The house of Sayiduna Uthman bin Affan was surrounded by rebels. Uthman was being confined to his home and was unable to leave. Not long before he was assassinated, he told his wife about a dream he had:
I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abu Bakr and Umar. They said to me:
“Break your fast with us tonight”
Musanaf Ibn Abi Shaybah
That same day Sayiduna Uthman was martyred by the rebels.
After the passing of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abu Bakr was appointed as the Caliph, the leader of the Muslims. Before passing away Abu Bakr appointed Umar. After a long reign in charge of the Muslim Ummah, Umar was stabbed in the Masjid whilst leading the Fajr prayer. Before dying from the stab wound, Umar appointed a six-man committee of senior Sahaba to appoint the new Caliph. The committee chose Uthman bin Affan to become the third Caliph.
The caliphates of Sayiduna Abu Bakr and Sayiduna Umar were extremely successful. By the time Uthman became the leader of the Muslims, times had changed drastically. Senior Companions had passed away, sects had emerged and rebels began to cause discord.
Eventually, a group of rebels from Egypt arrived in Medina and laid siege to the house of Uthman, not allowing him to leave. Had Sayiduna Uthman wanted, he could have ordered for the rebels to be fought against, but he did not want blood to be shed in the holy city of Medina.
After hearing that Uthman was being denied water, Sayiduna Ali sent three skins of water for him which reached him with great difficulty. He also sent his sons Imam al-Hasan and Imam al-Hussain and said to them:
Take your swords and stand guard at Uthman’s door, and let no one get near him! 1
A number of Sahaba joined al-Hasan and al-Hussain in standing guard for Sayiduna Uthman. However they were unable to prevent some of the rebels from scaling the wall, getting into the house and murdering the Caliph. When news of this reached Sayiduna Ali, he scolded his sons.
The assassination of Sayiduna Uthman was tragic yet inevitable. During his life, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had already informed Uthman that he would be martyred. He ﷺ also advised him by saying:
Allah will dress you with a garment (meaning the caliphate), and when the hypocrites wish for you to remove it, do not do so.
Ahmed and al-Hakim
Sayiduna Uthman was one of those ten Sahaba promised paradise. He also had the unique honour of marrying two of the daughters of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ thus earning the title ‘Dhu al-Nurayn’, the possessor of two lights.
(1) The jurisprudence of the Prophetic biography (Fiqh al-Seerah) by Sheikh Ramadan al-Bouti (page 634)
Orthodox Muslim 