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Uthman, the Third Khalifa of the Muslims
JUST BEFORE HIS DEATH, Umar called Abu Talha Ansari,
and said to him: "God has given honor to Islam through you (the
Ansar), and now you take your 50 armed men to watch the members of the electoral
committee, and do not let them disperse without choosing a khalifa which they must do
within three days." The electors began their parleys in the house of
Miswar bin Makhrama – the nephew of Abdur Rahman bin Auf. Abu Talha Ansari began his
three-day long vigil. Amr bin Aas and Mughira bin Shaaba, also appeared at the door of the
house of Miswar, eager to take part in the proceedings of the committee but the pickets of
Abu Talha did not let them enter. Because of the "special powers" Umar had
given him, Abdur Rahman bin Auf considered himself the key figure of the electoral
committee. In a size-up of the situation, he gathered that no one of the other five
candidates was willing to withdraw his name from the contest, and everyone was determined
to press his claim vigorously. He, therefore, quietly developed a strategy of his own, and
then told the committee that he would withdraw his name from the list of candidates if it
would, in return, allow him to act as chairman and coordinator of its meeting(s). Other members agreed but Ali hesitated to give Abdur
Rahman any extra powers. When others insisted that he too should agree, he said to him: "I shall acknowledge you as chairman of the
electoral committee if you give a pledge that you will not be a slave to your own lusts,
and that your decision will be taken only to win the pleasure of God and His
Messenger." Abdur Rahman readily gave his pledge for doing so,
and thus became the chairman of the committee. By withdrawing his candidacy, he won extra
leverage with the other candidates, and cast himself in the role of a
"king-maker." Abdur Rahman held a series of meetings with other
candidates in an attempt to find a satisfactory solution of the problem but his efforts
bore no fruit. The discussions of the other candidates during the first two days also
ended in stalemate. On the third and the last day, Abdur Rahman paid a
visit to each member of the committee in his own house. In these private meetings, he
asked each candidate whom he would like to see as khalifa if he himself were not elected.
The answer was Uthman or Ali. This meant that the choice was narrowed down to these two
men, one of whom had to become khalifa, but which one? That evening, Abdur Rahman, the king-maker, called
on his old friend, Amr bin Aas, explained to him his predicament, and added: "I have been so perplexed in this matter that I
have known no rest for three days. Today is the last day, and I still have found no answer
to our problem. What is troubling me is the fear lest Ali becomes the caliph. And before
Umar died, I gathered from his manner and attitude that he too was haunted by the same
fear." Amr bin Aas was much more skillful than Abdur Rahman
or anyone else at the kind of game the latter was trying to play. He said: "I know
the move that will checkmate Ali." He then explained the move to Abdur Rahman. The
latter welcomed the bright idea and felt happy and confident that he would preclude Ali
from becoming the caliph. On the following morning, the Muslims assembled in
the Mosque of the Prophet. It was a momentous day in their lives when they would know who
their future sovereign was going to be. Presently the king-maker and other members of the
electoral committee also arrived and took their seats. After a brief pause the king-maker
rose. He made an announcement of the purpose of the gathering, underscored its importance,
and called upon the Muslims to abide by the decision of the electoral committee which Umar
had appointed. The air was charged with tension, and every man was
keyed up, ready as if to snap any moment. Abdur Rahman bin Auf, the king-maker, turned
toward Ali, held his hand, and posed to him the following question: "If we give you charge of the government of the
Muslims, and put you in authority over their affairs, do you solemnly promise to act
according to the Book of God, the Sunna of His Apostle, and the precedents of Abu Bakr and
Umar?" (The proviso to act according to the precedents of
Abu Bakr and Umar was not stipulated by Umar himself. It was the "move" which
Amr bin Aas had suggested to Abdur Rahman bin Auf. He knew that Ali would not accept it.) Ali replied to the king-maker as follows: "I shall act according to the Book of God, and
the Sunna of His Apostle. As for following the precedents of Abu Bakr and Umar, I have a
judgment of my own, and I am going to use it." Ali knew just what would happen next. The king-maker let his hand fall. He then turned to
Uthman, and repeated the same question to him. Uthman immediately agreed. Thereupon the
king-maker himself became the first to give him his pledge of loyalty. He congratulated
him on becoming the new khalifa, and signaled the others to give him their pledge of
loyalty. The khalifa had been chosen. The new khalifa of the
Muslims was Uthman bin Affan. Ali let caliphate slip from his hand but he did not
compromise with a principle. He did not consider Abu Bakr and Umar lawful successors of
Muhammad, and he refused to imitate them in anything. R. V. C. Bodley The six counselors appointed by Omar met as soon as
the funeral was over. The caliphate was first offered to Ali with the condition that he
govern according to the Koran, the traditions of Mohammed, and the regulations established
by Abu Bakr and Umar. Ali accepted the first two conditions, and refused the third. The
offer was, accordingly, withdrawn and Othman was approached with the same terms. Being
less honest than Ali, he accepted them without demur." (The Messenger – the Life
of Mohammed, New York, 1946) Abdur Rahman bin Auf knew that no one among the
companions had more knowledge of the Book of God, or was more attached to His Apostle than
Ali. But when he invoked the Qur’an and the Sunna of the Apostle, in his offer of
caliphate to the candidates, he was only playing for the "gallery." His
stipulation that Ali should act as per the commandments of Qur’an and should follow
the Sunna of Muhammad, was tactical rather than philosophical; more cosmetic than basic.
His real interest was in a commitment by Ali to follow the precedents of Abu Bakr and
Umar, both of whom had made it possible for him and many others, to become rich and
powerful. Capitalism, that "hideous pagan idol" of
the Times of Ignorance, and the other idols that the Quraysh worshipped in Makkah, had
been given a burial by Muhammad Mustafa, the Messenger of God. But after his death, the
capitalist idol was exhumed, and was "reinstated" in Medina. The capitalist
system rapidly struck roots in the Muslim society, and they went so deep that it became
impossible to eradicate them. After the death of Muhammad Mustafa, the capitalist system
went on growing stronger and stronger. All members of the panel appointed by Umar to select
a khalifa, were capitalists except Ali. They knew that if Ali took charge of the
government, he would strike the death blow to the capitalist system; would compel the
capitalists to disgorge all the pelf they had already devoured, and would revive the
pristine simplicity and purity of the Islamic society just as it was in the times of
Muhammad Mustafa, the Apostle of God. The king-maker and the nouveaux riches had no desire
to return to those days of austerity and self-denial. But even if Umar had not wished to make Uthman his
successor, and even if he had no preference for any candidate, and even if there had been
no collusion between Abdur Rahman, the king-maker, and Amr bin Aas, Ali still could not
become the caliph. One thing all members of the electoral committee, and many other
Muslims who made up the new aristocracy of the Arabs, dreaded most was to see a stern,
firm and strong person like Ali at the helm of affairs. They also knew that Ali,
inflexible with himself in matters of principle, would be inflexible with them, and that
he would compel the whole umma to live in obedience to the imperatives of Qur’an. But
Uthman's style, manner, and performance, on the other hand, had been undeviatingly
consistent in being so banal that they could be depended upon to confer mediocrity upon
the khilafat. His mediocrity was going to be a guarantee that he would not tamper with the
privileges and prerogatives of the electors. Safeguarding their interests, therefore, was
more important for them than safeguarding the interests of Islam. The merits of a candidate for the most important
office in Islam did not figure anywhere in the king-maker's consideration. The truth is
that the interests of Islam or the merits of a candidate were the least important factors
in his calculations. His decision was dictated, not by the interests of Islam, but by his
interest in the maintenance of the status quo. The tug inside the electoral committee,
therefore, encompassed a trial of strength between the capitalist system and the Islamic
socio-economic egalitarianism. Ali did what he could to defend egalitarianism but the odds
were overwhelmingly against him. Uthman's election as khalifa was a triumph of
capitalism. Umar had conceived the plan of "Shura" (electoral committee), and he
had charged Abdur Rahman bin Auf with the duty of implementing it. The latter, as chairman
of the committee, made it a condition-precedent that a candidate for khilafat would obey
not only the Book of God and would follow the Sunna of His Messenger, but also, would
follow the regulations of Abu Bakr and Umar. He thus put the deeds of Abu Bakr and Umar at
par with the Book of God and the Sunna of His Apostle. Ali refused to equate the deeds of Abu Bakr and Umar
with the Book of God and the Sunna of His Messenger. He refused to follow fallible men who
were the political leaders of his time knowing that his refusal would cost him the throne
of the empire of the Muslims. He spurned at that throne because the price being demanded
from him for it, was a compromise with Truth and Justice. He declared publicly that the
precedents of Abu Bakr and Umar were not acceptable to him. If their precedents were
unacceptable to him, then their caliphate also must have been unacceptable to him. This is
conclusive proof that he did not take the oath of allegiance to them. But if Sunnis still
insist that Abu Bakr and Umar obtained the pledge of loyalty from him, then they must have
taken it from him on the point of the bayonet. Ali could have declared, just as Uthman did, that he
was accepting the king-maker's conditions, and after taking the reins of power in his
hand, he could have ignored them, again, just as Uthman did. Many politicians consider
double-talk and double-cross a normal and recognized exercise in the game of stagecraft.
But Ali did not. For him the ends did not justify the means. For him the means also had to
be just as honorable and fair as the ends themselves. Ali's Protest Ali said to the king-maker: "It is not the first time that you have
deprived the heirs and the children of Muhammad, the Apostle of God, of their rights
through treachery. For this you are answerable to God. But for me, it is better to put my
trust in God Who alone is Just, Fair and Merciful." The king-maker made some attempt at window-dressing
for his role in the same manner as Abu Obaida bin al-Jarrah had done after Abu Bakr's
election in Saqifa but it was not long before he was cursing himself for his chicanery and
duplicity in a matter upon which the future of Islam itself had depended. Abdur Rahman bin Auf, the husband of Uthman's
sister, lived long enough to see the fruits of his labors at kingmaking. He saw graft
spreading its tentacles like an octopus over the empire of the Muslims, and he was
"shocked" so much by the nepotism and the incompetence of the khalifa he had
chosen that he declared that he would not talk with him (there was little else he could do
then). Sometime later, when he lay dying, Uthman came to see him but he did not
acknowledge his greetings and turned his face toward the wall. He died in this state,
without exchanging a word with the khalifa. Dr. Taha Husain of Egypt says in his book,
al-Fitna-tul-Kubra (the Great Upheaval) that Abdur Rahman bin Auf died full of shame and
remorse at what he had done as chairman of Umar's electoral committee. The Protest of Ammar ibn Yasir Ammar ibn Yasir, the companion and the beloved of
Muhammad Mustafa, reproached Abdur Rahman and his cronies, saying: "You have usurped the rights of the family of
your Prophet, not once but repeatedly, and you have bestowed them upon people who are most
unworthy." Abu Sufyan's Congratulations to Uthman When Uthman became khalifa, the happiness of the
Banu Umayya knew no limits. Life for them, they knew, would be all cream and peaches
thenceforth, and it was. Their leader, Abu Sufyan, now 90-years old and blind, came to
congratulate the new khalifa, and gave him the following advice: "It is after a long time that khilafat has come
to us. Now kick it around like a ball, and use it to strengthen Banu Umayya. This new
power which you now have in your hands, is everything. It is the only reality. Nothing
else is real or important. Heaven and hell are nothing." Abu Sufyan's "advice" to Uthman was the
standard reflex to Islam of the Banu Umayya, and it was to remain unchanged throughout the
century of their political domination except in the three and half years of the khilafat
of Umar bin Abdul Aziz (R). The selection of Uthman as khalifa once again
underscored the truth of the adage that where there's money, there's power. (Charles E. Hurwitz is a corporate raider who buys
American companies and then strips their assets to pay his takeover debt. He rules a
financial empire worth an estimated $8.5 billion in 1990. He once drained $60 million from
the pension fund of the employees of a mill. To the demoralized employees, he reminded of
a "fact of life." He said: "There's a little story about the Golden Rule.
Those who have the gold, rule.") The correlation of economic power and political
power is much too patent to need any further delineation or emphasis. Umar chose the
richest men in all Arabia as electors of a khalifa. The only elector who was not rich, was
Ali. Umar did not want Ali to become the khalifa but he could not find any plausible
reason to exclude him from his electoral committee. Excluding Ali would have made his
hatred of and hostility to the family and clan of Muhammad Mustafa too obvious. Umar lived in morbid fear lest Ali became the caliph
of the Muslims. Once it was reported to him that someone had said that after his (Umar's)
death, he would acknowledge Ali as caliph. This greatly alarmed Umar, and he immediately
warned the Muslims against doing so. John Alden Williams (Umar said) "I am about to say to you something
which God has willed that I should say. He who understands and heeds it, let him take it
with him whithersoever he goes. I have heard that someone said, ‘If Umar were dead, I
would hail so-and-so' (i.e. Ali - Editor)." (Themes of Islamic Civilization, p. 61,
1971) Just before his death, Umar had summoned Abdur
Rahman bin Auf to his chamber for a private meeting. It is not known what did they talk
about because Umar is said to have exacted a pledge from Abdur Rahman that he would keep
the subject of the matters discussed a top secret which the latter did. Calling upon President Nixon to resign from the
presidency, following the Watergate investigations in Washington D.C., Senator James L.
Buckley (Republican) of New York, said on March 19, 1974: "The character of a regime always reflects and
expresses the character of its leader, and the leader's aides and agents do what they
sense and believe he wants them to do." Umar's aides and agents did exactly what they
"sensed" and believed he wanted them to do. Some years earlier, Uthman bin Affan
had filled the position of private secretary to Abu Bakr. He was writing Abu Bakr's will
and testament when the former was on his deathbed. Abu Bakr had just begun to dictate, and
Uthman had written only the words, "In the name of Allah, Most Merciful and Most
Beneficent. I, Abu Bakr, successor of Muhammad, the Apostle of God ..." when he (Abu
Bakr) lost consciousness. But before he regained consciousness, Uthman himself added the
words: "... appoint Umar as my successor and your ruler," and thus completed the
sentence. Uthman "sensed" and knew exactly what Abu
Bakr would have wished him to do. He went ahead and did it. His action won the approval of
Abu Bakr when he recovered consciousness. Abdur Rahman bin Auf "sensed" and knew
exactly what Umar wished him to do, and he did it. Endowed with perception as he was, he
could read all the signals in the policy lines of Umar! Uthman bin Affan, the Third Khalifa of the Muslims,
644-656 Uthman bin Affan belonged to the clan of Umayya. He
is said to have accepted Islam through the efforts of Abu Bakr, and was one of the early
converts. He was one of the richest men in Makkah. Uthman did not take part in the battle of Badr, and
stayed in Medina. Uthman was present in the battle of Uhud but ran
away to save his life when the Muslims were defeated. Some of the fugitives returned to
Medina but not Uthman. Shaikh Muhammad el-Khidhri Buck of Egypt writes in his book, Noor
al-Yaqeen fi Seeret Sayyed al-Mursaleen (Cairo, p.138, 1953) that Uthman was extremely
bashful and it was his bashfulness that prevented him from entering Medina. During the negotiations of Hudaybiyya, the Prophet
sent Uthman as his messenger to the Quraysh in Makkah. The reason he sent him, was that
Umar had refused to go, and had pointed to him as a better envoy for the mission, knowing
that he (Uthman) was Abu Sufyan's darling, and would, therefore, be safe from any harm.
His selection had nothing to do with his fitness for the job. Uthman is said to have taken a leading part to equip
the expedition to Tabuk. In Medina, he is said to have bought a well and endowed it to the
community. During his caliphate, Uthman collected the verses of
Qur’an, and published it as the official version of God's last message to mankind.
There were other copies also extant but he seized them and burned them. Uthman's forerunners in the government of Saqifa
were Abu Bakr and Umar. Though Abu Bakr and Umar had not accomplished anything
particularly remarkable in the lifetime of Muhammad, after his death they proved
themselves to be men of extraordinary ability. But Uthman, on the other hand, was a man of
compelling mediocrity, both before and after he ascended the throne of his two
predecessors. Apart from making some financial contribution to some community effort, he
never did anything to distinguish him from the rank and file. Uthman was already superannuated, being past 72,
when he became khalifa. But in his case, superannuating was not a handicap. It was, in
fact, one of his few assets. The electors were groaning under the iron discipline imposed
upon them by Umar; he had curtailed many of their freedoms. Now that he was dead, they had
no intention of returning to those days of stress, and they wanted to enjoy their freedom.
They, therefore, opted for a weak and aged khalifa whose grip on government, they knew,
would always be loose. Uthman's selection as khalifa, was an inevitable
reaction against the excessive rigors of the times of Umar. Uthman narrated 146 traditions of the Prophet of
Islam. Uthman's Marriages At one time there were three girls living in the
household of Khadija. Their names were Zainab, Ruqayya and Umm Kulthoom. Zainab, the
eldest of the three, was married to one Abul-'As ibn er-Rabi' of Makkah. This man fought
against the Prophet in the battle of Badr, and was captured by the Muslims. To ransom his
freedom, his wife sent to the Prophet, a necklace which at one time had belonged to
Khadija, and she had given it to her as a present on her marriage. Abul-'As was set free;
he returned to Makkah, and sent Zainab to Medina as he had promised to do. Zainab,
however, died soon after her arrival in Medina. Later, Abul-'As also went to Medina,
accepted Islam, and lived with the Muslims. The other two girls, Ruqayya and Umm Kulthoom, were
married to Utba and Utaiba, the sons of Abu Lahab and Umm Jameel. Umm Jameel was the
sister of Abu Sufyan, the chief of the clan of Umayya. Abu Sufyan, therefore, was the
maternal uncle of Utba and Utaiba.
