Creme de la Creme Uthman ibn Affan (R)

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to marry my other daughter, Umm Kulthum radiyaAllahu anhu to him, with the same dowry. SubhanAllah.

Dhul-Nurayn - The Possessor of Two Lights

And that's where he gets the nickname, (ذُو النُّورَيْنِ - the possessor of two lights). He was distinguished in marrying two daughters of the Messenger sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. Six years later she passes away too.

And Uthman radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu once again is sad. And listen to how much the Messenger sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam loves him. He says to Uthman radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, he says, Wallahi, if I had 40 daughters, I would marry each and every single one of them to you, until each and every single one of them would die and I would be left with no daughters.

Who else could have that distinction like Uthman radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu? And that's the love that Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam had for him to the point that we even see in Hudaybiyyah, when Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam sends Uthman radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu to negotiate with Quraysh. He was a noble man of Quraysh as an ambassador from the Muslims. And Uthman radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was held up over there with Quraysh.

Bay'at ar-Ridwan

And the rumor reaches the Messenger sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam that Uthman passed away. And Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, who has an unarmed group of men, he takes bay'ah, the allegiance of Ridwan, which is narrated to us in the Qur'an. In Surah Al-Fath, Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam takes a bay'ah, an allegiance, a pledge from each and every single one of the believers that we will fight on behalf of Uthman radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu.

The death of Uthman is where we draw the line. And to the extent that after Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam took allegiance from everybody, the Messenger sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam takes his right hand, and he takes his left hand, and he clasps his hand together. And he says:

وَهَذِهِ عَنْ عُثْمَانٍ

And this is for Uthman. He takes his own allegiance sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. And Imam Hassan al-Basri rahimahullah, he says, Oh how I wish to have been the hand of Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam on that day. And then of course it turned out that Uthman radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu had not passed away, and that was just a rumor. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed:

"Allah was pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance to you under the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquility upon them and rewarded them with an imminent victory."

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Verily, Allah was pleased with the believers when they were giving allegiance to you that day, under the tree in Bay'at al-Ridwan, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was pleased with them. Allah azawajal knew what was in their hearts.

The Prophet's Love for Uthman

Look how much, look at the love, the extent of love that they had. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala rewarded them, and Allah azawajal promised them a conquest that was soon to come. And some of the Mufassireen say, this Bay'ah was the sebab, was the reason through which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala granted the believers victory.

Because of their willingness to stand on that day. If that's not enough, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri radiAllahu anhu, he says that Rasul, I once saw Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa sallam, raising his hands from the beginning of the night until the end of the night, saying:

Oh Allah, I am pleased with Uthman so be pleased with him. This tale of love between the Messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam and Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, this story of love, you can only imagine how it was like when he passed away salallahu alayhi wa sallam.

It was so much so that Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, that what's narrated about him in the books of seerah Fasaqa to Uthman that he became silent to the point that people thought he was mute. People thought that he lost his ability to speak. He was so taken aback by the death of Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam that he no longer was able to speak.

The Fitna and Martyrdom

But we see that this story continues on and on. And the love and the desire that Uthman radiAllahu anhu had for Allah and his Messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam does not end with the death of the Messenger sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. In the khilafah of Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu.

And I fast forward through all the conquests because there were conquests. And I fast forward through the first 10 years of contribution. And there were many contributions from him radiAllahu anhu.

And we go to his moment of adversity. We go to the fitna that was caused in this ummah from one man Abdullah ibn Sabah who was financed from the outside to cause division within the Muslim ummah. And who started his division, who started his fitna with going to Kufa and Iraq and asking questions here and there.

Trying to shake people's iman. And Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu because of his leniency would not crush that revolt. When Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhu had someone doing the same thing that Abdullah

ibn Sabah did by the name of Usaibigh.

Umar radiAllahu anhu said, bring him here, bring him to Medina, bring him from Iraq. And he lashed him so severely. And then he sent a note back with him that says anyone who talks to him is going to be lashed too.

And that's why when Abdullah ibn Sabah came to Usaibigh. And he tried to get him to join. Usaibigh raised his shirt and he said:

عَلَّمَنِي الرَّجُلُ الصَّالِحُ

The righteous man taught me a lesson. In slang that would be, or I shouldn't give the slang one. But nah bruh, it's not a good idea.

And they continue this fitna. And you have these people, this fitna rising from all the corners of the Muslim world. And Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu because of his leniency does not act harshly towards them.

But instead he replaces governors as they request. And he acts towards them with softness. Until they finally lay the house of Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu under siege.

And for this ordeal of over 40 days Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu who at that point was 82 years old would be forbidden water from the same well that he purchased for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Would be forbidden to pray in the same masjid that he financed its expansion, the masjid of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. Would be treated in the most humiliating manner.

And this is something that the Messenger sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam in many different ahadith, he warned Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu that this would happen. Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam he said in at-Tirmidhi al-Hakim from Aisha radiAllahu anha that he said to Uthman radiAllahu anhu, Oh Uthman perhaps Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala shall clothe you with a garment. And if the hypocrites demand that you remove it from yourself, do not remove it until you meet me.

لَا تَنْزِعُ قَمِيصًا قَمَّصَكَ اللَّهُ بِهِ

Do not take off a garment that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala placed upon you. And what was Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam talking about? He was talking about the khilafah. In many different incidents, in one that was narrated from Ubayr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu that once the sahaba were sitting in Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu who was wrapped up in a garment.

His face was wrapped. And Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam said, that this man will be upon truth and guidance and he will be killed because he will refuse to take off a garment which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has placed upon him. And whenever he removed his face wrap, it was Uthman radiAllahu anhu.

Perhaps the most heart-wrenching incident of all. Aisha radiAllahu anha says, and this is in Ahmed, an authentic hadith, that once the messenger sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam told Uthman radiAllahu anhu, come close. And he started to whisper into his ear.

And as he would whisper into his ear, Uthman radiAllahu anhu would move away and Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam would say, did you understand? And Uthman radiAllahu anhu would say, yes. And Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam would say, come close. And he would keep on whispering in his ear until the face of Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu started to change colors.

His Restraint During the Siege

And Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam kept on telling him, did you understand? He said, naam ya Rasulullah, I understood, O messenger of Allah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. And so when this fitna comes, I simply, I just want to mention the incidents that Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu goes through, in which he prohibits the sahaba from fighting on his behalf and he says, I do not want a single drop of blood being shed in my cause. But still with that, Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu places his children, Al-Hassan and Al- Hussain to guard Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu.

Az-Zubair radiAllahu ta'ala anhu places his son Abdullah ibn Az-Zubair. The children of the greatest sahaba are guarding Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu and Uthman is telling them, do not shed a drop of blood in my cause. Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu is begging him that we have to foil this fitna, we have to foil this plot.

And he's consistently refusing. And we saw the rudeness, the harsh hearts that these people had when they treated Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu worse than a prisoner would be treated. And they started to come closer and closer on his house.

And they set his gate on fire. And one man jumps into the back of Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu's house. And he says, leave it and we will leave you. And Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu wanted to leave the khilafah. But he was reminded by Ibn Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, do not leave a garment, do not take off a garment that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has placed upon you. And Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu says to that man, woe to you, wallahi, I have never uncovered a woman in jahiliyyah.

Don't you know there are women in this house? There's women in this house, I'm not the only one in this house. And that man became ashamed, and he left there, and he left the fitna, and he sought forgiveness from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Then the next incident that takes place is they started to throw stones in the house of Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu.

And they started to try to pelt him with those stones. And Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, he says outside of his window, don't you know that in this house there are others than me, and you might harm them.

And look at the level that these people reached, they said to him, they said, we didn't throw the stones at you.

He said, then who threw them? They said, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala threw them at you. And he said to him, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala disgrace you, you are a liar, because if Allah threw a stone at me, he wouldn't have missed. And that person left the fitna, and he sought forgiveness from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Final Day

And the people of fitna started to say, He suspended us from Allah, he put us in a situation that we're not able to do anything to him. Then they started to decide upon who would murder him. So first they send in a man, and he comes to Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, and he raises his sword right in the face of Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu.

And Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu says, where are you from? And he says, Benulayth. Uthman radiAllahu anhu said, you're not the one. And he said, why? He said, because Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made dua for your tribe.

That man puts down his sword and he runs away, and he seeks forgiveness from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Next another man is sent in to kill Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And he stands in front of him right about to strike him, and Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu says, you're not the one. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made dua for your tribe, it's not going to be you. And then that man runs away, and he seeks forgiveness from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Then comes a day that Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, the one who it has been confirmed, from Ibn Hajar radiAllahu ta'ala, one of the only people who read the entire Qur'an in one rak'ah, the person who used to stand in night and qiyam, that some of the sahabah, Abdullah ibn Abbas and Abdullah ibn Umar, they even said when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, the people who are:

And those who spend the night in adoration of their Lord prostrate and standing.

The people that are standing up in prayer all night and day, that was about Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu.

And the one who used to keep the habit of fasting even in his old age. On that day of Thursday, July 16th, Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, while he's reading Qur'an, and he's sitting down, this 82 year old man, he dozes off, and he falls asleep at the time of Salatul Asr. And he was fasting that day, because it's the day of Thursday, and that was the sunnah of the Messenger sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, to fast that day.

The Dream

And he sees in his dream, Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, standing in front of him, smiling. And behind him is Abu Bakr and Umar radiAllahu anhu. And Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, he says, Ya Uthman, O Uthman:

Did they forbid you from water? And he said:

And he said, Ya Uthman, did they forbid you from food? And he said:

They forbade me from food. And he said, Ya Uthman, did they forbid you from praying Salat in my masjid? And he said:

They forbade me from praying Salat in your masjid. And Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, then says to Uthman radiAllahu anhu, the one who he loved so much, to the point that he spent a whole night making dua for his pleasure. The one who Uthman radiAllahu anhu became mute at his death. Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam says to him, he says:

Good news O Uthman, You're going to break your fast with us tonight. SubhanAllah. And the people around Uthman radiAllahu anhu, they see al-Hasan wa al-Husayn and the women in his household, they see the tears coming down his eyes. And he wakes up full of joy.

Full of joy. This was the goal of these men. And he relates his dream to the people. No sooner does he narrate his dream to his wife Naila radiAllahu anha and al-Hasan wa al-Husayn and those who are around him, except that they storm the house. And as they storm the house and they stand in front of him, Uthman radiAllahu anhu was sitting down, 82 years old, reading Surah Al-Baqarah and not paying any attention to them. And the people take a moment and they stop their fitrah.

They stop, they look at him and they don't know what to do. They say, look at this man and his khushu. How can we kill this man? Until al-Ghafiqi, may Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la curse him, strikes Uthman radiAllahu anhu in the face with a piece of iron. And the blood comes running down and it falls on the ayah:

He was reading that ayah. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la will suffice for you against them. And Allah is the all-hearing and the all-knowing.

Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr who was caught up in the fitnah comes to Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And he grabs his beard about to strike him. And Uthman radiAllahu anhu says:

Let go of my beard because your father used to honor it. When I meet your father in Jannah, I don't want to tell him that you were the one who killed me. And Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr runs away from that incident. And then comes Sudan.

And you can see the evil that these people had in their hearts. And he stabs Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu 9 times, screaming in rage. And he says 3 times for Allah, and 6 times for the hate that I have for you.

And he murders Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu in that state. And Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu has iftar that night, as we know. Because whoever sees Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa sallam in his sleep has seen him in reality.

We know that he had iftar that night with his companions, Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq and Umar, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala be pleased with them. And on that same ayah, where the blood of Uthman radiAllahu anhu fell. Until today, if you go to the museum in Turkey that has that mushaf, you see the stain from the blood of Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu.

And these people, they robbed everything that he had. They stole everything from baytul mal. And you know what? The promise of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala came true.

Each and every single person who participated in the murder of Uthman radiAllahu anhu was murdered in this dunya. Each and every single one of them. These people did not even allow Uthman radiAllahu anhu to have a public janazah because they did not want the emotions of the people to be stirred.

So they did not even allow him to be buried during the day. And only Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu and a group of sahaba were allowed to bury him in the night time. And they didn't want him being buried in al- Baqi'ah.

They didn't want him being buried in the graveyard next to the mosque of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Because they did not want his grave to be a place that would evoke sympathy. But you know what happens? Later on, as the Baqi'ah grew, the grave of Uthman radiAllahu anhu became part of it anyway.

The Famous Hadith of the Well

And we go to one hadith and I'll close with this, in which Abu Musa al-Ash'ari radiAllahu ta'ala anhu narrates a very famous hadith where he says that one day, a day went long and Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not come to the masjid. So the sahaba started to inquire about him. This was the life of the sahaba.

Where is the messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam? I want to be with him, I want to follow him, I want to learn some ahadith. The sahaba started to follow trying to find him. And Abu Musa al-Ash'ari radiAllahu ta'ala anhu said, until I followed his steps asking about him and I came to a place, a well, a garden of aris.

And I walked in there and I found that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had relieved himself and performed wudu. And I went to him and he was sitting with his legs uncovered and he had his legs inside a small well. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was taking a break, contemplating, in a time of peace.

And Abu Musa radiAllahu ta'ala anhu says, so I decided that I was going to stand guard. And then Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiAllahu anhu came. And by the way, every time you read about Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam being in a place, the same order of companions coming. By fitrah. Abu Bakr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu came, inquiring about the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Abu Musa radiAllahu anhu says, I asked Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam if Abu Bakr can come in.

Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says:

Tell him to come in and give him the glad tidings of paradise. So Abu Bakr came in and he sat right next to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. He uncovered his legs and he dangled them in the well.

And Abu Musa says, I started to make dua, I started to pray that the next person that would come would be my brother. Because I knew that the person that would come would be a person of good fortune. And then Umar radiAllahu anhu came.

And he asked permission to enter. And Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, Give him permission:

And grant him the glad tidings of paradise. So Umar radiAllahu anhu walks in and he sits to the left of the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. He uncovers his legs and he dangles them next to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And then the next person comes, Uthman radiAllahu anhu. And he's seeking permission to enter.

And Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, Give him permission to enter:

(Bukhari 3674)

Give him the glad tidings of paradise as a result of a tragedy that's going to strike him. And Uthman radiAllahu anhu said, I will be patient.

And he walks in. And there is no place to sit next to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So he sits across from Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and Abu Bakr and Umar and Sa'eed ibn al-Musayyib radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. He says, I interpreted this to be the graves of the companions of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. But Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, that everyone in jannah has a rafiq. Everyone in jannah has a close friend.

A rafiq is someone that always keeps you company:

And my rafiq, my close friend in jannah is Uthman. I ask you with one question only. Who do you want to be with at the moment of your death? Who do you want to be with in al-barzakh? Who do you want to be with in al-jannah?

You will be with the one whom you loved. And no one loved Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam like his companions. And that is why they were granted this privilege.

Closing

We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow us to have that vision and that insight and to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to Him according to the sunnah of the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And to allow us to be gathered in al-jannat al-firdaws with Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, with al-khulafa al-rashideen. May Allah be pleased with them and with those who followed in his path sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow us to reflect on these moments with them. To say, I came to a YM conference and I heard Shaykh Abu Zayd talking about you, O Omar. I came to a YM conference and I heard Shaykh Abdul Nasser talking about you, O Ali.

We ask Allah to make them our neighbors in al-jannah. Allahumma ameen. Jazakumullah khair.

Al-Hasni istim'aakum. Aqoolu qawlihada wa astaghfirullah alayhi walakum. Subhanakum wa alhamdulillahi wa shahadu an la ilaha illa Allah. Astaghfirullah wa ajabu ilayka.

Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.