The Biography of Uthman Ibn Affan R Dhun Noorayn

'Uthmh's policies with his governors and their rights and duties 375
Keeping people safe in their own lands
Preserving security in the province was one of the most
important duties of the governor, and in order to achieve that he
did a number of things, the most important of which was carrying
out hadd punishments on evildoers and immoral people111 , which
helps to control and limit crimes that threaten people's lives and
property, leading to a reduction in the level of murder, theft,
banditry and other such crimes. It also included punishment for
the rumours that people fabricate against one another with
accusations of adultery and other crimes. Carrying out hadd
punishments in such cases prevents acts of verbal aggression
against people's honour and dignity. The matter is not limited to
protecting people from one another, rather the governors - on the
command of the caliphs - strove to protect their people from
vermin, insects and scorpions etc. al-Balgdhuri said: The governor
of Naseebeen wrote to Mu'gwiyah when he was 'Uthmih's
governor in greater Syria and al-Jazeerah, complaining that some
of the Muslims who were with him had been stung by scorpions.
Mu'gwiyah wrote back to him, telling him to order the people in
every quarter of the city to catch a certain number of scorpions
every night. He did that, and they would bring them to him and
he would issue orders that they be killed.[21
Jihad for the sake of Allah
Generally speaking, at the time of the Rightly-Guided
Caliphs, the governors were the leaders of jihad in those
provinces. The governors at the time of 'Uthmh played a large
role in the conquests, such as 'Abd-Allsh ibn 'Aamir ibn Kurayz,
al-Mugheerah ibn Shu'bah and Abu Moosa al-Ash'ari, who led
the conquests in the east; 'Abd-All& ibn Sa'd ibn Abi'l-Sarh who
led the conquests in North Africa; and Mu'iwiyah ibn Abi SufySn
who led the conquests in Armenia and Byzantine territory. Thus
we can see that in addition to their administrative role, the
['I al-Wiliiyah 'ala dduldtn, 2/71
['I Futooh al-Buldtn, by al-BalSdhuri, p. 183