The question was popular among the candidates and most of them who attempted it performed fairly, while few candidates could not write much on the circumstances that made cUthmān b. cAffān earn the tittle Dhū-Nūrayn. They were writing on the story of how cUthmān b. cAffān became the third caliph. To get good mark, candidates were expected to mention the following points:

cUthmān b. cAffān was the the third successor of the Prophet (S.A.W.) born in the year 573 C.E.( Introduction)

1. The title Dhū-Nūrayn means the possessor of two lights.
2. This title was given based on his close relationship with the Prophet (S.A.W.)
3. The closeness was such that the Prophet (S.A.W.) gave him his daughter Ruqayyah in marriage.
4. He and his wife Ruqayyah were among the first batch of Muslims to migrate to Abyssinia.
5. On their return to Makkah, Ruqayyah died.
6. cUthmān decided not to re-marry after the death of Ruqayyah.
7. This is because he could not take anyone else as a father- in-law after the Prophet (S.A.W.)
8. The Prophet (S.A.W.) loved him so much that he gave him another daughter Ummu Kulthūm in marriage.
9. This was in the third year of Hijrah.
10. Ummu Kulthūm too died in the fourth year of Hijrah.
11. The holy Prophet (S.A.W.) expressed his admiration for his conduct after the death of  his second wife.
12. As a result he remarked that, if he had another unmarried daughter, he would have married her to him.
13. His marriage with two daughters of the Prophet (S.A.W.) earned him the honorific title Dhū-Nūrayn.