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Concerning Sayyiduna Usman radiAllaho-annho crown of my head
According to Ahlesunnah scholars After the
Prophet sallallaho alihi wassallam In rank, is Sayiduna Abu Bakr
radiAllaho-annho, second is Sayiduna Umar Farooq, third is Sayiduna Usman
and then comes Sayiduna Ali
Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari and al-Qari in Sharh al-Fiqh al-Akbar report the
Consensus of Ahl al-Sunna on the above. However, this order refers to
unconditional precedence, not spiritual rank.
In the totality of the transmission chains of tasawwuf, there are only two
transmitters from the Prophet ﷺ: Abu Bakr and ʿAli. And there is no
disagreement that the spiritual ranks attained by Abu Bakr and ʿAli are
the highest of all the Companions. There are countless narrations to that
effect.
This is not to say that precedence is given to ʿAli over ʿUthman, although
Ibn Jamaʿa in al-Manhal al-Rawi said (p. 112):
"
Al-Khattabi said that some
of Ahl al-Sunna in Kufa gave precedence to ʿAli over ʿUthman, and this is
Ibn Khuzayma's position.
Ahl al-Sunna nevertheless hold that the best of human beings after the
Prophet ﷺ is Abu Bakr, then ʿUmar, then ʿUthman, then ʿAli.
Precedence is one thing, spiritual rank another, and love yet another! May
Allah be well-pleased with all of them.
It is written their Grandsheikh was saying about the third caliph Othman (r) ... In spite of this, Othman (r) didn't attain the spiritual ranks
attained by Abu Bakr (r) and Ali (r) because he sometimes held firmly to
his OWN DESIRES instead of putting them completely in line with the
Prophet's.
The problem is with the reason given, "because he sometimes held firmly to
his own desires instead of putting them completely in line with the
Prophet's." But this problem is eliminated when you remember that the same is explicitly reported from Sayyidina ʿUmar in Sahih al-Bukhari.
Therefore, it is even more possible with ʿUthman - Allah be well-pleased
with them.
This was also one reason for his martyrdom: misfortunes befell him as a result of his not being able to totally leave his own desires behind.... Among the Sahaba, the most active soul was the soul of Abu Bakr (r)
because he never put his desires in the first place; after him came Sayyidina Ali
(r) who, in like manner, attained strong soul-activity..."
This is why the Prophet ﷺ gave ʿAli the title of "Gate of the City of
Knowledge" and to no-one else - the City being the Prophet ﷺ himself.
Hence al-Shafiʿi said in his Diwan:
"
I call upon my Lord to witness that
ʿUthman is of high merit / and that ʿAli's high merit is shared by none.
Similarly, Imam Ahmad said that none of the Companions had as many merits
narrated about him than ʿAli. As to Abu Bakr, his spiritual closeness to
the Prophet ﷺ is established by his being the Prophet's ﷺ
intimate friend after Allah as mentioned in the hadith, and his sole
companion in the Cave as mentioned in the Qur'an.
I CAN NOT ACCEPT THIS! Prophet said about Sayiduna Usman
radiAllaho-annho that if he had 100 daughters he would have wed them one by one to him!
This was in reference to his peerless sense of virtue. The Prophet ﷺ
praised this specific quality of Sayyidina ʿUthman in many narrations,
among them the one you quote above. All the shouting in the world cannot
load it with more than it carries. Otherwise, you, brother Nur Ahmed
ʿAttari, should never shorten prayers when travelling, because ʿUthman -
whom you claim is the Crown of your Head - did not shorten them.
Was'salam,
Nur Ahmed Attari
Shaykh Ahmad ibn al-Mubarak relates in al-Ibriz that a certain man
approached a Wali and said to him: By Allah, I love you. The Wali (Sidi
ʿAbd al-ʿAziz al-Dabbagh) turned to him with a severe look and said: "Is
it not enough that Allah knows all things?" Then he walked away leaving
the man in tears. Shaykh Ahmad approached the claimant to love of the
Friends of Allah and said to him: "You have claimed a very big thing. No
doubt, you will be tested. Therefore brace up and be a man." Later, a
dispute arose between that man and Sidi ʿAbd al-ʿAziz over a fruit-tree
bordering each of their respective properties - for they were neighbors.
In the end, the man cursed Sidi ʿAbd al-ʿAziz and the truth about his
claim was exposed for all to see.
I keep the jewels of my knowledge concealed
Lest the ignorant see Truth and turn away.
How many an essential knowledge, if I divulged it,
I would be told for it: You are of the idol-worshippers;
And righteous men would deem licit my blood
And think well of the ugly deed they would commit.
- Zayn al-ʿAbidin, ʿAli ibn al-Husayn ibn ʿAli
(Allah be well-pleased with them.)
Blessings and greetings of Allah upon our Master Muhammad, his Family, and
all his Companions.ﷺ
Hajj Gibril
GF Haddad ©
[2000-07-02]
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