Uthman Ibn Affan was the fifth person to enter the fold of Islam, the third of the four righteous caliphs and the son-in-law of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be to him). He was one of the richest of the people of Makkah and was known for his generosity. It was only Uthman who got the title of “Dhun Noorain” (the man with two lights) as he was the only one who got the honour and privilege to marry two daughters of the Messenger. At Makkah, the Messenger gave her daughter Ruqayya to Uthman in marriage and later upon her death, at Madina, he gave Umm Kulthoom to him in marriage. He was one of those companions of the Messenger who migrated to both the places, Abyssinia and Madina. Uthman reverted to Islam after getting convinced by Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), who then took him to the Messenger to declare his faith.
The pages of history are replete with examples testifying the generous and charitable nature of Uthman. The mention of a few of the stories would suffice in proving his zeal to earn the pleasure of Allah by spending the money which Allah had given him.
One of the acts of his generosity came in 9 Hijri, at a very crucial moment when the Messenger was planning the expedition to Tabuk. The expedition was to threaten the Romans who were preparing to wage a war against the Muslims. The expedition to Tabuk required the participation of a large number of Muslims; however the supplies of means and poverty compelled many to stay back. It was at this moment that Uthman came forward and gave 1000 gold dinars, three hundred fully equipped camels and fifty horses for the expedition and hence helped many in joining the Muslim army to Tabuk. The Messenger’s reaction on this exceptional charitable nature was “Nothing will hurt Uthman after this day” and then he prayed: “O Allah, be pleased with Uthman, for I am pleased with him”.
At another time, during the reign of Caliph Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), when a severe drought had hit the people of Madina and there was a severe shortage of food supplies, it was Uthman who once again came for the rescue of Muslims. In a situation when people started to eat tree leaves to satiate their hunger, it was heard that Uthman is about to receive a caravan of 1000 camels loaded with the supplies of food. People of Madina ran towards him to buy the food supplies from him and were even willing to pay higher prices for that. At this point Uthman asked them how much they were willing to pay him? After listening to the replies of the merchants who agreed to pay even thrice the price of those camel loads, he replied, “I have been offered more by Allah Who has promised ten to seven hundred folds,” and finally gave the whole of the 1000 camel caravan loads in charity.
The Messenger said whoever buys the well of Roomah for him will be in paradise. The well of Roomah was a well in Madina which was the source of fresh water for the people; however the owner of that well did not give its water except in return of payment. It was Uthman who bought the well and donated just to earn the pleasure of Allah.
Uthman, besides being a devout and pious Muslim, was also an able ruler who ruled for a total of 12 years from 644 to 656. Great expansions took place in the early years of his caliphate and he expanded the Islamic empire to great lengths in the east and the west. The Islamic empire got extended to Afghanistan in the east and to Tripoli in the west. Various new institutions like police were developed and many welfare related activities like construction of roads, digging of canals took place during his reign and it was during his caliphate that the Muslim army developed the first ever naval force. The naval force proved instrumental in defeating the Byzantines and the island of Cyprus was captured in 649.
One of the most prominent and exceptional achievements of Uthman was the compilation of standard copy of the text of the Qur’ān. The duty Uthman did was of paramount importance as it made the posterity to hold on to the Qur’ān as it was revealed, without any fabrication or concoction. During the reign of Abu Bakr, when the ridda wars (Wars of Apostasy) were being fought, many of the companions who had memorised the Qur’ān had died. It was then the Caliph Abu Bakr gave the orders to compile the Qur’ān in writing. However at the time of Uthman, when the Islamic empire increased many folds, many Muslims fell into dispute as to the text of the Qur’ān, everyone claiming to have the correct version of the Qur’ānic text. Uthman sensed the gravity of the issue as it had the potential to divide Muslims among themselves and quite sensibly took the decision to dispel the contradiction in the text of the Qur’ān. He decided to compile one standard copy of the text of the Qur’ān, which today is popularly known as Mus’haf-e-Uthmani. He reposed the responsibility of compiling the Qur’ān on Zaid Ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him), who himself was an authority on the Qur’ānic text. Once the compilation was done, he ordered four duplicate copies to be made of it and sent each to the centres of Islam to refer to as a master copy and ordered the other versions of the Qur’ānic text to be completely destroyed in order the quell any kind of confusion.
Uthman was a great man who had great qualities one can emulate. In today’s materialistic world where amassing wealth and consumerism have been portrayed as the source of bliss and joy and where concepts like sharing things with others is seen as an alien concept (be it individual sharing or between countries), Uthman’s modest and charitable nature offers a lot to be learned.