THE SIEGE OF CALIPH’S HOUSE AND HIS MARTYRDOM
IN the middle of year 35 AH, some indigenes of these three cities, namely Egypt, Basrah and Al-Kufah decided to march to Madeenah in order to perform the yearly Hajj.
And in Shaawaal of the same year about 600 or 1000 Egyptian men set for Hajj under the leadership of Al- Ghafiqi Ibn Harb Al-vKki. And no doubt Ibn As-Sawdaa’, the man behind this sedition, was with them. The number of the Basarites reached the aforementioned figure, and their leader was Harqoos Ibn Zuhayr As-Sa’di. Also the people of Kufah came with nearly the same number of their Basarite neighbors, and they were led by ‘ Amr Jbn Al-Asamm. But, their hidden mission was as follows: to request from the caliph to remove the governors of their various cities, and if he refused he should resign as caliph; if he did not do so willingly, they would achieve their purpose by force.
In fact they disagreed on whom the new Caliph would be as each group had a different person in mind, which they concealed from the other groups. For instance, the Egyptians wanted ‘ Ali to become the Caliph, while the Basarites wanted Talhah Ibn ‘ Ubaydullah. The people of Kufah preferred Az- Zubayr Ibn AI-‘Awwaam as the Caliph. According to At- Tabari, every group believed that the success of this mission would be to its favor, and that its choice would be the next Caliph.
The Egyptians insisted that the Caliph should replace their governor Ibn Abi Sarh with someone else. To prevent the occurrence of sedition. ‘ Uthmaan granted their request and appointed Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr as the governor of Egypt. So the Egyptians returned to their home. In this respect, many historians, like At-Tabari. state: As soon as the Egyptian delegates led by Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr set off to return to Egypt, they saw someone riding towards them. He continued accelerating until they noticed him, suspected him and arrested him. So they mistreated him in order to expose the purpose of his mission. When they searched him, they found that he had a letter with ‘ Uthmaan’s seal. The letter was sent to the governor of Egypt ‘Abdullaah Ibn Sa’d Ibn Abi As- Sarh. The Caliph ordered him to arrest the delegates on reaching Egypt, and to kill all of them.
This unbelievable event was enough to sow anxiety and hatred in the hearts of people. So they returned to Madeenah. Their Iraqi comrades had not returned because the last part of their plot had not finished. Thus, the Egyptians came to the Caliph and showed him the letter. ‘Uthmaan said to them: “Two men witnesses should be provided to testify to this, or I swear by Allah, the One who has no associate, that I did not write, dictate or know anything about this letter. In order to show his innocence, he explained to them that the letter might have been forged: “You know that someone else could have written this letter and forge the seal.” At this point, they asked him to present his scribe Marawaan Ibn Al-Hakam, whom they were sure wrote the letter. But the Caliph refused lest they may assassinate him. They insisted with their demand, and the Caliph also insisted on his stance, and the situation became awkward. These people lay siege to the house of ‘ Uthmaan and prevented him from going out even to lead people in Salaah.
The letter, which the Caliph sent to the people of the cities before things got out of hand, read: In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. To start with, Almighty Allah sent Muhammad with the truth, and as bearer of glad tidings and as a warner. lie delivered the Message Allah sent down to him, and passed away after accomplishing his mission. He left behind Allah’s Book (the Glorious Qur’an) which makes clear what is lawful and what is forbidden, and explains the predestined tilings. The Prophet implemented Allah’s Law upon those who liked it or not. Then the tenure of Abu Bakr and ‘ Umar came, and they did the same thing. I was nominated by the council of consultants (Ash-Shura) without my request for the post of caliph; I was selected with the consensus of the consultants. I followed the Prophet’s Tradition and not my own whims; I was guided by the Qur’an and not by fabricating my own ideology. But to my surprise, I was attacked and condemned without offending. I have never approved of anything that the Qur’an rejects. They opposed me without any evidence or reason. The insurgents blamed me for things done by my predecessors and approved by learned people of Madeenah, which is no doubt the best.
I endured this situation for years although I could see and hear all movements and reactions. Later they continue to demolish the rulings of Allah and transgress against us while we are beside the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, his sacred Mosque and in the land of Hijrah (Madeenah). As usual the Arabs have become loyal to them. They are like the confederates in the battle of Al-Ahzaab (the confederates), and they are about to invade us. So whoever finds himself able to join us, should join us.
As soon as the letter of relief reached all the provinces, troops began to arrive at the Capital (Al-Madeenah) to end (you wrote lift the siege from the house of the Caliph. Mu’ awiyah sent an army under the command of Habeeb Ibn Masalamh Al- Fihri; and Ibn Abi Sarh sent troops led by Mu’awiyah Ibn Hudayj As-Sukooni; while those of Kufah were led by Al- Qa’qaa’ Ibn ‘ Amr and At-Tameemiyy.
In Madeenah, the young people like Al-IIasan and Al- Husayn, ‘Abdullaah Ibn Az-Zubayr and others hastened to protect the Caliph and prevent the insurgents from reaching the caliph and his family. Food and water were secretly brought to the Caliph’s house. The siege took as long as twenty days, in which Madeenah was thrown into confusion, and controlled by the insurgents.
When the period of Hajj was over and support came from Madeenah in favor of the Caliph, this made things difficult for the insurgents. So they decided on this ground to execute their mission immediately before things got out of hand and before were overpowered by the allied forces supporting the Caliph. They tried to break into the Caliph’s house, but failed because of the resistance of the Ansaar and the Miihcijireen. Then the insurgents decided to burn ‘ Uthmaan’s house. They climbed the walls and attacked him while he was reciting the Glorious Qur’an silently. Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr did not hurt the caliph, but Al-Ghafiqi Ibn I-Iarb immediately hit ‘Uthmaan with an axe he was holding. Then another one struck him with his sword. On seeing this ugly scene, the Caliph’s wife, Naa’ilah tried to protect him, but the sword chopped off her fingers. One of the insurgents ultimately put an end to the Caliphs life by striking him. The insurgents robbed the Caliph’s house and the Baitul-Maal.
This event took place on Friday, 18th Dhul-Hijjah, 35 A.H (656 AC).
These evil men only allowed the people to bury the Commander of the Faithful in secret. Then his decent and clean body was finally laid to rest at night and his burial was attended by a few mourners.
This unfortunate and painful incidence brought an end to the life of the third Rightly-Guided Caliph, ‘ Uthmaan Ibn ‘ Affaan, at 80 years of age. It was undoubtedly an abundant life of one of the revered Companions, one of the pious early Muslims who strove in Allah’s Cause with his soul, money and his utmost service and self-sacrifice. To justify this event was nothing but pain felt by all the Muslims. Its effect is still remembered in the Muslim world today.
‘Uthmaan’s martyrdom closed the first chapter of the grave and heavy violence that erupted among the early Muslims. It also opened another file lor this violence, which caused disruption among the Muslims and the unrest continued to the advent of 36 AH.
If one should comment on this painful end of one of the most prominent men of Islam, one will no doubt cry that these evil insurgents had committed an enormity and killed a soul who should not have been killed except with the course of justice. They are sinful for what they did, and they will be questioned by Allah concerning more sins that occurred through their evil acts and deeds. For they caused the death of the elite of the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, such as Talhah, Az-Zubayr, ‘Ali and many. Others who were killed during the continuous conflicts resulted in the shedding of much blood which happened during the tenure of the fourth Caliph; ‘Ali Ibn Abi Taalib.
(Source: Biographies of the rightly guided Caliphs )
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