Hazrat Uthman Ghani was born in Ta’if. He was born into the wealthy Umayyad (Banu Umayya) clan of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca, seven years after Muhammad. Uthman's father, Affan, died young while travelling abroad but left a large inheritance to Uthman. Hazrat Uthman followed the same profession as his father, and his business flourished, making him one of the richest men among the Qurayshi tribe.
His mother was Awra who was the daughter of Um Hakim bint Abdul Mutalib, who was the twin sister of Abdullah, father of Muhammad (peach be upon him), and therefore his first cousin. She also died before AD 610. On returning from a business trip to Syria in 611, Uthman found out that Muhammad (peace be upon him), had declared his mission. After a discussion with his friend Harat Abu Bakr, Hazrat Uthman decided to convert to Islam, and Hazrat Abu Bakr took him to Muhammad (peace be upon him), to whom he declared his faith. Hazrat Uthman thus became one of the earliest converts to Islam, following Hazrat Ali, Hazrat Zayd, Hazrat Abu Bakr and few others.
His conversion to Islam angered his clan, the Banu Ummayyah, who strongly opposed Muhammad's teachings. Hazrat Uthman was a shrewd businessman and a successful trader from his youth, which contributed greatly to the Rashidun Empire. Hazrat Umar had fixed the allowance of the people and on assuming office, Hazrat Uthman increased it by about 25%. Hazrat Umar had placed a ban on the sale of lands and the purchase of agricultural lands in conquered territories.
Hazrat Uthman withdrew these restrictions, in view of the fact that the trade could not flourish. Hazrat Uthman also permitted people to draw loans from the public treasury. Under Hazrat Umar it had been laid down as a policy that the lands in conquered territories were not to be distributed among the combatants, but were to remain the property of the previous owners. The army felt dissatisfied at this decision, but Hazrat Umar suppressed the opposition with a strong hand. Hazrat Uthman followed the policy devised by Hazrat Umar and there were more conquests, and the revenues from land increased considerably.
Hazrat Umar, the predecessor of Hazrat Uthman was very strict in the use of money from the public treasury. Apart from the meagre allowance that had been sanctioned in his favour, Hazrat Umar took no money from the treasury. He did not receive any gifts, nor did he allow any of his family members to accept any gift from any quarter.
During the time of Hazrat Uthman there was some relaxation in such strictness. Hazrat Uthman did not draw any allowance from the treasury for his personal use, nor did he receive a salary, he was a wealthy man with sufficient resources of his own, but unlike Hazrat Umar, Hazrat Uthman accepted gifts and allowed his family members to accept gifts from certain quarters.
Hazrat Uthman honestly expressed that he had the right to utilize the public funds according to his best judgment, and no one criticized him for that. The economic reforms introduced by Hazrat Uthman had far reaching effects; Muslims as well as non-Muslims of the Rashidun Empire enjoyed an economically prosperous life during his reign.
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