You just finished watching a documentary about people who changed history. Kings. Conquerors. Revolutionaries. You felt inspired for a moment.
But what if I told you about a man so generous that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) said if he had a third daughter, he would have given her to him in marriage? A man who single-handedly funded an entire army. A man who bought a well and made it free for all Muslims forever. A man who gave Islam the unified Quran you hold in your hands today. A man who died at 82 years old, fasting, with assassins’ blades in his body, still clutching the mushaf, his blood falling on the verse that promised Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) would suffice him?
His name was Uthman ibn Affan (may Allah be pleased with him). And his story of generosity, patience, and ultimate sacrifice deserves to be known by every Muslim alive.
The Wealthy Merchant Who Gave It All Away
Born into the powerful Umayyad clan around the year 579 CE according to historical records, Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) had everything the world values. Wealth that would make modern billionaires envious. Aristocratic lineage. Business acumen. Physical beauty so striking that people would turn to look at him. Social standing at the highest levels of Quraysh elite.
But when Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) began calling to Islam, Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) heard something that made all that worldly success meaningless. According to authentic historical accounts preserved by early Islamic scholars, he was the fourth person to accept Islam, brought to faith by Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him).
Think about that timing. Fourth. That means he accepted Islam when it was at its most dangerous. When there was no protection. No army. No state. Just a message that would cost him everything his family valued. The Umayyad clan—his own people—turned against him viciously. They tied him up, tortured him, tried to force him to renounce his faith. His uncle would wrap him in palm leaves and set them on fire. But Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) refused to abandon Islam.
When the persecution became unbearable, he was among those who made the first hijrah to Abyssinia, seeking refuge under the Christian king who protected the Muslims. He left behind his wealth, his business, his comfort—everything—because holding onto Islam mattered more than holding onto the world.
The Man Who Married the Prophet’s Daughters
Here’s what makes Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) absolutely unique in Islamic history. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him his daughter Ruqayyah (may Allah be pleased with her) in marriage. When she passed away, the Prophet ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him his second daughter, Umm Kulthum (may Allah be pleased with her).
Two daughters. Two of the Prophet’s ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) beloved children. This wasn’t just honor—this was the Prophet ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) choosing Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) twice as the man worthy of his family. And according to authentic narrations, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) said that if he had a third daughter, he would have given her to Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) as well.
This earned him the title Dhun-Nurayn—Possessor of the Two Lights—because he was blessed with marriage to two daughters of the Prophet ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him), each a light of guidance. No other companion received this honor.
Think about what this tells you about his character. The Prophet ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) knew people’s hearts better than they knew themselves. He wouldn’t give his daughters to just anyone. The fact that he chose Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) twice speaks volumes about his trustworthiness, his piety, his character.
The Generosity That Bought Paradise
But what truly defined Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was his extraordinary generosity—not the kind where you give what you don’t need, but the kind where you give what you desperately do need and somehow find a way to live without it.
The Army of Tabuk: Year 630. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) called Muslims to prepare for the expedition to Tabuk, a critical military campaign in scorching summer heat. The Muslim community was struggling financially. The Prophet ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) asked who would equip the army for the sake of Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He).
Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) brought a caravan that historical sources describe as containing 1,000 camels loaded with supplies, 50 horses, and 1,000 dinars in cash. Some narrations mention he eventually contributed up to 10,000 dinars total. This was an entire army’s worth of equipment from one man’s pocket.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) was so moved that according to the authentic hadith recorded by Imam at-Tirmidhi, he raised his hands and said: “Nothing will harm Uthman after what he has done today”—twice, raising his hands so high that the whiteness of his underarms showed. That was a guarantee of Paradise for a donation that would bankrupt most people.
The Well of Rumah: Madinah had limited water sources when the Muslims migrated there. There was a well called Bir Rumah owned by a Jewish man who charged exorbitant prices for water. The poor Muslims couldn’t afford it. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) said according to narrations preserved in Islamic historical accounts: “Who will buy the well of Rumah and make it available for Muslims, and he will have better than it in Paradise?”
Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) bought it. Some accounts say he paid 20,000 dirhams—an astronomical sum. Then he made it free for all Muslims to use forever. Not charging. Not profiting. Just giving. That well still exists in Madinah today, over 1,400 years later, as a waqf (endowment) from Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him).
Expanding the Prophet’s Mosque: When the Prophet’s ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) mosque in Madinah became too small for the growing Muslim community, the Prophet ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) asked who would buy the adjacent land to expand it. The land belonged to someone unwilling to sell. Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) negotiated, paid whatever price was demanded, and donated it entirely for the mosque’s expansion.
This pattern repeated throughout his life. Crisis? Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) solved it with his wealth. Famine? Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) brought food caravans and distributed them free. Need? Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) filled it without hesitation, without expecting recognition, without demanding repayment.
The Quran You Hold in Your Hands
Fast forward to his caliphate. After Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was martyred, a council of six senior companions selected Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) as the third Khalifa when he was already in his mid-sixties—an age when most people are thinking about retirement, not leading an expanding empire.
His caliphate saw the Islamic state expand dramatically—into Armenia, into North Africa, across Persia. But his most lasting contribution wasn’t military or political. It was spiritual, and you benefit from it every single time you open a Quran.
During Uthman’s (may Allah be pleased with him) reign, Islam had spread so widely that Muslims from different regions were reciting Quran in slightly different dialects based on how they learned it. These were all valid—the Prophet ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) himself taught the Quran could be recited in seven authentic modes (qira’at) to accommodate different Arab dialects.
But confusion was starting. Arguments were breaking out. Soldiers from different regions would dispute over recitation. Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) witnessed this during military campaigns and rushed back to warn Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him): “O Commander of the Faithful! Save this Ummah before they differ about the Book as the Jews and Christians differed about their scriptures.”
Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) acted decisively. He commissioned a committee led by Zayd ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him)—the Prophet’s ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) primary scribe—along with Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him), Sa’id ibn al-As (may Allah be pleased with him), and Abdur-Rahman ibn Harith (may Allah be pleased with him). Their task: produce a standardized text in the Qurayshi dialect, the Prophet’s ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) own tongue, based on the complete Quran already compiled during Abu Bakr’s (may Allah be pleased with him) caliphate.
They worked meticulously. Every verse verified. Every word confirmed. When complete, Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) sent official copies to major Muslim centers—Makkah, Basra, Kufa, Damascus, and kept one in Madinah. He ordered other variant collections destroyed to prevent future discord.
This was controversial. Some people complained. But Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) understood something crucial: preserving the Quran’s integrity and unity was worth any temporary criticism. Today, over 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide recite the exact same Quran—the Mushaf of Uthman. Every word. Every letter. That standardization prevented the kind of textual disputes that fractured other religious communities.
You hold that book in your hands because Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) had the courage and foresight to preserve it.
The Siege and the Blood on the Mushaf
But his caliphate’s later years were marked by rising internal strife. Rebels from various provinces, stirred by political grievances and manipulated by hypocrites according to Islamic historical accounts, came to Madinah demanding Uthman’s (may Allah be pleased with him) removal. Their complaints ranged from legitimate administrative concerns to fabricated accusations.
Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was now 82 years old. Weak. Elderly. But still the Khalifa. The rebels surrounded his house. Siege. For days. Cutting off his water. Cutting off food. Senior companions like Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) sent their sons to defend him. Hassan and Hussein (may Allah be pleased with them both) stood guard at his door. But Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) gave a command that sealed his fate: “I forbid any Muslim from shedding blood in my defense.”
Why? Because he knew that if Muslims fought Muslims over him, the bloodshed would never end. The civil war would tear the Ummah apart. Better he die than Muslim blood be spilled on his account.
On the 18th of Dhul-Hijjah, 35 AH, while fasting (it was a Friday he customarily fasted), while alone in his room reciting Quran, the assassins broke in. Swords drawn. Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was reading from the mushaf. The Quran open before him.
Historical accounts describe how his wife Nailah (may Allah be pleased with her) tried to shield him with her body. They cut off her fingers. Then they stabbed Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him). Multiple wounds. At 82. Fasting. Defenseless. His blood spilled on the Quran he was reciting.
And here’s the part that should give you chills: the verse his blood fell on, according to authentic historical reports, was from Surah Al-Baqarah:
[Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:137]
“So if they believe in the same as you believe in, then they have been rightly guided; but if they turn away, they are only in dissension, and Allah will suffice you against them. And He is the Hearing, the Knowing.”
“Allah will suffice you against them.” His blood marked those exact words. As if his entire life was summarized in that moment—trusting that Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) would handle what he couldn’t.
He died as a shaheed—a martyr—while reciting the Quran he helped preserve for all future generations.
The Shyness the Angels Honored
There’s something else about Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) that often gets overlooked. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) said something about him that was never said about any other companion.
According to the authentic hadith recorded by Imam Muslim in Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2401, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) was reclining in Aisha’s (may Allah be pleased with her) room when Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) asked permission to enter—the Prophet ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) remained as he was. Then Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked permission—still remained as he was. Then Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) asked permission, and the Prophet ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) immediately sat up properly and adjusted his clothes.
When asked why, the Prophet ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Should I not be shy of a man whom even the angels are shy of?”
The angels. The created beings of pure light who worship Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) constantly. They were shy of Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) because of his profound modesty and haya (shyness/modesty). That’s a level of character we can barely comprehend.
What Uthman Teaches You About Giving
You just read about a man who spent his entire fortune multiple times over for Islam. Who bought wells, armies, land, anything needed. Who died poor in worldly terms but rich in the only currency that matters.
You’re probably thinking: “I don’t have that kind of money. I can’t do what he did.”
Wrong. You’re missing the point.
Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) didn’t give from his excess. He gave from his need. He gave until it hurt. He gave strategically—solving the community’s problems with his wealth. He gave without expecting recognition or repayment.
You can do that at your level. You can buy groceries for the sister struggling to feed her kids. You can fund someone’s Islamic education. You can contribute to building a mosque in an area that needs one. You can sponsor an orphan. You can pay off someone’s medical debt. You can do a thousand things with whatever Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) has given you.
The question isn’t “Am I as rich as Uthman?” The question is “Am I as generous as Uthman in proportion to what I have?”
And here’s what should motivate you: the Prophet ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) guaranteed Paradise to Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) multiple times for his generosity. That same Paradise is available to you. That same reward is within reach. You just have to give like you mean it.
So close this screen. Open your banking app. Find a cause. Donate something that actually costs you. Something you’ll feel. Not your spare change. Your actual wealth. And watch what Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) does with your life.
Because Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) proved that you can’t out-give Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He). Every time he gave, Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) gave back more. And when he died, he left the greatest legacy anyone could leave—a unified Quran, countless Muslims saved from his generosity, and a name that will be honored until the Day of Judgment.
That’s what real wealth looks like.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes. Readers should consult qualified Islamic scholars for specific religious rulings and personal guidance. Verification of hadith authenticity is encouraged through recognized Islamic authorities and institutions.