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استشهاد عثمان بن عفان
The murder of Uthman ibn Affan, the third Rightly Guided Caliph, in Dhul Hijjah 35 AH (June 656 CE) stands as one of the most consequential events in Islamic history. His killing while reading the Quran in his own home opened the door to the First Fitna and fractured the Muslim community in ways that persist to this day.
Uthman ibn Affan had governed the rapidly expanding Muslim state for twelve years. During his caliphate, the Islamic empire stretched from North Africa to the borders of Khorasan. He oversaw the standardization of the Quran into a single codex, one of the most significant achievements in Islamic history.
In the latter years of his rule, discontent grew in several provinces. Critics accused his administration of favoring members of Banu Umayyah in key appointments, particularly his cousin Marwan ibn al-Hakam who served as his secretary, and governors like Walid ibn Uqbah and Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh. Grievances centered on the distribution of wealth from conquests, the conduct of certain governors, and administrative decisions that some viewed as departing from the precedents of Abu Bakr and Umar.
Ibn Kathir records in al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah that agitators in Egypt, Kufa, and Basra exploited these complaints, organizing delegations that marched on Medina in 35 AH. Among the chief instigators was Abdullah ibn Saba, a figure from Yemen whom classical Sunni historians identify as deliberately stoking discord to fracture the Muslim community.
The rebel groups arrived in Medina numbering in the hundreds. Initially they presented their grievances, and Uthman addressed them, agreeing to certain reforms. The delegations appeared to depart, but then returned claiming that a letter had been intercepted ordering the punishment of the Egyptian delegation upon their return. Uthman denied knowledge of the letter, but the rebels refused to accept his denial and laid siege to his house.
The siege lasted approximately forty days. During this period, the rebels cut off water and supplies to Uthman's household. Several senior Companions offered to fight the besiegers. Ali ibn Abi Talib sent his sons Hasan and Husayn to guard Uthman's door. Abu Hurayrah, Zayd ibn Thabit, and others expressed their willingness to take up arms in his defense.
Uthman refused all offers of armed intervention. Al-Tabari records his words: "I will not be the first successor of the Messenger of Allah under whose rule Muslim blood is shed." He had received a narration from the Prophet, peace be upon him, who told him: "O Uthman, Allah may clothe you with a shirt. If the people want you to take it off, do not take it off for them." He understood this as a command to endure whatever came rather than abandon his post or allow civil war.
On 18 Dhul Hijjah 35 AH, a Friday, the rebels broke into Uthman's house. He was sitting with the mushaf open before him, fasting, reading the words of Allah. His wife Na'ilah bint al-Furafisah tried to shield him, and her fingers were cut in the attempt.
The attackers struck Uthman with their swords. His blood fell upon the pages of the Quran he had been reciting. According to several reports, the mushaf was open to the verse: "Allah will suffice you against them, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing" (al-Baqarah 2:137). He was eighty-two years old.
The bloodstained mushaf of Uthman became one of the most powerful symbols in Islamic memory. It was preserved and later kept in Damascus, then in various locations. The image of the aged Companion of the Prophet, one who had been promised Paradise, killed while reading the Book he had labored to preserve, left a permanent mark on the Muslim conscience.
Uthman's assassination shattered the unity of the Muslim community. The question of his blood became the central political issue of the following decade. Ali ibn Abi Talib was given the pledge of allegiance as the fourth caliph, but faced immediate demands to punish the killers. The complexity of the situation, with the rebels embedded among the population and some having joined Ali's supporters, made swift justice impossible.
This led directly to the Battle of the Camel, where Aisha, Talhah, and al-Zubayr marched seeking justice for Uthman, and then to the Battle of Siffin, where Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, Uthman's kinsman and governor of Syria, refused to pledge allegiance to Ali until the killers were brought to account.
Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah holds that Uthman was a righteous caliph who was killed unjustly. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said about him: "Should I not be shy of a man of whom the angels are shy?" (Sahih Muslim). His refusal to allow bloodshed in his defense, even at the cost of his own life, is regarded as an act of immense virtue and patience. The scholars of the Salaf unanimously condemned his murder and counted him among the greatest of the Companions, the one whom the Prophet gave glad tidings of Paradise.
His death remains a reminder that political grievances, however legitimate in origin, become instruments of destruction when exploited by those who seek fitna rather than reform.
For the Prophetic era, see the Seerah timeline.