The Commander of the Faithful and the third of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs.

He was a man of wealth and nobility prior to Islam and was one of the earliest converts to the religion, as he himself said, 'Verily, I am the fourth of four in Islãm' People swore allegiance to him after the death of 'Umar bin al-Khattab twenty-three years after the Migration. It was said that he was from amongst the few Companions to have memorised the entire Qur'an during the lifetime of the Messenger of God ﷺ, and during his own lifetime he brought the Quran together into a single volume. He successfully liberated a great number of lands in Africa and Asia.

He is one of the Elite Ten who were guaranteed Paradise. On the authority of Abu Hurayrah who said, 'Uthman bought Paradise from the Messenger of God ﷺ two occasions: on the day of Rumah and on the day of the Army of Difficulty. He was the intimate friend of the Messenger of God ﷺ and was given the title of Dhu’n-Nurayn, the Bearer of the Two Lights, in reference to the fact that he married two of the daughters of the Messenger of God ﷺ in succession; Rugayyah and Umm Kulthum. On the authority of Nizali bin Sabrah; "We said to 'Ali, "Tell us about 'Uthman. He replied, 'That is a man who is known as Dhun-Nurayn in the Supreme Assembly.

He was neither tall nor short, dark in complexion, with a large beard and large-jointed. He was broad-shouldered and used to dye his hair. He used to cap his teeth with gold. He was slim in physique, with a handsome face. 'Abdu' Llah bin Hazm said, I saw 'Uthman and I have never seen a man or a woman that was more beautiful than him.’ On the authority of 'Aishah who said, When the Messenger of God ﷺ married his daughter Umm Kulthum to 'Uthman, he said to her, 'Verily, your husband is the most resemblant of all people to your grandfather Ibrahim and your father Muhammad.’

He was sworn allegiance to as the caliph, three nights after 'Umar bin al-Khattab was buried and 'AbduLlah bin Mas'ud said, 'We have given allegiance to the best of us.'

He was blockaded for an entire month and eventually murdered in his own house, whilst reading the Quran, on the morning of Eidul-Adha, thirty-five years after the Migration of his father-in-law, the Messenger of God ﷺ. His death was the first of the major tribulations in Islam, once the door of tribulation had been cast wide open until the end of time, by the death of the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar bin al-Khattab.