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Certainly, all praise and thanks belongs to Allaah, creator and sustainer of all the worlds. Blessings and
peace be upon the most honored of the prophets and messengers, and his family, and his companions,
and those who followed them in excellence until the Day of Recompense.

To Proceed:

There are some allegations claimed by some writers against `Uthmaan (may Allaah be pleased
with him) regarding issues like burning copies of the Qur͛an, appointing some of his relatives as
governors, etc, I͛d like to try and offer a refutation to these allegations and claims. For my purposes I͛ll
be resorting to only a few evidences for each matter, as the amount of material is actually quite
exhaustive. I will try and summarize and explain at the end in hopes of crystallizing the meaning and
intent of everything which has preceded that. With Allaah lies all hope of success.

As for burning copies of the Qur͛aan, it is a fact that he did this, but there were urgent reasons
he did so and the Companions were nearly unanimous on approving his action. The proof of the urgency
of his, may Allaah be pleased with him, actions is the following incident narrated by Anas bin Maalik
(may Allaah be pleased with him also). ͞Huthayfah bin Al-Yaman came to ͚Uthmaan at the time when
the people of Shaam and the people of ͚Iraaq were waging war to conquer Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Huthayfah was afraid of their (the people of Shaam and ͚Iraaq) differences in the recitation of the
Qur'aan, so he said to 'Uthmaan, ͚O chief of the Believers! Save this nation before they differ about the
Book (Qur͛aan) as the Jews and the Christians did before.͛"1 (California) As for the unanimity of approval
which was there for his actions, that was actually narrated to us by one of the Shee͛ee ͚Ulamaa`. ͞It has
come in the book of the History of the Qur'aan by Aboo `Abdullaah az-Zanjani (p. 46) that `Alee bin
Moosaa, known as Ibn Ta͛oos (589-664), who is one of their `Ulamaa͛, transmitted in his book, ͚The
Happiness of the Happy͛, that Ash-Shahrastaanee said in the preface of his tafseer from Suwayd bin
`Alqama, "I heard `Alee bin Abee Taalib, peace be upon him, say, ͚Oh people! Allaah! Allaah! Beware of
excess in the affair of `Uthmaan and your statement regarding burning the copies of the Qur'aan. By

1
Al-Bukhaaree.
Allaah, he only burned them with permission from the assembly of the Companions of the Messenger of
Allaah, may Allaah bless him and grant him peace.͛ We agreed. He said, ͚what do you say about this
recitation about which people disagree? One man meets another man and says; "My recitation is better
than your recitation" This leads to kufr.͛ We said, ͚What is your opinion then?͛ He said, ͚I want people to
agree on one copy. If you disagree today, those after you will have a worse disagreement.͛ We said,
͚What you think is good.͛"2 (Al-'Arabi, 2011)

As for his appointing his relatives, this is something his predecessors had already done and his
was just following in their noble footsteps. In the explanation of al-Awaasim min al-Qawaasim it͛s
written, ͞The Banu Umayya were employed by the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, while he was alive. After him, they were employed in the government by Abu Bakr and
`Umar. It is not know that any of the tribes of Quraysh provided more governors for the Messenger of
Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, than the Banu `Abdu Shams because they were
numerous and they had nobility and leadership.͟3 (Al-'Arabi, 2011) Without going into details, suffice it
to say that each of his appointees had their exemplary qualities and the Companions had little, if any,
complaint against his appointments.

There is a general defense of ͚Uthmaan which can and should be made as well. The first, and
most telling evidence that ͚Uthmaan is pardoned for any mistakes he may have committed is the
following: ͚AbdurRahmaan bin Samurah said, ͛͞Uthmaan came to the Prophet (Allaah͛s blessings and
peace be upon him) with 1000 Deenaars when he equipped the Army of Difficulty and poured them into
his lap. The Messenger of Allaah (His blessings and peace be upon him) began turning them over and
saying, ͚Nothing ͚Uthmaan does after this day will harm him, nothing ͚Uthmaan does after this day will
harm him.͛͟4 (as-Suyuti, 2008) There is another, more timely and relevant defense which is given by
͚Uthmaan himself as he͛s being besieged in his house. As he is surrounded he mounts the roof of his
house and reminds the people of some of the specific virtues which he was given from the mouth of
Allaah͛s Messenger (His blessings and peace be upon him). Quoting the story in full would unnecessarily
lengthen this paper, but suffice it to say that the reasoned and fair minded companions and others who
were caught up in this fitnah acknowledged what he said and dispersed, but the hard core zealots who
had nothing but personal motives remained and refused to yield.5 (As-Sallabi, 2007) Lastly, I want to site
a statement of ͚Uthmaan, and then quote the words of Allaah. ͚Uthmaan said about himself, ͞I was the
fourth person to enter al-Islaam.͟6 (As-Sallabi, 2007) Allaah said,

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Y Which means, ͞And the first forerunners [in the faith] among the Muhaajireen and the Ansaar
and those who followed them with good conduct ʹ Allaah is pleased with them and they are pleased

2
Defence Against Disaster, Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn Al-͚Arabi; ppg. 27-8.
3
Defence Against Disaster, Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn Al-͚Arabi; pg. 42
4
Saheeh; at-Tirmithee 6/376 #3701, authenticated by al-Haakim and ath-Thahabee agreed with him.
5
The Biography of ͚Uthman Ibn ͚Affan, Dr. Ali Muhammad As-Sallabi; ppg. 544-5.
6
The Biography of ͚Uthman Ibn ͚Affan, Dr. Ali Muhammad As-Sallabi; pg. 546.
with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide
forever. That is the great attainment.͟7 Being the fourth person to enter al-Islaam undoubtedly make
him one the ͚first forerunners͛ and Allaah Himself testifies the He ͚is pleased with them͛. Allaah knows
best!

There is so much that could be written about this topic, defending ͚Uthmaan, and in fact much
has been written. Among the most valuable of books that refute these allegations is the book Al-
Awaasim min al-Qawaasim by Qaadhee Aboo Bakr bin al-͚Arabee. I could have relied almost exclusively
on this book for the purposes of this paper, but a multiplicity of sources was required. I would like to
close with a quote from this very book I͛ve just mentioned (and one echoed by Dr. as-Sallaabee in his
book as well). Ibn al-͚Arabee says (after listing the detailed allegations against ͚Uthmaan), ͞All of this is
false in isnaad and text. As for their words: ͚`Uthmaan did injustices and objectionable things͛, that is
false.U
(Al-'Arabi, 2011)



Glory is to You, O Allaah, and to You be Praise. I bear witness that nothing deserves worship and
adoration, except for You. I seek Your Forgiveness and turn in repentance to You.

a
 

Al-'Arabi, Q. A. (2011, 04 24). Defence Against Disaster. N/A, N/A, N/A.

7
At-Tawbah 9: 100
8
Defence Against Disaster, Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn Al-͚Arabi, pg. 23
As-Sallabi, D. A. (2007). Ô

  

 


  Riyadh: Maktaba Dar-us-
Salam.

as-Suyuti, J. a.-D. (2008). 'Uthman ibn 'Affan. In J. a.-D. as-Suyuti, Ô





  
 




 
 (pp. 157-180). London: Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd.

California, C. a. (n.d.). 




!"

# 

 Retrieved 04 24, 2011, from
http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/hadith/bukhari/061.sbt
.html

Zidan, D. A. (1998). The Rightly Guided Caliphs (Al-Kholafa'a Al-Rashidin): according to the earliest
authenticated sources. Cairo, Egypt.