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Elections:
A panel of 6 companions was chosen by Hazrat Umer. These 6 companions would be the candidates for the Caliph. They were:
Hazrat Usman bin Affan
Hazrat Ali bin Abu Talib
Hazrat Abdur Rehman bin Awf
Hazrat Zubair bin Al Awwam
Hazrat Talha bin Ubaidullah
Hazrat Saad bin Abi Waqas
Umar ordered his son, Abdullah to also attend the meetings of the newly formed 6 panels of candidates, but he was not a candidate himself
The matter of the election had to be decided in 3 days
Hazrat Talha was not in Medina, and Hazrat Abdur Rehman withdrew his name from the panel so that he could become its chairman. Now the choice was restricted to 4
Hazrat Abdurrehman started taking the consent of the nominees as well as the general public
The majority of people were in favour of Hazrat Usman. So on the 4th day of Hazrat Umar's assassination, Hazrat Usman became the Caliph of the Muslim empire
Expansion of the Empire:
Hazrat Usman ruled for 12 years. The first 8 years were very successful and many new areas were conquered
He was a soft-hearted and lenient person. Many states took advantage of his leniency and revolted against the Islamic empire
The Roman provinces that revolted against the Muslim empire were crushed.
During the Time of Hazrat Usman, the Muslims were able to conquer Islands for the first time in history
Rebellion in Egypt:
The Romans wanted to regain Egypt from the Muslims
Hazrat Usman replaced Amr bin Al Aas from the governorship of Egypt and instead appointed Hazrat Abdullah. This created dissatisfaction among the people of Egypt as Hazrat Amr bin Al Aas was a very popular governor
Rebellion in Alexandria:
The people of Egypt revolted against the Islamic empire
The Romans took advantage of the situation and fully supported the people of Egypt. They attacked Alexandria and captured it
Hazrat Usman re-appointed Hazrat Amr bin Al Aas as the governor of Egypt
In 644 AD, Hazrat Amr Bin Al Aas recaptured Egypt and Alexandria
First Naval Fleet: The Romans had supremacy over the seas, while the Muslims had no naval fleet
Hazrat Ameer Muawiya wanted to build the naval force, He proposed the plan to Hazrat Umar but it was rejected
When Hazrat Usman became the caliph, Hazrat Muawiya again asked for permission. He was persuaded and the first naval force was built consisting of 500 ships. Now the Muslims could conquer Islands
The reason why Hazrat Umar didn't allow Muslims to build the naval fleet was that the Arabs were desert tribesmen and they had a natural horror of the sea. He also thought naval campaigns were simply too risky as an entire army could be lost at sea, whereas on land the army could at least retreat
The Muslims were now able to crush the supremacy of the Romans over the sea
New trade routes were explored through the sea
The navy also helped the Muslims to improve their defence
Battle of Masts:
The first naval battle against the Romans. They wanted to regain Alexandria
Muslims only had 200 ships in the battle
The Muslim commander was Abdullah bin Abi Sarh
During the war, they came so close that their masts touched one another
The Muslims emerged victorious
Revolts against Hazrat Usman: Causes:
The leniency of Hazrat Usman
Personal Grudges of the new converts
Hazrat Usman had placed his close relatives as governors and advisors. People disliked this act and called it nepotism. Hazrat Usman justified it as everyone he appointed was competent and efficient. This act created rivalry between the tribes and many people took it as just the success of the Ummayad tribe, who now controlled all the important posts in the Caliphate. Banu Hashim and other tribes thought that Hazrat Usman favoured the Ummayads
Conspiracy of the Jews. A Jew named Abdullah bin Sabah posed to be a Muslim, but he was a hypocrite and secretly a Jew. He instigated the enmity between the Banu Hashim and Ummayads. He claimed the caliphate was the right of Hazrat Ali and not Hazrat Usman. He gained a large number of followers, who rebelled alongside him
The group of Sabites claimed that Hazrat Ali, Talha, and Zubair were in favour of them and they disliked Hazrat Usman
Abdullah bin Saba launched a campaign against most of the officers, by calling them irreligious, non-practising and bad Muslims
Hazrat Usman did not take timely and strict action against the conspirators
The conspirators spread the sphere of their activities in Kufa, Basra, Egypt, Fustat and Yemen.
The punishments given to them only worsened the situation
Hazrat Usman was an old man of 80 years. It is said that Hazrat Usman was surrounded by people who gave him wrong advice and took advantage of his age and weakness. For example, he relied much on his cousin, Marwan bin Hakam, who also became his chief secretary. He misused the position of chief secretary and created a lot of problems for Hazrat Usman
Marwan was granted a big share of the spoils of war which Muslims got after defeating the Roman governor of Tunisia. People thought of this as nepotism
Sometimes Hazrat Usman overlooked the faults of the governors and officers. He couldn't keep them in check
Rebellion in Medina:
The conspirators became so strong that they gathered in Medina and put a number of false allegations about Hazrat Usman
Hazrat Usman gave convincing replies to the arguments in front of the prominent companions. The companions such as Hazrat Ali were pleased but not the Sabites
People accused him of nepotism. But out of 12 governors, 4 were from his family. And even of those 4 he only appointed 2 and the others were appointed by the Caliphs before
He was accused of Demolishing Masjid E Nabwi. This was a fake charge as he had only renovated and extended the mosque.
He was accused of corruption by spending the money of Bait ul Maal on his own relatives. This was a fake charge as he was a wealthy trader and he used his own money
The Sabites accused him of going against the Sunnah of the Prophet(SAW) during Hajj. He justified this by saying how he had a house and family in Makkah, so it wasn't travelling
He was accused of burning the Quran's copies. Again a fake charge as only those with slight errors was burned
People said he used public pastures for his cattle. But he only had 2 camels
The Sabites lastly said that he disgraced some of the prominent companions, Like Hazrat Abu Zar Ghaffari. This was a fake charge since Hazrat Abu Zar Ghaffari's concepts of the public treasury were causing administrative problems in Egypt. He was summoned by Hazrat Usman and told of the situation. After viewing the situation Hazrat Ghaffari decided to liver in a remote area to cause no more problems. This incident was retold by the Sabites who claimed he was banished by the Caliph
Martyrdom: Hazrat Ali convinced the Sabites to return back. They agreed but on the demand that Abdullah bin Saad would be removed from the governorship of Egypt and Muhammad bin Abu Bakr would be appointed in his place. This was accepted by Hazrat Usman
The sabites however returned a few days later with a new allegation. They claimed that they had intercepted a letter written by Hazrat Usman to Abdullah ibn Saad that he should kill Muhammad Bin Abu Bakr when he reached Egypt
Hazrat Usman denied writing this letter, but the Sabites didn't listen
It is believed that either Marwan bin Hakam or the Sabites themselves had written this letter
The rebels demanded that Hazrat Usman either abdicate or hand over Marwan Bin Hakam to them. Both these demands were denied
The Prophet (SAW) predicted that Allah would give him a difficult responsibility but not give it up. Hazrat Usman thus thought that the caliphate was the responsibility
The conspirators then besieged the house of Hazrat Usman. The siege lasted for 50 days.
Hazrat Usman addressed the rebels from the roof of his house several times.
He tried to remind them of the services that he rendered to Islam and his relation to the Prophet (SAW) but the rebels didn't listen
The rebels cut the food and water supply of Hazrat Usman
Hazrat Ali, Talha and Zubair sent their sons to try to protect Hazrat Usman
At last, the rebels received the news that Hazrat Amir Muawiya, the governor of Syria had sent an army to protect Hazrat Usman
Hajj was also coming to an end which meant the Muslims would return from Mecca.
Due to all these factors of Muslims coming from different areas, the rebels acted quick
Hazrat Usman however did not give permission to all the defenders to defend him as he did not want to shed Muslim blood for his own sake
Some people still tried to fight but they were injured
There was no escape for Hazrat Usman. He was alone with his wife reciting the Holy Quran and fasting.
The rebels jumped into his house, entered his room and mercilessly killed him
Hazrat Usman's wife lost 2 fingers trying to protect him
Consequences of Hazrat Usman's Martyrdom:
The Martyrdom of Hazrat Usman had terrible consequences on the History of Islam
The unity of the Muslims was shattered. The Muslims were divided into 2 groups, supporters of Banu Hashim and supporters of Banu Ummayads.
With the assassination of him, the process of the expansion of Islam came to a halt
This also led to the controversial election of Hazrat Ali
Some who had sworn allegiance to Hazrat Ali took back their oath due to the lack of progress in punishing the Martyrs of Hazrat Usman
Some Quraysh members also left Madina and moved back to Makkah
The murder of Hazrat Usman can also be credited as the main reason for the formation of the Ummayad Caliphate
Administration of Hazrat Usman:
Brought improvement in the administrative network. Regrouped some of the provinces and made some new ones
The Council of Consultation (Majlis E Shoora) was maintained
Syria, Palestine, and Jordan were merged to create a single province of Syria with Hazrat Ameer Muawiya as its governor. This helped in the effective administration
Hazrat Usman used to listen to the complaints of the people n every Friday and took necessary action where needed
He allowed Arabs to acquire agricultural lands in conquered territories
A number of new military cantonments were established at Tripoli, Cyprus and Armenia
The first Naval fleet was built
The wages of soldiers increased
The Caliphate under Hazrat Usman
Notes taken in the class of Ayesha Ahsan
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