Uthman

For other uses of the name, see Uthman (disambiguation).

Uthman ibn Affan (Arabic: عثمان بن عفان) (c. 574 - 656) was the third Caliph of the Ummah, and is regarded by the majority Sunni Muslims as one of the "Four Righteously Guided Caliphs". He reigned from 644 until 656.

Biography

Uthman was born into the wealthy Umayyad clan of the Quraish tribe in Mecca, a few years after Muhammad. He was an early convert to Islam, and was well known for using his wealth to benefit charities. This put him into opposition to his powerful clan, which was Muhammad's greatest enemy. 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.

Uthman became caliph after the assassination of Umar ibn al-Khattab (Caliph Omar) in 644. Prior to his death, Omar 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. Some accounts say that he was chosen because he promised to continue the policies of Abu Bakr and Umar, whereas Ali would make no such promise (Aslan, No God But God, 2005).

He reigned for twelve years, and during his rule, all of Iran, most of North Africa, the Caucasus and Cyprus were added to the Islamic empire. In order to strengthen his control over the empire, Uthman appointed many of his kinsmen as governors.

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. Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha, Muhammad's widow, was particularly vehement in her denunciations of Uthman.

One of Uthman's actions, controversial at the time, is now the act for which he is remembered. He headed a committee that established the basic text of the Qur'an. 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 it did not have a sacred text recognized by everyone. Sometime during the end of his reign, the committee produced a 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 his version used. Many devout believers believed that his actions were high-handed and accused Uthman of tampering with the sacred book.

(Note that some Western historians believe that the Qur'an was completed later than Uthman's time; they are, however, in the minority. See the article on the Qur'an.)

Anger at Uthman grew so general that soldiers from Egypt and Iraq traveled to Medina to address their grievances to Uthman directly. According to some accounts, Uthman is said to have promised to mend his ways, then, when the delegations had left, reneged on his promises. The soldiers returned and laid siege to his house for more than twenty days in 656. Despite the crowds outside his home, Uthman refused to shed Muslim blood, strictly observing Muhammad's commandments in this regard. The siege ended when some of the rebels broke into Uthman's house and killed the caliph as he sat reading the Qur'an. Uthman was eventually buried in Medina.

He was succeeded by Ali, his old rival, and then, after Ali had been assassinated in his turn, by Muawiyah I, 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.

Sunni view of Uthman

According to the Sunni account of Uthman, he was married to two of Muhammad's daughters at separate times, earning him the nickname Dhun Nurayn or the "Posessor of Two Lights". In this he was supposed to outrank Ali ibn Abu Talib, who had married only one of Muhammad's daughters. However, some Western scholars have questioned this tradition, saying that the daughters were invented for polemic purposes.

The Sunni also say Uthman was one of the ten people for whom it was witnessed that they were destined for Paradise; one of the six with whom Muhammad was pleased when he died.

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 a usurper and an enemy of Ali (see Succession to Muhammad). They believe that he is guilty of all of which history accuses him: nepotism, corruption, double-dealing, and turning the empire over to Muhammad's old enemies, the Umayyads. Shi'a 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. They also question the tradition that Uthman married two of Muhammad's daughters, insisting that Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad were Muhammad's step-daughters.

For more details, see Shia view on Uthman ibn Affan

Preceded by: Umar

Caliph 644–656

Succeeded by: Ali

See also

• Family tree of Uthman ibn Affan
• Caliph
• Sahaba

External links

Views of various Islamic historians on Uthman:

• Uthman in History

Shi'a view of Uthman:

• The assassination of `Uthman Ibn `Affan

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