UTHMAN IBN AFFAN

A monument of modesty, he is the third Rightly-Guided Caliph. His patronymic is Uthman ibn Affan ibn Abil-As ibn Umayya ibn Abdis-shams ibn Abdi Manaf al-Quresi al-Amawi Abu Amr. After he became Muslim, married Ruqayya, the Prophet's daughter, and had a son from her named Abdullah, he became known as "Abu Abdullah." His patronymic is "Abu Abdullah." He was also called "Abu Amr" and "Abu Laila." His sobriquet is "Zinnurayn."  

His birth

Uthman (ra) was born 6 years after the Event of the Elephant and 47 years before the Migration. According to this, Uthman was 34 years-old when Muhammad (pbuh) was made eminent with apostleship.

His family

A member of Banu Omayya, his genealogy connects with the Prophet in his fifth grandfather Abdi Menaf. His mother is Arwa binti Qurayz b. Rabia b. Habib b. Abdi Shams. His grandmother is the Prophet's aunt Beyda, the daughter of Abdulmuttalib.

He was married with two of the Prophet's daughters. After Ruqayya died in the year 2 H., he married Umm Kulthum. His son from Ruqayya, Abdullah, died in 4 H. at the age of six. Later he married women with the names: Fahita b. Gazwan, Umm Amr binti Jundub, Umm Benin binti Uyayna and Naila. From Umm Amr binti Jundub he had children named Amr, Halid, Aban, Umar, and Mariam; with Umm Benin binti Uyayna he had a child named Abdulmelik. The most well-known among these is his son, Aban.

His features

Uthman was handsome, very polite, of average height, with a thick beard and thick hair between his shoulders.

His pre-Islamic life

There is scarce information in sources regarding Uthman's life before he became Muslim.  He was busy with trade in his youth. Due to his honesty in trade transactions, he was famous for this among the people.

Entrance to Islam

Uthman ibn Affan became Muslim at the invitation of Abu Bakr's.

Migration

He participated in the two migrations to Abyssinia. When the order was given for migration to Medina, Uthman went together with the other Muslims.

Service to Islam

He bought the Ruma well which was owned by a Jew for twenty thousand dirham and allowed for the free use of it by Muslims.

Due to his wife Ruqayya's serious illness, Uthman did not join the Badr battle with the Prophet's permission. Except for Badr, he fought in all the battles made with the idolaters and the enemies of Islam.

His caliphate

When Umar was wounded, the people he chose elected Uthman as caliph after a public survey.

When Uthman  took over the state administration, Islamic conquests were continuing at a fast pace. During this period Muslim armies conquered Juzejan, Taliqan, Faryab and Balh, almost all of the cities in the Toharistan region, the islands of Cyprus and Rhodes, and the Ifriqiyya region. Also in the interior of Anatolia the region was conquered as far as Tiflis.

He died during rebellions that occurred as a result of dissent.