SCHISM 55He spent lavishly for the public good; for example, he expanded the mosque
in Medina for Mohammed, and when the Muslims needed water, he bought
a valuable well from one of the Jewish tribes and donated it to the public.
Staggering wealth, dazzling beauty, two of the Prophet's daughters for
wives-what did this man lack? And yet Othman seemed haunted by the
fear that he was not good enough. He spent much of his time fasting,
praying, and reading the Qur'an. Perhaps his extravagant donations to the
public good were attempts to deserve the extraordinary good fortune he al-
ready enjoyed.
Or perhaps he worried that his character was not quite at the level of
the Prophet's other close companions. He missed the battle of Badr be-
cause his wife was sick. At the battle of Uhud, when a rumor spread that
Mohammed had been killed, Othman was among the Muslims who aban-
doned hope and left the field. Othman redeemed himself at the Battle of
the Moat, but shortly after that battle, his son died, and Othman seemed
to feel that God was still punishing him. To earn forgiveness, he made a
practice of buying slaves and liberating one each Friday.
After Mohammed died, Othman worried that the community might fall
apart, but in addition he seemed particularly afraid for his own individual
soul. "How will we now be safe from the snares of the devil?" he lamented.
Fear of the hereafter consumed the poor man. "Every day is doomsday," he
once said, by which he meant there is never an instant when it's safe to stop
being good, so he for one stepped up his fasting and praying, and dispensed
ever more extravagant contributions, trying desperately to deserve a place in
paradise that the Prophet Mohammed had assured him was already his. This
haunted giant of benevolence became the third khalifa oflslam.
When Omar began his khalifate, Islam had been a new kind of social or-
ganism still growing into its identity. Omar's khalifate was filled with a sense
of spiritual adventure, invention, and discovery. By the time Othman took
charge, the Islamic community was a government in control of a vast territory.
It was no longer enough to preach, defend, attack, and spread holy excite-
ment. Muslim leaders now had to collect taxes, run courts, keep bridges and
highways in repair, set salaries, define duties for various positions-all that
dull administrative stuff of daily life. Managing this transition fell to Othman.
One great project Othman saw to fruition during the first half of his
khalifate was the preparation of a definitive edition of the Qur'an. He set