Uthman ibn Abi al-As

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Uthman ibn Abi al-As al-Thaqafi
عثمان بن أبي العاص
Governor of
Ta'if
In office
December 630 – 636
Preceded byPost established
Succeeded byAl-Hakam ibn Abi al-As al-Thaqafi
Governor of Bahrayn and Oman
In office
636–637
Preceded byAl-Ala al-Hadhrami
Succeeded byAl-Ala al-Hadhrami
In office
638–650
Preceded byAl-Ala al-Hadhrami
Personal details
BornUnknown
Ta'if
Died671, 672 or 675
Basra
Relations
  • Umm Muhammad bint Abd Allah (granddaughter)
  • Al-Hakam (brother)
  • Al-Mughira (brother)
  • Abu Umayya (brother)
  • Abu Amr (brother)
  • Hafs (half-brother)
ChildrenAbd Allah
Parents
  • Abu al-As ibn Bishr ibn Abd Duhman (father)
  • Fatima bint Abd Allah (mother)
Military service
Allegiance
Ridda wars

Arab conquest of Iran

Uthman ibn Abi al-As al-Thaqafi (

al-Hasan al-Basri
and died in the city.

Early life and governorship of Ta'if

Uthman was a son of Abu al-As ibn Bishr ibn Abd Duhman of the

Ta'if in the Hejaz (western Arabia).[2] Uthman belonged to the prominent Banu Hutayt family of the Banu Jusham, which was one of two principal branches of the Thaqif.[3] Uthman had five brothers, al-Hakam, al-Mughira, Abu Umayya, Abu Amr—all of whom were sons of Uthman's mother Fatima bint Abd Allah[4]—and Hafs.[5] According to a different account, Uthman's mother was Safiyya, a daughter of the founder of the Umayyad house, Umayya ibn Abd Shams. Uthman's wife, Rayhana, belonged to the same house, being the daughter of Umayya's son Abu al-As.[6]

Uthman was the youngest member of a six-man delegation of Thaqif representatives sent to establish peace with the Islamic prophet

caliph (leader of the Muslim community).[10] Uthman's jurisdiction was over the settled inhabitants of Ta'if and its environs (the Hawazin nomads were governed by Malik ibn Awf al-Nasri) and he remained in the post at the time of Muhammad's death in 632.[11] He was the first member of the Thaqif to achieve prominence under Islam.[13]

After the death of Muhammad, many Arab tribes rebelled against the nascent Muslim state. Uthman played a key role maintaining the loyalty of the Thaqif to Islam.

Ridda wars launched by Abu Bakr against the rebel tribes, Uthman dispatched a force from Ta'if against rebel clans from the tribes of Azd, Bajila and Khath'am in Yemen (southwestern Arabia).[15] He later raised an army from the city under the command of his brother to assist Medina's war efforts.[16] Abu Bakr kept Uthman in his post as did his successor Caliph Umar.[13]

Governor of Bahrayn and Oman

Uthman was appointed governor of

Yamama (central Arabia) was administratively attached to Bahrayn at the time.[19] Uthman was permitted by Umar to nominate his brother al-Hakam as his replacement in Ta'if.[20]

Uthman dispatched naval expeditions against the ports and positions of the

Nabi Bakhsh Khan Baloch suspects that if the raids against the Indian coast were actually undertaken, they likely occurred in late 636.[27] The naval operations were launched without Umar's sanction and he disapproved of them upon learning of the operations, citing his fear for the safety of Arab troops at sea.[22] The contemporary Armenian historian Sebeos confirms these Arab raids against the Sasanian littoral.[17] According to Baloch, the reasons for Uthman's initiative are not identified by the medieval sources and were possibly zeal-driven adventures for the cause of jihad (holy struggle).[28]

In 637 Uthman was recalled from Bahrayn by Umar and reappointed to Ta'if, likely as a consequence of his unilateral launch of naval raids against India.[29] He was restored to Bahrayn in 638 in the aftermath of an abortive naval raid by al-Ala against the Sasanian province of Fars, which ended in heavy Arab losses.[30] In 638–639 Uthman led in person a major assault along the coast of Fars.[31] His brother al-Hakam accompanied him, while he left al-Mughira to oversee administrative affairs in Bahrayn as his deputy.[32] In 639 or 640, Uthman and al-Hakam captured and garrisoned Arab troops in the Fars town of Tawwaj near the Persian Gulf coast, southwest of modern Shiraz.[31][17] In 641 Uthman established his permanent headquarters at Tawwaj, which he fortified.[31] From Tawwaj in the same year, he captured the city of Reishahr and killed the Sasanian governor of Fars, Shahruk.[31] By 642 Uthman subjugated the cities of Jarreh, Kazerun and al-Nubindjan.[31]

About 643, Uthman's forces were joined by

Uthman ibn Affan, who retained Uthman in his post for about six more years.[34] Uthman was unable to capture the Sasanian strongholds of Istakhr and Jur (Firuzabad) in mountainous central Fars, which were conquered in 649 by the Muslim governor of Basra, Abd Allah ibn Amir.[17] In that year, Ibn Amir was given supreme command over the armies of Uthman and Abu Musa in Iran.[35]

Later life, death and legacy

Uthman was dismissed by the caliph and retired to Basra after 650.[13][36] In February 650 he was granted by the caliph a large estate near the city, in al-Ubulla (Apologos) along the Euphrates river, from which he bestowed plots to each of his brothers to build on.[5] The canal dug on the estate was called Shatt Uthman after him.[5] Uthman died in Basra in 671, 672 or 675.[13][14]

The prominent Islamic theologian and scholar

al-Hasan al-Basri transmitted hadiths (traditions of Muhammad) from Uthman during his time in Basra.[8] From a total of twenty-nine hadiths reportedly transmitted by Uthman, three have been recorded in the Sahih Muslim and the remainder in various hadith volumes.[8]

A granddaughter of Uthman, Umm Muhammad bint Abd Allah ibn Uthman, was married to the general and governor of

Oxus river into Transoxiana.[37]

References

  1. ^ Poonawala 1990, p. 43.
  2. ^ Lecker 2000, p. 232.
  3. ^ a b Baloch 1953, p. 243.
  4. ^ Baloch 1946, p. 250, note 1.
  5. ^ a b c Ishaq 1945, p. 113, note 7.
  6. ^ Lecker 2016, p. 86, note 675.
  7. ^ Donner 1993, p. 158, note 994.
  8. ^ a b c Ishaq 1945, p. 109, note 1.
  9. ^ Poonawala 1990, p. 45, note 330.
  10. ^ a b Poonawala 1990, pp. 43–45.
  11. ^ a b Donner 1993, p. 158.
  12. ^ Donner 1981, pp. 73–74.
  13. ^ a b c d Blankinship 1993, p. 142, note 774.
  14. ^ a b Friedmann 1992, p. 172, note 617.
  15. ^ Donner 1993, p. 161.
  16. ^ Donner 1993, p. 164.
  17. ^ a b c d e Hoyland 2015, p. 85.
  18. ^ Baloch 1946, p. 260.
  19. ^ Baloch 1946, p. 262.
  20. ^ Baloch 1946, p. 255.
  21. ^ Ishaq 1945, pp. 109–110.
  22. ^ a b Friedmann 1970, p. 253.
  23. ^ Ishaq 1945, pp. 109, 112.
  24. ^ Ishaq 1945, p. 109.
  25. ^ Baloch 1946, p. 251.
  26. ^ Ishaq 1945, p. 110.
  27. ^ Baloch 1946, pp. 250, 265–266.
  28. ^ Baloch 1946, p. 266.
  29. ^ Baloch 1946, pp. 260–261.
  30. ^ Baloch 1946, pp. 261–262.
  31. ^ a b c d e Baloch 1946, p. 263, note 1.
  32. ^ Baloch 1946, p. 264.
  33. ^ a b c Baloch 1946, p. 263.
  34. ^ Ahmed 2010, p. 107, note 545.
  35. ^ Baloch 1946, p. 258, note 6.
  36. ^ Baloch 1946, p. 250.
  37. ^ Howard 1990, p. 187.

Bibliography

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Uthman_ibn_Abi_al-As&oldid=1193371313"