Lessons From Sayyiduna Uthman's Sacrifices And His Final Plea

Opening

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ، سُبْحَانَكَ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ لَا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا، إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ، اللَّهُمَّ عَلِّمْنَا مَا يَنْفَعُنَا وَزِدْنَا عِلْمًا، اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَبَارِكْ وَسَلِّمْ، رَبَّنَا آتِنَا مِنْ لَدُنْكَ رَحْمَةً وَهَيِّئْ لَنَا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا رَشَدًا، وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ الْكَرِيمِ.

A Historic Moment in the Month of Dhul Hijjah

The time of the year that we're in right now marks something that is very historic on our calendar. In this very same month, the month of Dhul Hijjah, towards the end of Dhul Hijjah, the Muslim Ummah saw something very historic that changed the trajectory of the Ummah for pretty much all time to come.

It also happened to correspond to this very same month of June that we're in right now. That was in the year 35 after Hijrah. The Khalifa at the time was Sayyiduna Uthman ibn Affan رضي الله عنه.

Many of us might be familiar — there was some fitna that began to occur. People started to spread rumors, and they started to speak against the Khalifa. It created some sort of anti-Khalifa movement, a movement against Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه. Eventually this strife got to such a level that people started to march out, and they sought to actually assassinate the Khalifa of the Muslims, Sayyiduna Uthman ibn Affan رضي الله عنه. At that time, they had put him under house arrest. They put his house under siege, preventing him from coming out and preventing anything from getting in.

Uthman رضي الله عنه climbed onto his roof and called out to the people, and he shared with them a hadith that we will discuss in just a moment. What I wanted to do today is take a few moments to reflect on this hadith and try to understand some of the lessons therein. It just so happens that this corresponds to the very month we are in — the event in history corresponds to the end of Dhul Hijjah, and also the middle of June, so somehow everything lines up.

The Hadith of Uthman رضي الله عنه from the Rooftop

Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه climbed onto the roof of his house and addressed the people. The hadith is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari. He reminded them: do you remember that when the Muslims first arrived in Medina, there wasn't any water source for the people? There was only one well, called the well of Rumah, and it was owned by a Jewish man who would not allow any of the Muslims to take water except at an exorbitant price.

The Prophet ﷺ called out, saying: who will purchase the well of Rumah, give it to the Muslims, and in return he will get a better well — a better source of water — in Jannah? Uthman رضي الله عنه said:

"I bought it with my own money — and you are today preventing me from drinking from the very well that I had purchased so many years ago."

Then he continued, reminding them of another occasion:

"I call upon you by Allah and by Islam — do you know that the Masjid became too small for its people, and the Prophet ﷺ said: who will purchase this plot of land adjacent to the Masjid and add it to the Masjid, and he will get something better than it in Jannah? — And I purchased it with my own money."

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

He was saying: you are stopping me from praying in the very same Masjid that I purchased. You are stopping me from drinking water from the very same well that I had purchased for the Muslims.

Seven Instances in Which Uthman رضي الله عنه Was Promised Jannah

Let's take a step back and try to understand the magnitude of what he is saying. Not on one, not on two, but on at least seven different occasions the Prophet ﷺ either explicitly or implicitly promised Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه Jannah. Let us briefly go through those instances.

First Instance: The Well of Rumah

The Prophet ﷺ said: who is going to purchase this well of Rumah? He will get a better one in Jannah. Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه was the one who purchased it. In that instance, the Prophet ﷺ promised him Jannah.

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

Second Instance: Equipping the Army of Hardship (Jaysh al-'Usrah)

The army was going out to face off against the Byzantine Empire — an enemy, the like of which in size and complexity they had never faced before. They were going out in the heat of summer, at a time of harvest, and people were ill-equipped and unable to undertake such a long journey. The Prophet ﷺ said:

"Whoever equips and sponsors the army of hardship will have Jannah."

Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه came to the Prophet ﷺ with a thousand gold coins — بِأَلْفِ دِينَارٍ — an enormous amount of wealth. The hadith goes on to say:

"I saw the Prophet ﷺ turning the coins over in his lap and saying: nothing Uthman does will harm him after this day."

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi)

The Prophet ﷺ said there is nothing that Uthman can do — no bad deed — that will outpace the size of this good deed. This is a second instance in which the Prophet ﷺ promised him Jannah.

Third Instance: Expanding the Masjid al-Nabawi

The Prophet ﷺ said: who is going to purchase this land adjacent to the masjid so that we can expand it? He will get Jannah in return. Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه purchased it. This is a third instance in which he was promised Jannah.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi; Sahih al-Bukhari)

Fourth Instance: The Ten Companions Promised Jannah (Al-'Asharah al-Mubashsharah)

The famous hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ said that Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه is promised Jannah, so is Umar, so is Uthman, and he goes on to name the ten Companions who are promised Jannah. This is a fourth instance in which Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه is explicitly promised Jannah.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi; Musnad Ahmad)

Fifth Instance: The Well and the Doorkeeper

This hadith is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari. Abu Musa al-Ash'ari رضي الله عنه was with the Prophet ﷺ, and the Prophet ﷺ was sitting at a well. Abu Musa al-Ash'ari said to himself that today he would serve as the doorkeeper for the Prophet ﷺ.

Someone knocked. Abu Musa al-Ash'ari asked: should I open it? The Prophet ﷺ said: open it, allow him to come in, and tell him that he is going to get Jannah. He rushed to open the door — it was Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه. Abu Bakr came in and sat right next to the Prophet ﷺ with his feet hanging over the well.

Then someone knocked again. The Prophet ﷺ said: let him come in and tell him he is going to get Jannah. The second person was Sayyiduna Umar رضي الله عنه. He came in and sat on the other side, right next to the Prophet ﷺ, around the well.

Then someone knocked a third time. The Prophet ﷺ said: let him come in and tell him that he is going to get Jannah — however, there will be some calamity that will strike him. He'll get to Jannah after the calamity that befalls him. He will have to undergo something first — not to say he is lacking in any way — but he will undergo something and then reach Jannah.

Abu Musa al-Ash'ari ran to open the door, and he saw it was Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه. The narrator of the hadith, Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, said: seeing this, I interpreted the seating arrangement to be a reflection of where they would be buried — Abu Bakr and Umar right beside the Prophet ﷺ, and Uthman رضي الله عنه off to the side. This is a fifth instance in which he is promised Jannah.

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

Sixth Instance: The Mountain of Uhud

The Prophet ﷺ once went onto the mountain of Uhud, and the mountain began to shake. The Prophet ﷺ said: be still, O Uhud! For upon you is a Prophet, a Siddiq — one who is extremely truthful — and two martyrs. This is a sixth instance, perhaps a little more implicit, in which the Prophet ﷺ is promising him Jannah.

Seventh Instance: Husband of Two Daughters of the Prophet ﷺ

Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه was married to the daughter of the Prophet ﷺ, Sayyidah Ruqayyah رضي الله عنها. She passed away. Then later on he was married to the next daughter of the Prophet ﷺ, Sayyidah Umm Kulthum رضي الله عنها, who also passed away. There is a hadith in al-Tabarani — with some weakness in its chain — in which the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said:

"When Ruqayyah passed away while married to Uthman, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ married him to Umm Kulthum. She too passed away, having borne him no children. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him: had I ten daughters, I would have married them all to you, one after another."

(Al-Tabarani — with some weakness in its chain)

How is this a promise of Jannah? Because we know from the Qur'an:

Those who believed, and whose offspring followed them in faith — Allah joins their offspring with them. So we know the daughters of the Prophet ﷺ will be joined with him in Jannah. And we also know from the Qur'an:

People will be in Jannah along with their spouses. Both daughters had the same husband, Uthman. The husband will be joined with the wife, and both wives will be with the Prophet ﷺ. So obviously Uthman رضي الله عنه will be with the Prophet ﷺ in Jannah as well. This is the seventh instance.

So we have seen seven different instances in which Sayyiduna Uthman ibn Affan رضي الله عنه is promised Jannah.

Five Lessons from the Life of Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه

Lesson One: Unwavering Fear of Allah and Visiting Graves

Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه, whenever he would stand at a grave, would weep so excessively that his beard would become wet with tears — like after a person makes wudu, that is how much he would cry. People asked him: sometimes people mention Jannah and Jahannam and we don't see this type of reaction from you — yet a grave moves you so much?

He replied:

"Indeed the grave is the first stage of all the stages of the Hereafter. If a person does well in the grave, they will do well thereafter. If a person fails in the grave, they will fail thereafter. So seeing the grave just really shakes me up — that is why I cry so much."

In spite of being promised Jannah no less than seven times, this would still elicit such a reaction from him. He would see a grave and cry excessively. The first lesson we take from Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه is to visit graves, and to never allow any of our own accomplishments to get to us. This is perhaps the most accomplished resume of anyone we can hear — and yet his fear of Allah was unwavering.

We may do things — maybe we were there for the khatm in Ramadan, the imam was making du'a for forgiveness, and we think: hopefully I got forgiven too — maybe, inshallah. But we should never let such things lead to complacency. Our fear of Allah should never waver.

Lesson Two: Unbridled Generosity

As we saw from many of these instances, another defining characteristic of Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه was unbridled generosity. Whenever the situation arose that the Muslims needed anything, he was there. He didn't care about how much he was spending — he simply spent for the sake of Allah, and Allah gave him more and more.

Lesson Three: Patience in the Face of Trials

Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه went through tremendous difficulty. He was assassinated. His government was beset by political unrest — he was the first Khalifa to experience such strife. In spite of all of that, he was patient. He said: the Prophet ﷺ told me I should not react, I should not fight back, and I am going to stick with what the Prophet ﷺ told me.

All of us face difficulties in our own lives — perhaps not to this extent, but Allah tests us. What we see from Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه is that in spite of those tests, no matter how difficult they are, we must be patient.

Lesson Four: Taking Care of What Is Dear to the Prophet ﷺ

Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه was married to not one, but two daughters of the Prophet ﷺ. He was known as Dhul Nurayn — the man of two lights. He took such good care of the first daughter of the Prophet ﷺ that when the time came for the second one to get married, the Prophet ﷺ saw no one better to marry his daughter than Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه, and gave her to him as well.

From this we understand the importance of taking care of things that are dear to the Prophet ﷺ. And the thing most dear to him is, of course, his sunnah, the honor of fellow Muslims, and the maintenance of his sunnah.

Lesson Five: Modesty (Haya')

There is a hadith in Musnad Ahmad — a version of it is in Sahih Muslim as well — in which the Prophet ﷺ said:

"Should I not be modest in front of the very same individual that the angels show modesty in front of?"

(Musnad Ahmad; cf. Sahih Muslim)

Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه was defined and distinguished by his modesty. In a society like ours — with increased immodesty in the way people talk, vulgar and vain speech, looking at things that are inappropriate, seeing ads and images of people dressed inappropriately, people speaking inappropriately — we find in Sayyiduna Uthman رضي الله عنه a shining example. Allah gave him such a great station, and part of it was perhaps due to the extraordinary qualities he possessed. Perhaps most distinguished among all of them was his modesty.

Conclusion

We saw that Sayyiduna Uthman ibn Affan رضي الله عنه was promised Jannah no less than seven times. We saw five lessons from his life: generosity, taking care of what is dear to the Prophet ﷺ, patience, unwavering fear of Allah, and modesty.

We ask that Allah give us tawfiq.

Announcements

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This weekend is a very momentous occasion for Dar al-Salam, for the entire community, and for the entire country. This weekend, inshallah, we will be hosting our annual graduation. On June 21st — which is tomorrow — we will have the graduation for the Tahfiz program (the Hifz program), followed by the one-year program, the Tanwir program graduations.

Thereafter, on Sunday, there will be something even more momentous inshallah: the khatam of the Qira'at al-Sab'ah wa al-'Asharah al-Sughra wa al-Kubra — the variant readings of the Qur'an. This is a very unique thing to witness, inshallah, taking place on Sunday after Dhuhr. Thereafter, there will be the Bukhari Khatm, inshallah, where students who have been studying for seven years will complete their formal studies at this institution and graduate as scholars. It is a very blessed occasion — a time we can go to witness a momentous, historic event and also make du'a there.

Many scholars have stated that at the time of reciting hadith — at the time of finishing Sahih al-Bukhari, and finishing the Qur'an with the various khatams taking place in the Qira'at — that is a time of acceptance of du'a. All of us have du'as we want to make for ourselves and for others. This is an extraordinary opportunity. Let us come in, make our du'a, and participate in this blessed occasion, inshallah.

There are a number of summer programs going on: Tarbiyah for Tots, Qur'an, Islamic Studies and Sports for Kids, and a summer intensive for men and women of high school age and up. Please see our website for more details. There are also sisters' programs: a bi-weekly Salawat gathering, a weekly Tafsir, and more.

Also, as many of you may have heard — not this weekend but the following weekend — the World Ijtema will be taking place. This is a very momentous occasion, taking place here in Chicago for the first time in 40 years. It is something most of us have probably never witnessed — likely a larger gathering than most of us have ever seen — with people coming from all over the world, purely for the sake of Allah. However much time we can spend there, we should very much try to make it a point to be there. If we can be there for the entirety of it — from Friday Jumu'ah time to Sunday Dhuhr time — that is great. Even if we are busy and have other things scheduled, we should try to stop by even for a little while. It will be taking place at Rosemont, just outside of O'Hare, inshallah.

There are du'a requests: Brother Ibrahim Muhammad, the sick sister Shamim Begum, who is undergoing bypass surgery. One of the students at Dar al-Salam in the one-year program — one of his aunts is sick. There is an eight-year-old girl, Zoya, who was in a car accident and is currently in the ICU. Sister Kosar Jahan is suffering from stage four liver cancer.

And of course, as we know, there are Muslims all over the world — in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Burma, China, and even Sunnis in Iran — who are suffering extensively. We make du'a that Allah alleviate all of their suffering, that Allah cure those who are sick, and a reminder to myself and all of us to continue making du'a for everyone, inshallah.