His patronymic name was "Abu Amr" and father's name was "Affan bin Abul-As". Hazrat Usman was one of the few persons of Mecca who knew reading and writing. He was the third Caliph of Islam. It was during the caliphate of Hazrat Usman (R.A.) the Muslims conquered a number of new areas. During his period Muslims were ruling Natalya and Asia Minor in the west including Cyprus. Afghanistan, Samarkand,
Tashkent, Khurasan and Tabrastan in the East and North East; and Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco in North Africa, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Persia or Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and of course Arabia (now Saudi Arabia) and Yemen including the Gulf states. was one of the scribes of the “Wahee" (Revelation) and also used to write other documents (letters and messages etc.) of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu 'Alaihi wa Sallam). One of the magnificent services to Islam done by Hazrat Usman (R.A.) was to safeguard any possible change in the codex of the Holy Qur'an. After the conquests by the Muslims hundreds of thousands of non-Arabs, whose mother tongue was not Arabic, accepted Islam because of its teachings. To make it easy for non Arabs to read Quran, the Holy Qur'an, which was written and compiled in Book form during the time of Hazrat Abu Bakr (R.A.) was changed to Medinese codex. However for this great service Hazrat Usman (R.A.) is famous as the "Jami'ul-Qur'an" (The compiler of the Qur'an). It would be noted that Usman (R.A.) was at the peak of modern democratic principles. It is unfortunate that the masses at that time were not trained for that highest form of democracy. They have had experienced in the past of the tyranny of Persian and Roman Emperors and their officers. Hazrat Usman used all the democratic principles, now prevailing in the modern society, to satisfy the insurgents. Hazrat Usman (Raziallahu 'Anhu) was assassinated on Friday, the 17th Dhul-Hijjah, 35 A.H. (the 17th July, 656 A.D.) by some insurgents. Hazrat Ali was the 4th Caliph of Islam.
