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Uthman ibn Hunayf

عثمان بن حنيف

Kufa

An Ansari, brother of Sahl ibn Hunayf; al-Tirmidhi alone said he fought at Badr, while the majority say his first campaign was Uhud; Umar sent him to survey the land after Kufa was conquered, and Ali appointed him over Basra but Talha and al-Zubayr took it from him, the well-known episode behind the battle of the Camel; he died in Mu'awiya's caliphate.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
Companion
Counted among
Sunni
Era
The Prophetic Era · The Rashidun Caliphate · The Umayyad Period
Region
Arabia
Review
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In space

Kufa

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Battles

Place in the story

  • CompanionTradition

Sunni (transmitted)

Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.

Summary

Uthman ibn Hunayf al-Ansari; for his lineage Ibn Hajar refers to his brother Sahl's entry 1. Al-Tirmidhi alone said he witnessed Badr; the majority said his first battle was Uhud 1.

Measuring the land

Ibn Abi Shayba relates from Abu Mijlaz: Umar sent Uthman ibn Hunayf over the land survey — after Kufa was conquered — and in Bukhari, Umar said to him and to Ammar: "do you fear you have loaded the land with more than it can bear?" 2.

The governorship of Basra

Ali had appointed him over Basra before he came to it; Talha and al-Zubayr overpowered him there — "and there was the famous affair of the battle of the Camel", as Ibn Hajar says 2. His nephew Abu Umama ibn Sahl and a number related from him; they said he settled at Kufa and died in Mu'awiya's caliphate 2.

Connections

Member of
The Ansar
Lived in
Kufa

People and things also explored

al-Bara' ibn AzibExpedition of al-SawiqExpedition of BuhranExpedition of Dhu AmarrAbd Allah ibn RawahaAbdullah ibn Amr ibn HaramAbdullah ibn AtikAmr ibn al-Jamuh

Sources

  1. al-Isaba fi tamyiz al-sahaba — Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, p. 1005
  2. al-Isaba fi tamyiz al-sahaba — Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, p. 1006
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Uthman ibn Hunayf”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/uthman-ibn-hunayf/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

al-Bara' ibn Azib

A Companion of the Aws, as was his father; he was judged too young at Badr along with Ibn Umar and sent back, then took part at Uhud; he joined fourteen or fifteen expeditions with the Prophet, took al-Rayy, was with Ali at the Camel and Siffin, settled in Kufa and died in the governorship of Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr.