Hazrat Uthman’s (ra) Bravery & Courage

Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) states: “From the treatment meted out to Hazrat Uthman (ra), it is evident that Hazrat Uthman (ra) was not fearful in the slightest of what they would do to him. It is proven from history that when the rebels had overtaken Medina, before the prayers they would spread out inside the mosque and kept the people of Medina separate from one another lest they gather together to resist them. “But despite all the discord and strife and a general atmosphere of hostility, Hazrat Uthman (ra) would come to the mosque alone for prayers, and would not be fearful in the slightest. He kept on coming to the mosque until a time he was stopped from doing so. “When the discord worsened and the rebels attacked the house of Hazrat Uthman (ra), instead of Hazrat Uthman (ra) asking the companions to stand guard around his house, Hazrat Uthman (ra) pleaded with them in the name of God not to place their lives in danger by protecting him and then ordered them to return to their homes. Does a person scared of martyrdom act in this way and telling people not to worry for him and instead for them to return home? This proves that Hazrat Uthman (ra) was not fearful of being martyred. “Another irrefutable proof that Hazrat Uthman (ra) was not afraid of martyrdom is that”, as mentioned in the beginning of the sermon, “when the discord had begun, Hazrat Muawiyah (ra) came for Hajj. When he was about to return to Syria, he met Hazrat Uthman (ra) in Medina and said, ‘Come with me to Syria, there you will be safeguarded from any discord.’ Hazrat Uthman (ra) replied, ‘Muawiyah! I will not like to leave the neighbourhood of the Holy Prophet (sa) at any cost.’ “Hazrat Muawiyah (ra) then said, ‘If this is not acceptable then grant me permission to send a contingent of the Syrian army for your protection.’ Hazrat Uthman (ra) replied, ‘For the sake of my protection I will not let the provisions of the Muslims be diminished.’ Hazrat Muawiyah (ra) then said, ‘O Amirul Momineen! These people will deceive you and kill you or declare an all-out war against you.’ Hazrat Uthman (ra) replied, ‘I do not have any concern for this; my God is sufficient for me.’ In the end, Hazrat Muawiyah (ra) said, ‘If you do not accept anything, then at least do this, the evil and seditious people place their [false] hopes in certain prominent companions. They believe that after you, these companions will be able to look after the affairs. Subsequently they try to deceive the people by using their names. You should remove all of them from Medina and send them off to different lands. In this way, the ploys of these evil people will be stopped as they will think what need is there to fight with you knowing that there is no one to take command of the matters after you.’ However, Hazrat Uthman (ra) did not accept this either” as was mentioned earlier “and said, ‘How can I scatter those whom the Holy Prophet (sa) has gathered?’ Upon hearing this, Hazrat Muawiyah (ra) began to weep and said, ‘If you do not wish to do any of these, then at the least make an announcement that Muawiyah will be responsible for exacting revenge for you.’ Hazrat Uthman (ra) said, ‘Muawiyah! You have a stern disposition; I fear that you may treat the Muslims harshly. Therefore, I will not make such an announcement.’ “It is alleged that Hazrat Uthman (ra) was weak-hearted, but tell me, how many people can display such courage and after reading these events, can anyone say that Hazrat Uthman (ra) was fearful? “If he was fearful then he would have said to send a contingent of the army for his protection, and that he [i.e. Hazrat Muawiyah (ra)] need not worry about their salary as he would take care of it. If Hazrat Uthman (ra) was fearful he ought to have announced that if anything were to happen to him, then they should know that Muawiyah (ra) would exact revenge for it. But Hazrat Uthman (ra) said nothing aside from that owing to Muawiyah’s (ra) stern disposition, he feared that he may treat the Muslims harshly if he was given this authority.

“Then when the enemies jumped over the wall and launched an attack, Hazrat Uthman (ra) continued to recite the Holy Quran without any fear or dread; to the extent that one of the sons of Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) stepped forward and grabbed hold of Hazrat Uthman’s (ra) beard and gave a forceful jolt. Hazrat Uthman (ra) looked to him and said, ‘O my brother’s son! If your father was alive today, you would never have done such a thing.’ Upon hearing this, his entire body began to tremble and he left out of embarrassment. Then one of his accomplices stepped forward and struck the head of Hazrat Uthman (ra) with an iron rod” as was mentioned before “and kicked away the Quran that was there. When this attacker stepped aside, another person stepped forward and martyred Hazrat Uthman (ra) with a sword. Reading these incidents, who can say that Hazrat Uthman (ra) had even an iota of fear?”

(Khilafat-e-Rashidah, Anwar-ul-Ulum, Vol. 15, pp. 536-537)