The Martyrdom of Sayyiduna Uthman Ghani (RA)-Part Six
The Martyrdom of Sayyiduna Uthman Ghani (RA)
Part Six:
The Punishment for Bearing Malice Against Sayyiduna Uthman Ghani (RA)
The Noble Prophet ﷺ said: _“Fear Allah regarding my Companions. Do not make them a target of your tongues after me. I have a deep bond with them. Love for them is love for me, and hatred for them is hatred for me.”_ He ﷺ did not only say this, he demonstrated it in action.
Hazrat Jabir bin Abdullah (RA) relates: Once a funeral was brought, and the Prophet ﷺ was requested to lead the prayer. He ﷺ refused. When the people asked why, he ﷺ said, _“This man bore malice and hatred for Uthman (RA). So Allah holds enmity for him.”_
Once, during the last days of his khilafah, Sayyiduna Uthman Ghani (RA) was delivering a khutbah. In his hand was a staff. Among the crowd were some rebels and troublemakers. A man named Jahjah got up, snatched the staff from his hand, placed it on his knees, and broke it. Hardly a few days passed before he was afflicted with cancer. It began in his leg. People saw that worms had infested his leg.
فتناول عصا عثمان وكسرها ركبتيه فاخذته الاکلۃ فی رجلہ۔
Janab Qulabah says: I went to Syria and heard a man moaning, _“Oh, woe! The Fire! Oh, woe! The Fire!”_ I went to him and saw both his hands and both legs cut off above the feet. He was blind in both eyes and was lying face down, repeating these words. When I asked him about it, he said:
انى كنت ممن دخل الدار فلما دنوت منہ صرخت زوجتہ فلطمتها فقال مالک قطع الله یدیک و رجلیک و اعمی عینیک و ادخلک النار، فاخذني رعدة عظيمة و خرجت هاربا واصابني ماتری ولم يبق من دعائه الا النار قال فقلت له بعدا لك و سحقا
_“I was among those who entered the house. When I came close to him, his wife screamed. I slapped her. Uthman (RA) saw this and said, ‘What is wrong with you? May Allah cut off both your hands and feet, blind your eyes, and enter you into the Fire.’ A great tremor seized me. I fled running, and this calamity fell upon me that you see. Now only the Fire from his bad du‘a remains.”_
I said to him, _“Be off with you. May you be cursed and disgraced.”_
The hand that rose against Sayyiduna Uthman (RA) withered
Imam Bukhari (RA) narrates in his _Tarikh_ from Imam Ibn Sirin (RA): During tawaf of the Ka‘bah I heard a man saying, _“O Allah, forgive me, though I am certain You will not forgive me.”_
I asked him about this strange du‘a. He said: _“I had sworn that if I got the chance, I would slap Uthman (RA). So when he was martyred and his body was in his house, I entered with those going in. When I saw no one around his body, I lifted the cloth from his face and slapped him. As soon as I came out, my hand withered.”_
Muhammad bin Sirin says: _“I touched his hand and it was dried up like a piece of wood.”_
قال محمد بن سيرين رأيتها يابسة كانها عود.
_Tarikh Dimashq vol. 16 p. 250_
Madness as punishment for Uthman’s (RA) revilers
Yazid bin Habib says: I was informed that all those who had attacked the house of Uthman (RA) went mad and insane.
ان عامة الركب الذين ساروا الى عثمان جنوا
Sa‘id bin al-Musayyib said: This man used to abuse Uthman (RA) and Ali (RA). I kept stopping him from this insolence, but he would not desist. So I said:
_“O Allah, this man abuses two men who have precedence with You. O Allah, if what he says about them displeases You, show me a sign in him.”_ Then his face turned black, as you see.
اللهم هذا يسب الرجلين قد سبق لهما
ما تعلم اللهم ان كان يسخطك ما يقول فیھما فارنی فیہ آیۃ فاسود وجہہ کما تری
A reviler of Uthman (RA) struck by lightning
Abu Nadrah says: A man was speaking ill of Uthman (RA). We stopped him and told him not to speak like that about Uthman (RA). He did not listen and did not stop his insolence. Suddenly a fierce bolt of lightning flashed, seized him, and burned him.
فجاءت صاعقة فاحترقتہ۔
_Mukhtasar Tarikh Dimashq vol. 16 p. 268_
فامر باحراق قوم منهم في حفرتين
_Al-Farq bayn al-Firaq p. 177_
_Sahih Bukhari vol. 1 p. 423_
The Shia scholar Abu Amr Ahmad bin Abdul Aziz writes: Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (RA) said to Ibn Saba, _“Shaytan is riding you. Stop these actions and repent.”_ But he refused to obey. So he kept him imprisoned for three days and then burned him alive.
_Rijal al-Kashi vol. 2 p. 183_
From _Tarikh al-Tabari_ we learn that the people of Basrah who took part in this fitnah were all eventually killed. Not one of them survived. Allah takes revenge for His righteous servants and makes them a lesson even in this world. Perhaps none of those who rose against Sayyiduna Uthman (RA) escaped seeing the punishment of blood and disgrace in this world. Each one, one after another, came under Allah’s grip. He saw the worldly punishment for laying hands on Allah’s righteous servant. And the seizure and humiliation of the Hereafter — every reviler of his will see that.
This was the du‘a of Sayyiduna Uthman (RA). He had pleaded before Allah: _“O Allah, count them all, kill them one by one, and let none of them remain.”_
اللهم احصهم عددا و اقتلهم بددا ولا يبق منهم ابدا.
_Narrated by Ibn Sa‘d vol. 3 p. 50_
Imam Mujahid (RA) writes: Whoever had a share in the blood of Sayyiduna Uthman (RA), Allah brought them to a humiliating end.
_Mukhtasar Tarikh Dimashq vol. 16 p. 206_
_Mawsu‘ah Athar al-Sahabah vol. 2 p. 33_
To be continued……
Presented by:
Idarah Dar al-Tahqeeq wa Difa‘-e-Sahabah (RA)