Muhammad Rida
Uthman ibn Affan Dhu al-Nurayn
- Author died
- 1369 AH
- Editions
- Uthman ibn Affan Dhu al-Nurayn
Uthman ibn Affan Dhu al-Nurayn (Uthman ibn Affan, Possessor of the Two Lights) is a historical and biographical monograph by the Egyptian man of letters Muhammad Rida (d. 1369 AH / 1950 CE) dedicated to the life and reign of the third Rightly Guided Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan.
Purpose and Background
The work constitutes the fourth volume in Muhammad Rida's dedicated multi-part series on early Islamic history. Rida composed the book to address a perceived deficiency in both classical and modern historiography, where general historical overviews typically compiled the biographies of the caliphs into collective volumes rather than devoting separate, standalone monographs to each ruler.
In his preface, the author noted that Western Orientalists—including William Muir in his history of the Islamic caliphate and Washington Irving in Mahomet and His Successors—had followed earlier Muslim chroniclers by treating the successive caliphs within single composite volumes. While acknowledging that Rafiq Bey al-Azm had attempted a similar individual division across parts of his biographical collection Ashhar Mashahir al-Islam (The Most Renowned Figures of Islam), Rida stated that only its first four sections up to Uthman had been accessible to him.
Scope and Context
The book focuses on the complete life, virtues, governance, and caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan, alongside the major political and military developments of his twelve-year rule. It stands alongside Rida's complementary monographs on early Islamic leadership, which include works on the Prophet Muhammad, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, Umar ibn al-Khattab, Ali ibn Abi Talib, and the brothers al-Hasan and al-Husayn.
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