Uthman ibn Affan

Of Banu Umayyah, he was a successful cloth trader admired for his gentleness and dignity. He accepted Islam early, among the first through the call of Abu Bakr.

Married to the Prophet's daughter Ruqayyah, he migrated to Abyssinia and later to Madinah. After Ruqayyah passed away, he married her sister Umm Kulthum — hence 'the one of two lights'.

He bought the well of Rumah and gave its water freely to the Muslims, and he equipped a large part of the 'army of hardship' for Tabuk from his own wealth — charity the Prophet ﷺ praised warmly.

Chosen as third Caliph, he oversaw wide expansion. As recitation styles spread across new lands, he commissioned a single authoritative written codex and sent copies to the provinces — preserving the Qur'an's unity to this day.

Political unrest grew in his later years, ending in a siege of his house in Madinah, where he was killed in 656 CE while holding to patience and refusing to let blood be shed in his defence.