Likened to Hazrat Sulaiman (as)
The Promised Messiah (as) states:
“I liken Hazrat Uthman (ra) to Hazrat Sulaiman (as) for he also had a great passion to construct buildings. The era of Hazrat Ali (ra) was filled with internal discord; Mu‘awiyah was on one side and on the other was Ali (ra) and owing to this discord there was a lot of bloodshed amongst the Muslims. In those six years, there were no major works carried out in Islam. All of these works came to an end with [the demise of] Hazrat Uthman (ra) because after him, civil war began.”
(Malfuzat, Vol. 8, p. 278)
The Promised Messiah (as) further states:
“It is not necessary that mosques have to be a solid and fixed structure. In fact, an area can be specified for the mosque and marked with a boundary. A canopy made of bamboo, or other material can be placed to provide shelter from the rain etc. God Almighty does not like extravagance. The mosque of the Holy Prophet (sa) was made from the branches of date palm trees and remained like this. Later, during the era of Hazrat Uthman (ra), who had a passion for construction, he further strengthened the structure of the mosque. I sometimes reflect that the names of Hazrat Sulaiman (as) and Uthman (ra) are quite similar in sound and perhaps it is owing to this shared desire of theirs [to build].”
(Malfuzat, Vol. 7, p. 119)
The expansion of Masjid Al-Haram [the mosque that surrounds the Holy Ka‘bah in Mecca] began in 26 AH. Hazrat Uthman (ra) restored the landmarks within the Haram and further expanded the Masjid Al-Haram. Hazrat Uthman (ra) purchased the nearby houses and included that area as part of Masjid Al-Haram. Some of the people happily sold their houses; however, some were not willing to do so. Hazrat Uthman (ra) tried to convince them in every way possible but they remained adamant in their decision. In the end, upon the instruction of Hazrat Uthman (ra), those houses were taken down and the amount [in value] was given to the treasury. Upon this, people began to create unrest against Hazrat Uthman (ra) and so he had them arrested and put in jail. Hazrat Uthman (ra) then said to them, “Do you know why you have had the courage to act in this manner against me? This courage you show is because of my compassionate nature. Hazrat Umar (ra) also did the same thing; however, you did not create any disorder against him.” Later, Abdullah bin Khalid bin Usaid spoke to Hazrat Uthman (ra) regarding those who had created disorder upon which they were released.
*(Muhammad Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Tabari, Vol. 5 [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Fikr, 2002], p. 92) *