Uthman Ibn Affan

Uthman ibn AffanHis Early Life
Born on the year of 577- 20 June 656 in Ta’if.Uthman ibn Affan was born into the wealthy Umayyad ( HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banu_Umayya" \o "Banu Umayya" Banu Umayya) clan of the HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quraysh_(tribe)" \o "Quraysh (tribe)" Quraysh tribe of Mecca, seven years after Muhammad.Uthman's father, Affan, died young while travelling abroad but left a large inheritance to Uthman.He followed the same profession as his father, and his business flourished, making him one of the richest men among the Qurayshi tribe. His mother was Awra who was daughter of Umm Hakim bint Abdul Mutallib. The later was twin sister of Abdullah, father of Muhammad and therefore his first cousin. She also passed away before 610 AD. Uthman was a man of people even though he was shy but was very modest.
His conversion to Islam
On returning from a business trip to Syria in 611, Uthman found out that Muhammad had declared his mission. After a discussion with his friend Abu Bakr, Uthman decided to convert to Islam, and Abu Bakr took him to Muhammad to whom he declared his faith at ager 34. Uthman thus became the one of the earliest converts to Islam, following Ali, Zayd, Abu Bakr and few others. His conversion to Islam angered his clan, the Banu Ummayyah, who strongly opposed Muhammad's teachings.
Migrations
To Abyssinia: Uthman and his wife Ruqayya migrated to Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia) in 614–615, along with 11 men and 11 women, all Muslims. As Uthman already had some business contacts in Abyssinia, he continued to practice his profession as a trader. He worked hard and his business soon flourished. After two years the news had spread among the Muslims in Abyssinia that the Quraysh of Mecca had accepted Islam, and that persuaded Uthman, Ruqayya and some other Muslims to return. However when they reached Mecca it spread that the news about the Quraysh's acceptance of Islam was false. Some of the Muslims who had come from Abyssinia returned but Uthman and Ruqayya decided to stay in Mecca.
To Medina: In 622, Uthman and his wife, Ruqayya, migrated to Medina. They were amongst the third batch of Muslims who migrated to Medina. On arrival in Medina, Uthman stayed with Abu Talha ibn Thabit of the HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banu_Najjar" \o "Banu Najjar" Banu Najjar. After a short while, Uthman purchased a house of his own and moved there. In Medina, the Muslims were generally farmers and were not very interested in trade, and thus most of the trading that took place in the town was handled by the kufar. Thus, there was considerable space for the Muslims in promoting trade and Uthman took advantage of this position, soon establishing himself as a trader in Medina. He worked hard and honestly, and his business flourished, soon becoming one of the richest men in Medina. His wife, Ruqayya died during the time the Battle of Badr was being fought, and the news of the victory of Badr reached Medina as she was being buried. Because of the battle, Muhammad could not attend the funeral of his daughter.
Treaty of Hudaybiyyah: In the year 628 of the sixth month, Prophet Muhammad set out for Mecca to perform the ritual pilgrimage of HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umra" \o "Umra" Umra. The Quraysh denied the Muslims entry into the city and posted them outside Mecca, determined to show resistance, even though the Muslims had no intention or preparation for battle. Muhammad camped outside Mecca, at Hudaybiyyah, and sent Uthman as his envoy to meet with the leaders of Quraysh and negotiate Muslim entry into the city. The Quraysh made Uthman stay longer in Mecca than he originally planned and refused to inform the Muslims of his whereabouts. This caused the Muslims to believe that Uthman had been killed by the people of Quraysh. On this occasion, Muhammad gathered his nearly 1,400 Followers and called them to pledge to fight until death and avenge the rumoured death of Uthman, which they did by placing a hand on top of Muhammad's. It is reported that Muhammad placed one of his hands on top of the other and pledged on behalf of Uthman as well. (Pledge of the Tree)They soon released Uthman and sent down an ambassador of their own, Suhail ibn Amr to negotiate terms of a treaty that later became known as the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
How he became KhalifaOmar’s Era: Uthman was the first person to offer his allegiance to Umar. During the reign of Umar, Uthman remained at Medina as his adviser, and a member of his advisory council. Umar did not allow the companions, including Uthman, to leave Medina. The reason for this was that Umar didn't wish for the companions, who were famous and respected among the Muslims, to spread and have their own followers, which would, it was felt, have resulted in unnecessary divisions in Islam.
Uthman’s rule Acomplishments: Uthman issued a number of directives to the officials all over the dominions, ordering them to hold fast the laws made by his predecessor Umar. Uthman's realm extended in the west to Morocco, east to South east of present day Pakistan, and in the north to Armenia and Azerbaijan. During his caliphate, the first Islamic naval force was established, administrative divisions of the state were revised, and many public projects were expanded and completed.
Uthman sent prominent HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahabah" \o "Sahabah" sahabas (Companions) as his personal deputies to various provinces to scrutinize the conduct of officials and the condition of the people. In total, Uthman ruled for twelve years. The first six years were marked by internal peace and tranquillity, and he remained the most popular Caliph among the Rashidun; but during the second half of his caliphate a rebellion arose. Qur’an dialects: Differences in reading the Quran in different dialects of Arabic language became obvious. A group of companions, headed by Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, who was then stationed in Iraq, came to Uthman and urged him to "save the Muslim people before they differ about the Qur’an”. Uthman obtained the complete manuscript of the Qur'an from HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafsah" \o "Hafsah" Hafsah, one of the wives of Muhammad who had been entrusted to keep the manuscript ever since the Qur'an was comprehensively compiled by the first Caliph, Abu Bakr .
Solving the problem: Uthman then again summoned the leading compiling authority: HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zayd_ibn_Thabit" \o "Zayd ibn Thabit" Zayd ibn Thabit, and some other companions, to make copies of the manuscript. Zayd was put in charge of the task. The style of Arabic dialect used was that of the HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quraysh_(tribe)" \o "Quraysh (tribe)" Qurayshtribe to which Muhammad belonged. Hence this style was emphasized over all others. Zayd and his assistants produced several copies of the manuscript of the Qur'an. One of each was sent to every Muslim province with the order that all other Quranic materials, whether fragmentary or complete copies, be destroyed. As such, when the standard copies were made widely available to the Muslim community everywhere, then all other material was burnt voluntarily by the Muslim community themselves. The annihilation of these extra-Qur'anic documents remained essential in order to eradicate scriptural incongruities, contradictions of consequence or differences in the dialect from the customary text of the Qur'an. The Caliph Uthman kept a copy for himself and returned the original manuscript to HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafsah" \o "Hafsah" Hafsah.
His death
Uthman was assassinated on the 18 zhu el hija. Finding the gate of Uthman's house strongly guarded by his supporters, the rebels climbed the back wall and sneaked inside, leaving the guards on the gate unaware of what was going on inside. The rebels entered his room and struck blows at his head. HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naila_(Calipha)" \o "Naila (Calipha)" Naila, the wife of Uthman, threw herself on his body to protect him. Raising her hand to protect him she had her fingers chopped off and was pushed aside and further blows were struck until he was dead. The supporters of Uthman then counterattacked the assassins and, in turn, killed them. There was further fighting between the rebels and the supporters of Uthman, with casualties on both sides, after which the rebels looted the house.