ʿAffān ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ (Arabic: عفان بن أبي العاص) was a famous 6th-century Arab merchant, a contemporary of the young Muhammad (c. 570–632) and the father of Uthman ibn Affan, the third Rashidun caliph (r. 644–656).

Affan ibn Abi al-As
Personal details
BornMecca, Arabia
DiedArabia
SpouseArwa bint Kurayz
Relations
Children
ParentAbu al-As ibn Umayya

His father was Abu al-As ibn Umayya. His nephew was Marwan ibn al-Hakam. His sister was Safiyya bint Abi al-As, who was the mother of Ramla bint Abi Sufyan (a wife of Muhammad).

Affan married Arwa bint Kurayz, who was the daughter of Kurayz ibn Rabi'ah and Umm Hakim bint Abd Al-Muttalib ibn Hashim. She was also a cousin of Muhammad.

His son Uthman was born in Ta'if. The exact date is disputed: both 576 and 583 are indicated.[1]: 57  He is listed as one of the 22 Meccans "at the dawn of Islam" who knew how to write.[2]

Affan died at a young age while travelling abroad, leaving Uthman with a large inheritance. He became a merchant like his father, and his business flourished, making him one of the richest men among the Quraysh.[3]

Some of his important relatives and the family tree

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Quraysh tribe
Waqida bint AmrAbd Manaf ibn QusaiĀtikah bint Murrah
Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf‘Abd ShamsBarraHalaMuṭṭalib ibn Abd ManafHashimSalma bint Amr
Umayya ibn Abd ShamsʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib
HarbAbū al-ʿĀsʿĀminahʿAbdallāhHamzaAbī ṬālibAz-Zubayral-ʿAbbās Abū Lahab
ʾAbī Sufyān ibn Harbal-ḤakamʿUthmānʿAffānMUHAMMAD
(Family tree)
Khadija bint KhuwaylidʿAlī
(Family tree)
Khawlah bint Ja'farIbn Abbas
Muʿāwiyah IMarwān IʿUthmān ibn ʿAffānRuqayyaFatimahMuhammad ibn al-HanafiyyahʿAli ibn ʿAbdallāh
SufyanidsMarwanidsal-Ḥasanal-Ḥusayn
(Family tree)
Abu Hasim
(Imām of al-Mukhtār and Hashimiyya)
Muhammad
"al-Imām"

(Abbasids)
Ibrāhim "al-Imām"al-Saffāḥal-Mansur

Uthman (aka Uthman ibn Affan) is known as the Possessor of Two Lights. This is because he was greatly loved by Muhammad and was married to two of his daughters. He was first married to Ruqayyah bint Muhammad (Muhammad's second eldest daughter), and when she died, Hafsa bint Umar came to be the wife of Muhammad, while Umm Kulthum came to be the wife of Uthman.

Umm Kulthum, the third daughter of Muhammad, was married to Uthman after the death of her older sister Ruqayyah. Muhammad had four daughters: Zaynab bint Muhammad, who married Abu al-As ibn al-Rabi'; Ruqqayah bint Muhammad, who married Uthman ibn Affan; Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad, who also married Uthman ibn Affan; and Fatimah al-Zahrah (Fatima bint Muhammad), who married Ali ibn Abu Talib.

See also

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Sources

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  1. ^ Muhammad ibn Saad. Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir Volume 3. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). The Companions of Badr. London: TaHa Publishers.
  2. ^ Ahmed ibn Jabir al-Baladhuri. Kitab Futuh al-Buldan. Translated by Murgotten, F. C. (1924). The Origins of the Islamic State Part 2, p. 271. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., & London: P. S. King & Son, Ltd.
  3. ^ Al-Mubarakphuri, Safi-ur-Rahman (1996), Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum [The Sealed Nectar], Riyadh: Dar-us-Salam Publications.
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