Chapter: The Caliphate of the Commander of the Believers, Uthmān ibn Affān—may Allah be pleased with him and with all the Companions

Muhammad ibn al-Husayn (may Allah have mercy on him) said: When Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was stabbed and became certain that death had come, Allah, the Most Generous, graciously guided him to act rightly. Out of his sincere devotion to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, regarding his subjects, and his sound concern for them both in life and after death, he entrusted the matter after him to consultation among a group of Companions with whom the Prophet ﷺ was pleased when he passed away and to whom he had testified that they would enter Paradise. He excluded his own son from both the caliphate and the consultation, and told them, “Whomever you choose from among yourselves to be caliph shall be the caliph.” They were six: Uthmān, Alī, Talhah, al-Zubayr, Sad, and Abd al-Rahmān ibn Awf (may Allah be pleased with them). May Allah reward them well on behalf of the Muslim nation.

They spared no effort in exercising their judgment, and the group agreed upon Uthmān ibn Affān (may Allah be pleased with him). Alī ibn Abī Tālib (may Allah be pleased with him) and all the other Companions pledged allegiance to him; not one of them dissented. This was because they knew his virtue, his early embrace of Islam, his love for Allah and His Messenger, his expenditure of his wealth for Allah and His Messenger, the excellence of his knowledge, his exalted standing with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the honor the Prophet ﷺ showed him.

No rational believer doubts this. Only an ignorant and wretched person doubts it—one who has been led away from the path of right guidance, whom Satan has toyed with, and who has been deprived of divine guidance.

If someone asks, “Then mention some of his virtues which, when heard by one ignorant of Uthmān’s merit (may Allah be pleased with him), will cause him to abandon his erroneous doctrine and return to the truth,”