Uthman
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| Usman ibn Affan | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Reign | 644 – 656 | |
| Born | 580 | |
| Taif, Saudi Arabia | ||
| Died | July 17, 656 | |
| Medina, Saudi Arabia | ||
| Buried | Medina | |
| Predecessor | Umar | |
| Successor | Ali | |
- For other uses of the name, see Uthman (name).
‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān (عثمان بن عفان) (c. 580 - July 17, 656) is the third Caliph of Islam and is regarded by Sunni Muslims as the third of the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs of Islam. He reigned from 644 until 656. Shia Muslims believe Ali was the first legitimate Caliph, and discount the rule of his three predecessors.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Family
He was married to Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad, Muhammad's niece. When she died, Uthman married her sister, Ruqayyah bint Muhammad. Ruqayyah and Uthman had a son, Abd-Allah ibn Uthman, but he died early[citation needed].
[edit] Early life
Uthman was born into the wealthy Umayyad (Banu Umayya) clan of the Quraish tribe in Makkah,six years after Muhammad.
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David Samuel Margoliouth, a 20th century non-Muslim Islamic scholar writes:
E. A. Belyaev, a 20th century Sunni Islamic scholar writes:
[edit] Muhammad's era (610-632)
Uthman was an early convert to Islam, and is said to have spent a great deal of his wealth on charity. His conversion angered his clan, which strongly opposed Muhammad. During the life of Muhammad, he was also part of the first Muslim emigration to the city of Axum in Ethiopia, and the later emigration from Mecca to Medina. He frequently served as Muhammad's secretary.
He could not participate in the battle of Badr because he stayed behind in Medina to take care of his sick wife Ruqayyah (the daughter of Muhammad), although he was also given his share of war trophies from the battle[3].
[edit] Abu Bakr's era (632 – 634)
Uthman held a prominent role in the succession of Abu Bakr.
[edit] Umar's era (634-644)
Uthman became caliph after caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab in 644. Prior to his death, Umar appointed a group of six men to choose his successor from among themselves. Included in this group were Uthman and Ali. The committee chose Uthman. Shias claim Ali should have been chosen but when asked he himself choose another companion.
[edit] Uthman's era (644–656)
Uthman reigned for twelve years, and during his rule, all of Iran, most of North Africa, the Caucasus and Cyprus were conquered and incorporated into the Islamic empire. His rule was characterized by increasingly centralized control of revenues from the provinces, aided by governors drawn largely from his kinsmen in the Umayyad clan because of nature of the tribe which had always produced good leaders.
[edit] Umayyad governors
Uthman appointed many of his kinsmen as governors of the new domains. The kindest explanation for this reliance on his kin is that the Muslim empire had expanded so far, so fast, that it was becoming extremely difficult to govern, and that Uthman felt that he could trust his own kin not to revolt against him. However, many Muslims did not see this as prudence; they saw it as nepotism, and an attempt to rule like a king rather than as the first among equals.
Many of his governors were accused of corruption and misrule. Some of his kinsmen were also involved in the murder of a son of Abu Bakr, the first caliph, which further alienated many influential Muslims.
[edit] Wealth
Taha Husain, a 20th century Sunni Islamic scholar
[edit] Qur'an
Uthman is perhaps best known for forming the committee which compiled the basic text of the Qur'an as it exists today. Various Muslim centers, like Kufa and Damascus, had begun to develop their own traditions for reciting and writing down the Qur'an. Uthman feared that the nascent Islamic empire would fall apart in religious controversy if everyone did not have access to the original text of Qur'an. Sometime during the end of his reign, the committee compiled the text. Uthman had it copied and sent copies to each of the Muslim cities and garrison towns, commanding that variant versions of the Qur'an be destroyed, and only the original version used.
Zayd ibn Thabit was put in charge of the operation [5]
(Note that John Wansbrough and some Western historians believe that the Qur'an was completed later than Uthman's time; theirs is a minority opinion. See the article on the Qur'an.)
[edit] Death
Uthman was killed after a twenty day long siege headed by Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr [6] After the gruesome murder of Uthman, the rioters wanted to mutilate the dead body of Uthman. They were also keen that the dead body was denied burial. When some of the rioters came forward to mutilate the dead body of Uthman, his two widows covered the dead body, and raised loud lamentations which deterred the rioters from pursuing their nefarious design. Thereafter the rioters hovered round the house with a view to preventing the dead body being carried to the graveyard.
[edit] The funeral
The dead body of Uthman lay in the house for three days. Naila the wife of Uthman approached some of the supporters of Uthman to help in the burial of Uthman. Only about a dozen persons responded to the call. These included Marwan bin Hakam, Zaid bin Thabit,'Huwatib bin Alfarah, Jabir bin Muta'am, Abu Jahm bin Hudaifa, Hakim bin Hazam and Niyar bin Mukarram. The dead body was lifted at dusk. In view of the blockade no coffin could be procured. The dead body was not washed as in Islam, martyrs' bodies are not washed before burial. Uthman was carried to the graveyard in the clothes that he was wearing at the time of his assassination. According to one account permission was obtained from Ali to bury the dead body. According to another account, no permission was obtained, and the dead body was carried to the graveyard in secret. According to another account when the rioters came to know that the dead body was being carried to the graveyard they gathered to stone the funeral, but Ali forbade them to resort to any such act, and they withdrew. According to one account Ali attended the funeral. There is however overwhelming evidence to the effect that Ali did not attend the funeral. Naila the widow of Uthman followed the funeral with a lamp, but in order to maintain secrecy the lamp had to be extinguished. Naila was accompanied by some women including Ayesha a daughter of Uthman.
[edit] The burial
The dead body was carried to "Baqi' al Farqad", the graveyard of Muslims. It appears that some people gathered there, and they resisted the burial of Uthman in the graveyard of the Muslims. The supporters of Uthman insisted that the dead body would be buried in the graveyard of the Muslims. Those who were opposed to such burial grew in strength, and fearing lest such opposition might take a more ominous turn, the dead body of Uthman was taken to the neighboring graveyard of the Jews "Hush Kaukab", and buried there in a hurry. The funeral prayers were led by Jabir bin Muta'am, and the dead body was lowered in the grave without much of ceremony. After burial, Naila the widow of Uthman and Ayesha the daughter of Uthman wanted to speak, but they were advised to remain quiet as danger was apprehended from the rioters.
[edit] Legacy
He was succeeded by Ali, who was himself assassinated when Muawiyah I took power, Uthman's kinsman and the Umayyad governor of Syria. Some scholars therefore count Uthman as the first of the Umayyad dynasty, though the scholarly consensus is that Muawiyah is the first.
David Samuel Margoliouth, a 20th century non-Muslim Islamic scholar
E. A. Belyaev, a 20th century Sunni Islamic scholar
[edit] Sunni view of Uthman
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According to the Sunni account of Uthman, he was married to two of Muhammads daughters at separate times, earning him the name Zun-Nurayn or the "Possessor of Two Lights.". In this he was supposed to outrank Ali ibn Abu Talib, who had married only one of Muhammad's daughters.
Sunni Muslims also consider Uthman as one of the ten Sahaba (companions) for whom Muhammad had testified that they were destined for Paradise, and one of the six with whom Muhammad was pleased when he died. He was a wealthy and very noble man. When he bacame khalifa, he used the same method Umar did.
[edit] Shi'a view of Uthman
As the Shi'a believe that Ali, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, should have been the first caliph, they regard Uthman as an usurper and an enemy of Ali (see Succession to Muhammad). They accuse him of nepotism, corruption, double-dealing, and turning the empire over to Muhammad's old enemies, the Umayyads. Shi'as believe that Uthman, like many of the other early Muslims, was seduced by the pleasures of power and wealth, and strayed from the strict path of Islam as followed by Ali. There is a dispute among the Shi'a as to whether Uthman married two of Muhammad's daughters, with the vast majority maintaining that Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum were Muhammad's step-daughters. The majority believes that Fatima was the only daughter of Muhammad.
Ali Asgher Razwy, a 20th century Shi'a Twelver Islamic scholar states:
[edit] Non-Muslims
Bernard Lewis, a 20th century non-Muslim Islamic scholar says of Uthman:
David Samuel Margoliouth, a 20th century non-Muslim Islamic scholar
E. A. Belyaev, a 20th century Sunni Islamic scholar
[edit] References
- ^ a b c A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims on Al-Islam.org [1] referencing Mohammed and the Rise of Islam, London, 1931)
- ^ a b c A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims on Al-Islam.org [2] referencing Arabs, Islam and the Arab Caliphate in the Early Middle Ages, New York, 1969)
- ^ http://www.islam4theworld.com/Sahabah/talhah_bn_ubaydullah_R.htm
- ^ A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims on Al-Islam.org [3] referencing Al-Fitna Al-Kubra (The Great Upheaval), published by Dar-ul-Ma'arif, Cairo, 1959, p. 47:)
- ^ a b A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims on Al-Islam.org [4]
- ^ Balyuzi, Hasan (1976). Muhammad and the Course of Islam. Oxford, UK: George Ronald, pp. 175-177. ISBN 0-85398-478-6.
- ^ The Arabs in History, p 59, Oxford University Press, 2002
Also:
- Levi Della Vida, G. and R.G. Khoury. "‘Uthmān b. ‘Affān." Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Eds. P.J. Bearman et. al. 12 Vols. Brill, 2004. 30 October 2005 <http://www.encislam.brill.nl/>.
- http://www.anwary-islam.com/companion/usman_bin_affan.htm
[edit] External links
Views of various Islamic historians on Uthman:
Shi'a view of Uthman:
| Preceded by Umar |
Caliph 644–656 |
Succeeded by Ali |
| Preceded by Yazdegerd III |
Ruler of Persia 651–656 |
