NAME AND PEDIGREE
His family lineage is Uthman bin Affan bin Abu Al-As bin Umayyah bin Abd Shams bin Abd Munaf bin Qusai bin Kilab bin Murrah bin Ka’b bin Luai bin Ghalib. His appellation was Abu Amr in the state of Ignorance.
However, after confessing to Islam, he married Ruqayyah the daughter of the Prophet (PBUH), who gave birth to Abdullah, this made his appellation change to Abu Abdullah.
The maternal grandmother of Uthman (R.A) was the full sister of Abdullah bin Abdul-Muttalib, the father of the Prophet (PBUH). Thus, Uthman (R.A) was the cousin of the Prophet (PBUH).
EXCELLENCES
He was matchless in modesty. Zaid bin Thabit (R.A) reports the Prophet to have said, “When Uthman once passed by me, one angel told me: ‘I feel ashamed in front of him for the people will assassinate him.”
The Prophet (PBUH) said, “Angels show modesty to Uthman as he shows it to Allah and His Messenger.”
When someone mentioned Uthman’s modesty to Hasan (R.A) ‘ he remarked: “When Uthman wants to take a bath, he feels so much ashamed of taking off his clothes even after closing the doors that he is unable to stand erect.”
He migrated twice, to Abyssinia and Al-Madinah. He resembled the Prophet (PBUH), in his physical appearance. The Prophet (PBUH), engaged the hand of his daughter Ruqayyah (R.A) to Uthman (R.A) before his attainment of Prophethood.
When she (Ruqayyah, R.A) died on the day of the battle of Badr, he married his second daughter Umm Kulthum (R.A) to him. He is, therefore, known as “Dhu- Nurain”, which literally means “The Man of two Lights”. She also died in 9 AH.
No man in the world other than Uthman (R.A) ever married two daughters of a Prophet. He knew more than anyone else about the rites of Hajj. He was the fourth man to embrace Islam.
He accepted Islam through the efforts of Abu Bakr (R.A). He was very wealthy among the Companions of the Prophet (PBUH) and he remained the most generous. He spent lavishly in the way of Allah.
He could not take part in the battle of Badr due to the serious illness of Ruqayyah (R.A) and stayed behind in Al-Madinah with the permission of the Prophet. However, he was given his share of the spoils of war equal to the participants.
The Prophet (PBUH) said, “Uthman should be included among the Companions of Badr.” He had a remarkable position among the Companions for his excessive prayers.
He would sometimes stand in prayer the whole night and fasted for years. He had bought a piece of land adjacent to the Prophet’s Mosque for the wives of the Prophet (PBUH). Once famine broke out in Al-Madinah, Uthman (R.A) rose to the occasion and distributed food grains among the needy.
The Muslims of Al-Madinah once were suffering due to the scarcity of water. A Jew had a well but he used to sell water at a very high rate. He purchased the well from the Jew for thirty-five thousand dirhams and gave it for use by the Muslims at large.
He never told a lie. From the day he came to the fold of Islam, he would set one slave free every week. He never took pride in his being wealthy and never took wine even in the state of Ignorance.
He would narrate the Ahadith with special care and precision. He gave in the way of Allah six thousand camels and fifty horses for the expedition of Tabuk. He was reckoned among the richest men of Makkah in the Age of Ignorance.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
He was a man of medium stature and his face was pockmarked. He had a thick beard and he coloured it with henna. His bones were wide, complexion reddish, hands long, hair curled, shoulders wide and he had beautiful teeth.
