13. The verse “Is one who is devoutly obedient during periods of the night, prostrating and standing…” revealed with regards to ‘Uthman radiya Llahu ‘anhu according to ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar radiya Llahu ‘anhuma.

قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: أَمَّنْ هُوَ قَانِتٌ، عَامَّةُ القُرَّاءِ قَرَأوا: َمَّنْ بِتَشْدِيْدِ المِيْمِ، وَقَرَأَ نَافِعُ، وابْنُ كَثِيْرٍ، وَيَحْيَى، والأَعْمَشُ، وَحَمْزَةُ بِتَخْفِيْفِهَا، فَمَنْ شَدَّدَ يَكُوْنُ أَصْلُهُ: أمَّ مَنْ هُوَ، فَأُدْغِمَتْ إِحْدَيْهِمَا فِي الأُخْرَى بِكَوْنِ المِيْمِ صِلَةٌ، وَمَعْنَاهُ الاِسْتِفْهَامُ، وَجَوَابُه مَحْذُوْفٌ – يَعْنِي: أَمَّنْ هُوَ قَانِتٌ كَمَنْ هُوَ غَيْرُ قَانِتٍ؟ وَمَنْ يُخَفِف ]…[ الأَلِفُ فِي: أَمَنْ اِسْتِفْهَامًا، يَعْنِي: أَهَذَا كَمَنْ جَعَلَ للهِ أَنْدَادًا؟ [الزمر: 8]

قُوْلُهُ: قَانِتٌ– أَيْ: مُطِيْعٌ، عَنْ ابْنِ عَبَّاس.

وَقَالَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ: هُوَ قِرَاءَةُ القُرْآنِ وَطُوْلُ القِيَام

آنَاءَ الَّلْيلِ: ساعاته، وَاحِدُهَا: إِنَى، نحو: مِعَى وأَمْعَاء.

سَاجِدًا وَقَائِمًا: نَصْبٌ عَلَى الحَال.

يَحْذَرُ الآخِرَةَ أَيْ: هَوْلها.

ويَرْجُوْا رَحْمَةَ رَبِهِ: هُمَا فِي تَقْدِيْرِ الحَالِ، فَإنَّ الخَوْفَ وَالرَّجَاءَ مِنْ نُعُوتِ أَوْلِيَاءِ اللهِ.

ثُمَّ قَالَ: هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الَّذِيْنَ يَعْلَمُوْنَ: جَوَابُ الاِسْتِفْهَامِ، مَعْنَاهُ: أَمَّنْ هُوَ عَالِمٌ بِاللهِ وَجَلَالَتِهِ قَانِتٌ لَهُ، سَاجِدًا وَقَائمًا، وَالَّذِيْنَ لَا يَعْلَمُوْنَ، كَمَنْ هُوَ جَاهِلٌ بِاللهِ وَصِفَاتِهِ، مُعْرِضًا عَنْ عِبَادَتِهِ.

إِنَّمَا يَتَذَكَّرَ: يَتَّعِظُ بِهَذِهِ المَوَاعِظ.

أُوْلُوا الأَلْبَابِ: العُقَلَاء، فَيَعْلَمُونَ اللهَ خَالِقَهم ورَازِقَهُم، فَيَعْبُدُونَهُ لوَجْهِهِ، وَهَذِهِ الصِّفَاتُ الحَمِيْدَةُ فِيْمَا اجْتَمَعَتْ فِي ذِيْ النُوْرَيْن.

Regarding the verse, Is one who is devoutly obedient during periods of the night,[1] majority of the leading reciters of the Qur’an read the letter Mim with a Tashdid.

Nafi’, Ibn Kathir, Yahya[2], ‘A’mash, and Hamzah recite it without a Tashdid.

Those who recite it with Tashdid render the original form of the sentence as being an inquiry, and by incorporating the letter Mim into the other, the predicate is omitted. “Is he who devoutly prays the same as he who does not?”

Those that recite it without Tashdid[3] interpret this as a rhetorical question, and render the meaning as, “Is the one with these qualities like the one who attributes equals to Allah.”

The term Qanit means: Obedient, according to Ibn ‘Abbas.[4]

Ibn ‘Umar said: It refers to the recitation of the Qur’an and long episodes of prayer.[5]

Ana’ al Layl: Hours of the night

Sajida wa Qa’ima: Standing for long periods in prayer.

Yahdharu al Akhirah: (Fearing the hereafter) in other words its horror.

Wa Yarju Rahmat Rabbihi: (And hoping for the mercy of his lord) Fear and hope are from the traits of the close friends of Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala.

Then Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala says, Are those who know equal to those who do not know, an answer to the inquiry. Meaning is he who has knowledge of Allah and his greatness; devout in worshiping Him prostrating and standing, like those who do not know, that is those who are ignorant of Him, His attributes, and negligent of His worship.

Innama Yatadhakkaru: (They will remember) That is take admonishments from these counsels.

Ulu al Albab: Rationally sound people. They will recognize Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala is their Creator and Provider, worshiping him solely and only for that reason. These praiseworthy traits were all found in ‘Uthman Dhu al Nurayn (the possessor of the two lights)

أَنْبَأَنَا أَبُوْ عَلِيٍّ الحَسَنُ بْنُ أَحْمَدَ الحَدَّادُ إذْنًا، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللهِ الحَافِظُ، حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيْمُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللهِ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِسْحَاقَ، حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَلْقَمَةَ عَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الفَرْوِيُّ، عَنْ عُثْمَانَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ التَيْمِيُّ، قَالَ: قَالَ أَبِي: لَأَغْلِبَنَّ اللَّيْلَةَ عَلَى المَقَامِ، قَالَ: فَلَمَّا صَلَّيْنَا العَتَمَةَ، تَخَلَّصْتُ إِلَى المَقَامِ حَتَّى قُمْتُ فِيْهِ، قَالَ: فَبَيْنَا أَنَا قَائِمٌ إِذَا رَجُلٌ وَضَعَ يَدَهُ بَيْنَ كَتِفَيَّ، فَإِذَا هُوَ عُثْمَانُ بْنُ عَفَّانَ، قَالَ: فَبَدَأَ بِأُمِ القُرْآنِ فَقَرَأَ حَتَى خَتَمَ القُرْآنَ، فَرَكَعَ وَسَجَدَ، ثُمَّ أَخَذَ نَعْلَيْهِ، فَلَا أَدْرِيْ صَلَّى قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ شَيْئًا أَمْ لَا

Abu ‘Ali Al Hassan ibn Ahmed al Haddad narrated to us in commission—Abu Nuaim Ahmed ibn ‘Abdullah al Hafiz narrated to us—Ibrahim ibn ‘Abdullah narrated to us—Muhammad ibn Ishaq narrated to us—Qutaybah narrated to us—Abu ‘Alqamah ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad al Farwi narrated to us—from ‘Uthman ibn ‘Abdul Rahman al Taymi, who said:

My father said, “I will spend the majority of the night in prayer.”

He said, “After we performed the ‘Isha’ prayer, I went to fulfil my intention and stood up in prayer. While I was engaged in prayer someone placed his hand on my shoulder, it was ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan. He started with Surah Fatihah and read until he completed the Qur’an and went into prostration. He then [after completing] took his shoes and left. I am not sure if he had performed any prayers before this or not.[6]

وَقَالَ أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَمْرٍو، حَدَّثَنَا الحَسَنُ بْنُ سُفْيَانَ، حَدَّثَنَا المُسَيَّبُ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ المُبَارَكِ، عَنْ يُوْنُسَ، عَنْ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ، أَنَّ امْرَأَةَ عُثْمَانَ قَالَتْ: لَئِنْ قَتَلْتُمُوْهُ صَوَّامًا قَوَّامًا، كَانَ يُحْيِي اللَّيْلَةَ فِي رَكْعَةٍ يَقْرَأُ فِيْهَا القُرْآن.

وَقَدْ اخْتَلَفَ العُلَمَاءُ فِي تَسْمِيَةِ عُثْمَانَ ذَا النُوْرَيْنِ فِي أَقَاوِيْلَ ثَلَاثَةٍ، أَحْسَنُهَا لَأَنَهُ كَانَ صِهْرُ النَّبِيِّ عَلَى ابْنَتَيْنِ، رُقَيَّةَ وَأُمِّ كَلْثُوْمٍ، وَلَمْ يَكُنْ أَحَدٌ صِهْرَ نَبِيٍّ مَا عَلَى اثْنَتَيْنِ قَبْلَهُ.

الثَّانِي: لِأَنَّهُ كَانَ يَخْتُمُ القُرْآنَ فِي الوِتْرِ، فَالقُرْآنُ نُوْرٌ، وَقِيَامُ اللَّيْلِ نُوْرٌ.

وَالثَالِثُ: لَأَنَّهُ كَانَ لَهُ سَخَاءان، أَحَدُهُمَا قَبْلَ الإسْلَامِ وَالثَّانِي بَعْدَ الإسْلَام.

Abu Nuaim said: Abu ‘Amr[7] ibn Hamdan narrated to us—Hassan ibn Sufyan narrated to us—Musayyab narrated to us—Ibn Mubarak narrated to us—from Yunus—from al Zuhri—from Abu Salamah—the wife of ‘Uthman radiya Llahu ‘anhu said:

If you murdered him, you murdered him in a state of perpetual fast and prayer. He would spend the night reciting the entire Qur’an in a single Rak’ah.[8]

The scholars differed on why he was named Dhu al Nurayn (Possessor of two lights) resulting in three opinions:

The best and most sound view was that he was called this because he was the son-in-law of the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam for two of his daughters; Umm Kulthum and Ruqayyah. There was no other person who married two daughters of a Prophet before him.

The second view is that he would finish the recitation of the entire Qur’an in a single Rak’ah at night. The Qur’an is a light and standing in prayer is also light, hence the possessor of the two lights.

The third view he was generous in both eras, before and after Islam.

NEXT⇒ 14. ‘Uthman radiya Llahu ‘anhu being a legitimate Khalifah and his reign was a Caliphate that was of mercy and Prophethood. As was the reigns of the Two Sages and ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu.

[1] Surah al Zumar: 9.

[2] He is Yahya ibn Wathab al Kufi, the Qari’ and devout worshipper. Al Dhahabi: Ma’rifat al Qurra’ al Kibar, pg. 43.

[3] The words in brackets are not discernible. They appear like this in the original (لــوں).

[4] Tafsir al Tabari, 10/621.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Its Isnad is Sahih. It is reported by Abu Nuaim al Asbahani in Ma’rifat al Sahabah (277) from Ibrahim ibn ‘Abdullah al Asbahani with this isnad. Ibrahim ibn ‘Abdullah is al Qassar. Al Khatib mentioned his biography in Tarikh Baghdad (3159). The narrator of the tradition is ‘Abdul Rahman ibn ‘Uthman ibn ‘Ubaidullah al Taymi, who was a Sahabi. Ibn Hajar: Al Isabah (5161). It has another chain rerpoted by ‘Abdul Razzaq in his al Musannaf (4653) from Ibn Jurayh—Yazid ibn Khasifah informed me—from al Sa’ib ibn Yazid that a man asked ‘Abdul Rahman al Taymi about the Salah of Talhah and he replied, “If you desire I will inform you about the Salah of ‘Uthman…” Its chain is Sahih as well.

[7] Abu ‘Amr: He is Muhammad ibn Ahmed ibn Hamdan al Nisaburi. He was deemed reliable by al Khalili, and praised by al Hakim. Refer to Al Thiqat Mimman Lam Yaqa’a Fi al Kutub al Sittah of Ibn Qutlubaghah.

[8] The isnad is Da’if. Abu Nuaim narrates it in Ma’rifat al Sahabah (275) from Abu ‘Amr Muhammad ibn Ahmed al Nisaburi with this isnad. In the chain is Musayab ibn Wadih al Sulami. Abu Hatim al Razi, al Saji, Ibn ‘Adi, al Daraqutni , al ‘Uqayli, and others deemed him a weak narrator. Lisan al Mizan, 6/49. Ibn Mubarak narrates it in Al Raqa’iq (1315) from ‘Asim ibn Sulaiman—from Ibn Sirin that he said, “The wife of ‘Uthman said when they entered to kill him, ‘If you kill him, then you will be killing a man spends the entire night reciting the entire Qur’an in a single Rak’ah.’”

Note: Ibn Sirin did not witness the killing of ‘Uthman, this renders the narration Mursal (narrating from a person you did not meet). But the previous narrations collaborate the fact that he would spend the entire engaged in prayer.

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