place. They found a man who had carried a secret letter from the Caliph to his governors. The letter commanded them to kill all these complainers when they reach home. The storm burst with gathered fury against the aged Caliph. The letter was, however, forged.
Hence, a group of rebels came to Uthmān’s home to force him to resign. They even produced the letter which apparently bore the official seal of the Caliph. Uthmān denied the charges. The letter was, in fact, a forgery by an enemy of Islam, named Abdullah bin Saba, who sought to create trouble in the Muslim Community. But they refused to believe the Caliph, and forced him to resign. When he refused, the rebels and the plotters climbed over the walls of his house. The rebel leaders were impatient. They crowded in, smote the Caliph with their swords. Uthmān was reading the Qur'aan when he was attacked. His blood flowed forth upon the sacred text. Thus attacked, his faithful wife Nāila cast herself upon her wounded husband, and as she shielded him with her arm, a sword-cut severed several of her fingers which fell upon the ground. The insurgents plunged their weapons into the Caliph’s body, and he fell lifeless to the ground. A scene of riot followed. Women screamed. The house was gutted. Thus at the age of eighty-two died Uthmān bin Affan in the year 35H, after a reign of twelve years. His murderers killed him out of enmity and wickedness.
Uthmān [ra] Prepares Official Authentic Copy of the Qur'aan
One of the most significant acts of the Caliph was the preparation of the official copy of the Qur'aan and its distribution to various parts of the state. It was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq that the Qur'aan was collected and put in one volume. Once complete, the collected Qur'aan was placed in the state archives under the custodianship of Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr’s contribution, we can summarize, was to collect the first hand Qur'aanic fragments then scattered about Madinah, and arrange for their transcription into a master volume. This collection was termed Suhūf. It is a plural word for Sahīfāh. Literally it means sheets of parchment.
Appointing Umar [ra] as the next Caliph on his deathbed, Abu Bakr entrusted his successor with the Suhūf. Wounded fatally by Feroz Abu Lu’lu’ah, a Christian slave from Persia, towards the end of 23 H, Umar [ra] refused to nominate a Caliph, leaving the decision to the people. Meantime, he entrusted the Suhūf to his daughter Hafsa, the Prophet’s [s] widow and Mother of the Believers.
During the Caliphate of Uthmān, a report came from Azerbaijan that the Muslims had fallen into disagreement concerning the recitation of the Qur'aan. These regional differences over the pronunciation of the Qur'aan had caused friction. Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman came to Uthmān directly from the border of Azerbaijan and Armenia and said, ‘O Caliph, take this community in hand before they differ about the Book like the Christians and the Jews.’ [al-Bukhari] Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman’s warning came in 25 H, and that very year Uthmān resolved to end these disputes.
So Uthmān sent Hafsah a message stating, ‘Send us the Suhūf so that we may make perfect copies, and then return the Suhūf back to you.’ Hafsah sent it to Uthmān, who commanded Zayd bin Thābit, Abdullah bin az-Zubayr, Sa’id bin al-Ās and Abdur Rahman bin al-Hārith to make duplicate copies. He told the three Qurayshi men, ‘Should you disagree with Zayd bin Thābit on any point concerning the Qur'aan, write it in the dialect of the Quraysh, as the Qur'aan was revealed in their tongue.’ They did so, and when they had prepared several copies, Uthmān returned the Suhūf to Hafsah.[1]
After consulting the prominent Companions, Uthmān formed a council; among them were Zayd bin Thābit and Ubayy bin Ka’b.
Zayd bin Thābit was one of the personal scribes of the Messenger of Allah [s] and he had collected the Qur'aan during the rule of Abu Bakr. The members of the council compared the official copy of the Qur'aan prepared during the time of Abu Bakr with the recitation of those who had memorized the Qur'aan. If there was any difference in the pronunciation of any words, they consulted the people of the Hijaz who were more familiar with the language and dialect of the Quraysh. Thus, an authentic copy of the Qur'aan was prepared. This definitive copy, once verified against the Suhūf was read to the Companions in Uthmān’s presence. With the final recitation over, he sent duplicate copies for distribution throughout the various provinces of the Islamic State.
The Number of Certified Copies Made
How many copies did Uthmān distribute? According to some scholars, eight copies were made, and Uthmān retained one for himself. The cities of Kufā, Basra, Damascus Yemen, Bahrain, Makkah, and Madinah each received a copy. With the task complete, the ink on the final copy dry, Uthmān commanded that all fragments of the Qur'aan circulating in people’s hands be burnt down. People were pleased with Uthmān’s decision. No one voiced any objections. Ali bin Abi Talib says, ‘By Allah, he did what he did with these fragments in the presence of us all [and none of us objected].’ [The History of the Qur'aanic Text: M. M. Azami, p. 94]
No copy was sent without a Qāri or reciter. Uthmān’s main purpose was to eliminate all occasions for disputes in recitation. The existence of oneness in the Qur'aanic text throughout the world for fourteen centuries, between all countries and all divergent Muslim sects, is proof enough of Uthmān’s matchless success in gathering all Muslims upon a single text.
The Imām’s Manuscript
This is the name used for the copy of the Qur'aan, which Uthmān had kept for himself, and he was killed while reciting it. There were traces of blood on it. According to some scholars, this copy now is kept in Istanbul, Turkey.[2] [3]
Notes
This ilmpedia.net article/entry/page has be contributed by Sister Rukaiah Maulvi. Her books have been published by Dar-us-Salam Publications
References
- ↑ [The History of the Qur'aanic Text: M. M. al-A’zami –P. 88].
- ↑ Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah [1908-2002] says, ‘The manuscript is preserved in Topkapi Museum of Istabul. It is attributed to Uthmān. I have seen it myself. The page bearing the Verse: ‘But Allah will suffice you…’ [Sūratul Baqarah 2:137] has red spots on it. It is said that it is the blood of Uthmān who was martyred while he was reading the Qur'aan. [The Emergence of Islam (Bhāwalpur Lectures) pp. 26; published by Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, Islamabad]
- ↑ According to Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah, who spent most of his life in Paris, the official copy of the Qur'aan, which was sent to Damascus by Uthmān [ra] is now preserved in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. How did it reach there? Dr. Hamidullah says, ‘When Tamelane [Taimūr the lame] conquered Damascus, the most precious treasure he came by in the loot was this copy of the Holy Qur'aan. He brought it to Samarkhand, his own capital, and preserved it there. [Samarkhand is now in Uzbekistan] The copy remained there until the Russians conquered the city in the nineteenth century. The famous copy of the Qur'aan was shifted by the Russian Commander-in-chief to St. Petersburg [Present-day Leningrad]. Russian historians suggest that it was sold by the ruler of Samarkhand to the Russian Commander. The idea is to establish that the Russians had not stolen, but had bought the copy. In any case, it remained in St. Petersburg until the end of the First World War. When the Communists came to power, many who did not want to live under the new regime emigrated to different countries. One of them was Ali Akbar Topchi Bashi who went to Paris. I had an opportunity to meet him. Ali Akbar Topchi Bashi was a senior officer of the army when the Tsar was killed. He sent a commando force to take over the royal palace in St. Petersburg, and seek out the rare copy of the Qur'aan from the royal library. The copy was found and then sent to Tashkent in a railway engine compartment. Dr. Hamidullah continues, ‘When the Communists took over Tashkent, they did not transfer the copy in question to Leningrad, with the result that it is still there in Tashkent. During the days of the Tsars, fifty copies, based on the photo of the manuscript, were printed. I know about a few of them. One is in America; another in England. I saw a copy in Kabul. Another copy is in Cairo. I have its microfilm.’ [The Emergence of Islam, pp. 25-26]
