‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān (Arabic: ÚËãÇä Èä ÚÝÇäý ) (c.
574 - June 17, 656) was the third Sunni
Caliph, and one of the "Four Righteously Guided Caliphs." He reigned from
644 until 656.
Uthman was born into the wealthy Umayyad (Banu Umayya) clan of the
Quraish tribe in Mecca, a few years after Muhammad. He 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.
Uthman became caliph after the assassination of 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. 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 conquered and
incorporated into the Islamic empire.
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. Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha, Muhammad's widow, was
particularly vehement in her denunciations of Uthman.
Uthman is perhaps best known for forming and heading the committee
which established 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 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 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.)
Anger at Uthman grew so general that soldiers from Egypt and Iraq
traveled to Medina to present 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. According to other accounts, Uthman is said to have
given the rebels of Egypt a letter to deliver on their return to
their governor, which turned out to contain an order to kill them.
The soldiers returned and laid siege to his house for more than
twenty days in 656. At his request of reinforcement from his
appointed governors, none came to his help. The siege ended when
some of the rebels broke into Uthman's house and killed him.
Certain accounts have it that he was reading the Qur'an when he
was slain. Uthman was eventually buried in Medina.
He was succeeded by Ali, who was himself assassinated in turn and
succeeded 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.
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