Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

Hazrat Usman (Rad. A.)
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to less important posts for they were not at all capable of being appointed to higher posts. The times needed the appointment of men of caliber and good record to high office. Many companions of stainless character were available, and if Usman (Rad.A) had availed himself of their services history would have taken a different course. In his book The Caliphate, Sir William Muir has observed that the history of the period has been coloured by the jealousy and animosity between the Umayyads and the Abbasids. When the Abbasids came to power they tried to tarnish the history of the Umayyads. Sir William Muir observes that in these accounts, Marwan the unpopular cousin of Usman (Rad.A) has received constant abuse as the author of Usman’s (Rad.A) troubles. Marwan is painted as the evil genius, but all this is tinged by the Abbasid and antiUmayyad prejudices. Sir William Muir holds that the story of large free gifts to Marwan which fonned one of the grounds of impeachment against Hazrat Usman (Rad.A) reads like a party calumny. Assessment
Unfortunately, history has not done proper justice to Hazrat Usman (Rad.A). Extensive conquests were made during the Caliphate of Hazrat Usman (Rad.A). While sufficient details are available about the conquests made during the Caliphate of Hazrat Abu Bakr, and Hazrat Umar (Rad.A), no details are available about the conquests made during the Caliphate of Hazrat Usman (Rad.A). A greater part of Spain was conquered during the time of Hazrat Usman (Rad.A) but surprisingly no details are available in this behalf, and even the names of the territories occupied by the Muslims are not known. It appears that most of the history books were written during the Abbasid period, and the tendency with the pro-Abbasid writers was to suppress the achievements of the Umayyads, and the history of the period of Hazrat Usman (Rad.A) was mutilated because Usman (Rad.A) was an Umayyad.
Shia writers have been very loud in their criticism of Hazrat Usman (Rad.A). Even a writer like Ameer Ali has condemned Hazrat Usman (Rad.A) as an old man, feeble in character, and quite unequal to the task of Government. The view is obviously biased and therefore unfair.
The Sunni writers were supposed to take a favourable view of the Caliphate of Hazrat Usman (Rad.A), but as history books were mostly written during the Abbasid period, and the Abbasids were opposed to the Umayyads, the tendency with pro-Abbasid writers was to suppress the achievements of the Caliphate of Hazrat Usman (Rad.A) simply because he was an Umayyad.

294 Political and Cultural History of Islam
The source books that have come down to us are loaded with so much material unfavourable to Hazrat Usman (Rad.A), that some of the Sunni writers when writing about Hazrat Usman (Rad.A) took the apologetic way of approach, and shifted the blame to Marwan and other Umayyads around Hazrat Usman (Rad.A). These writers have purposely or otherwise projected the view that Hazrat Usman (Rad.A) was himself virtuous and honest and the Umayyads who were close to Hazrat Usman (Rad.A) were his evil genius, Sir William Muir’s view is that such allegations are frivolous, and are merely due to party calumny.
We do not have many books about the biography of Hazrat Usman (Rad.A). In Pakistan only two books in Urdu are available on the subject. One is a book by Raza Misri and the other is a book by Tana Hussain. Tana Hussain has not furnished much of biographical details about Hazrat Usman (Rad.A). A greater part of the book is devoted to the justification of the agitation against Hazrat Usman (Rad.A). Raza Misri has given some biographical details, but his impressions about the activities of Hazrat Usman (Rad.A) are on the whole unfavourable.
Unfortunately I have not come across any publication containing an objective assessment of Hazrat Usman (Rad.A) or his Caliphate. As I have studied the history of the period, and studied the facts as an impartial historian my impression is that much of the criticism that was levelled against Hazrat Usman (Rad.A) was misplaced, and the agitation against him was the result of a conspiracy sponsored by foreign powers with a view to subverting Islam from within. Nothing succeeds like success and nothing fails like failure. As the Caliphate of Hazrat Usman (Rad.A) came to an end in chaos and confusion culminating in his assassination, we cannot regard his rule as a Caliph to be a success. As a man Hazrat Usman (Rad.A) was not liable to any reproach; he was an embodiment of all the good qualities that a good Muslim should have. He was, however, not successful as a ruler. That was not so because of any lapse or weakness on hib part; that was so because he was ahead of the times. Hazrat Umar (Rad.A), his predecessor, ruled with a strong hand, and in this way, he kept the democratic tendencies of the Arabs under control. Hazrat Usman (Rad.A) tried to rule as a democrat, and in the absence of any safeguards to restrain the people from indulging in false propaganda, the liberties of the people degenerated into license, and brought the Muslim polity to grief. Hazrat Usman (Rad.A) did not succeed as the Caliph not because he was weak or he favoured his relatives, but because he was kind to the people, and the people took undue advantage of his kindness.