Uthman ibn Affan

During the Caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan, Islam spread to distant lands. One great contributing factor was his final compilation and dissemination of the Quran. Prior to this, a final copy of the Quran had been compiled by Abu Bakr, but since differences had been noted in the recitation of the Quran in different region, had had this copy of the Quran double checked and then organized the distribution of final copies.

He was a very religious man and received glad tidings of Paradise from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. He performed two Hijrahs for the sake of Islam – one to Abyssinia and the other to Madinah. He was one of the closest companions of the Prophet and was married successively to two of his daughters.

His Caliphate brought economic prosperity but some Muslims were unhappy with him. The feeling of dissension peaked and he was martyred by rebels among the Muslims.

He said that four things were useless: “Knowledge without practice, wealth without expenditure in the way of God, piety for the sake of show and a long life with no stock of good deeds.”

He loved three things: to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to read and teach the Quran.