Siege of Uthman

Uthman Ibn Affan, the third Rashidun caliph, was assassinated at the end of a siege upon his house. Initially a protest, the siege escalated following an apparently wrongly attributed threat as well as the death of a protester. The protesters turned rebels had demanded a new caliph, Uthman had refused and on June 17, 656 (35 AH), as his house was set alight, some (about 3) protestors were able to jump to the back of his house, where they found him reading Quran. They gave him a blow over the head and stabbed him.

Uthman's death had a polarizing effect in the Muslim world at the time. Questions were raised not only regarding his character and policies but also the relationship between Muslims and the state, religious beliefs regarding rebellion and governance, and the qualifications of rulership in Islam.[1]

Background

Uthman was besieged by rioters for several reasons, chief of these being the appointment of his relatives, the Banu Umayya, as governors of key Islamic provinces.[2] The dissatisfaction with his regime and the governments appointed by him wasn't restricted to the provinces outside Arabia.[3] When Uthman's kin, especially Marwan, gained control over him, Uthman lost control over his caliphate and many of the companions, including most of the members of elector council, withdrew their support for him.[4]

Qurra dispute

There was also a movement towards more autonomous tribal groupings, which was particularly strong in Kufa, in Mesopotamia; they wanted to rule their own states. Among them developed a group called the Qurra, which later became known as the Kharijites.[5] The earliest reference to these people are as Ahl al-Qurra, the people of the village, those who fought with Abu Bakr against the desert tribes of Yamama during the Ridda wars when some of the tribes refused to pay the zakat.[6][7] Afterwards they were granted trusteeship over some of the lands in Sawad in Mesopotamia and were now called Ahl al Ayyam, those who had taken part in the eastern conquests.[8][5] Some modern scholars like R. E. Brunnow trace the origins of the Qurra and the Kharijites back to Bedouin stock and desert tribesmen, who had become soldiers not out of commitment to Islam but to share the spoils. Brunnow held that the Kharijites were Bedouin Arabs or full blooded Arabs.[9]

The Qurra received the highest stipend of the Muslim army and they had the use of the best lands that they came to regard as their private domain. The Qurra received stipends varying between 2000 and 3000 dirhams, while the majority of the rest of the troops received only 250 to 300 dirhams. The other Ridda tribesmen in Kufa in Mesopotamia, resented the special position given to the Qurra. The tension between the Ridda tribesmen and the Qurra threatened the Qurra's newly acquired prestige. The Qurra therefore felt obliged to defend their position in the new but rapidly changing society.

The Qurra were mainly based in Kufa.[10] They had not been involved in Syria. Later, when Uthman declined to give them more lands in Persia[8][11] they felt that their status was being reduced and therefore started to cause trouble.[11][12] He also removed the distinction between the Ridda and pre-Ridda tribesmen which was not to their liking and lessened their prestige.[8][13][14] As a result, they rebelled.[11][15][14][16]

Some of the people with their tribal names as Qurra had been expelled from Kufa, for fomenting trouble and were sent to Muawiyah in Syria. Then they were sent to Abd al-Rahman ibn Khalid, who sent them to Uthman in Medina. In Medina they took an oath that they would not cause trouble and following the example of Muhammad, Uthman accepted their word and let them go.[17] They then split up and went to various different Muslim centers and started fomenting rebellion, particularly in Egypt.

The Qurra then felt that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari could look after their interests better. In 655 the Qurra stopped Uthman's governor Sa'id ibn al-'As at Jara'a, preventing him from entering Kufa and declared Abu Musa al-Ashari to be their governor.[18]

In 656, the Qurra approached Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, the son of Abu Bakr and the adopted son of Ali and asked him why he was not a governor. They had fought under the service of his father in the Ridda wars. They also asked Uthman's adopted son, Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa, who Uthman had refused to appoint as a governor of any province, why he was not a governor.

Rebellion

Dissatisfaction finally led to rebellion in Egypt, Kufa and Basra. When Egyptian rebels gathered near Medina, Uthman asked Ali to speak with them. The delegates of emigrants led by Ali beside the delegates of Ansar led by Muhammad Ibn Maslamah met them and persuaded them to return by promising them in the name of the caliph redress for all their grievances and agreeing to act as guarantors. Due to their mediation and Uthman's commitment, the rebels backed down. As the rebel party departed back towards Egypt, they were overtaken by a courier from Medina, upon whom they discovered a letter which allegedly bore Caliph Uthman's official seal. The letter instructed the Egyptian governor to kill the rebel party once it arrived back home. Historians now consider the letter to have been issued not by Uthman, but his secretary, Marwan ibn Al-Hakam. However, upon discovering the contents of the letter, the rebel party immediately returned to Medina and began the siege.[19]

Beginning of the siege

When Egyptian rebels returned to Medina, outraged by the official letter ordering the capital punishment of their leaders, Ali as the guarantor of Uthman's promises asked him to speak with the rebels directly. Uthman denied any knowledge about the letter and Ali and Muhammad Ibn Maslamah attested to this. But at this time the choices offered by the rebels amounted to resignation or abdication by Uthman and selection of another caliph. As turmoil broke out Ali left them. Ali seems to have broken with Uthman in despair over his own inability to break the influence of Marwan on the caliph. Ali intervened only after being informed that the rebels were preventing the delivery of water to the besieged caliph.[20] He tried to mitigate the severity of the siege by his insistence that Uthman should be allowed to have water.[21] Ali went to the extent of even sending his own sons to protect Uthman's house when he was in danger of being attacked.[22][23] The rebels protested against this and transgressed as a result.[24]

Uthman's address in the Prophet's Mosque

On the first Friday after the siege, Uthman addressed the congregation in the mosque. After praising God and blessing and wishing peace on Muhammad, Uthman invited the attention of the people to the commandment in the Quran requiring the people to obey God, His Apostle, and those in authority among them. He observed that the Muslims had been enjoined to settle all matters by mutual consultation. He said that he had kept the doors of consultation wide open. All the allegations that had been levelled against him had been duly explained by him and shown to be false. He had expressed his readiness to solve the legitimate grievances of the people, if any. He observed that under the circumstances it was uncharitable on the part of some persons to create disturbances in Mecca. He said that he was not afraid of death, but he did not want the Muslims to be guilty of bloodshed. To him the solidarity of the Muslim community was very dear and in order to prevent dissension among the Muslims he had instructed his supporters to refrain from violence. He wanted the people to be afraid of God and not to indulge in activities subversive of Islam. He pointed out that the foreign powers smarting under their defeat inflicted by the Muslim arms had sponsored some conspiracies to subvert Islam. He warned the people not to play in the hands of the enemies of Islam. He appealed to the rebels to retire from Medina. He wanted the people of Medina to support the cause of truth and justice and withhold their support from the rebels bent on mischief.

Deepening of the crisis

With the departure of the pilgrims from Medina to Mecca, the hands of the rebels were further strengthened and as a consequence the crisis deepened further. The rebels knew that after the Hajj the Muslims gathered at Mecca, from all parts of the Muslim world, would march to Medina to support the Caliph. They therefore decided to take action against Uthman before the pilgrimage was over.

It is related that during the course of the siege Mugheera bin Shu'ba went to Uthman and placed three courses of action before him, firstly, to go forth and fight against the rebels, secondly, to mount a camel and go to Mecca and thirdly to move to Syria .. Uthman rejected all the three proposals. He rejected the first proposal saying that he did not want to be the first Caliph during whose time blood is shed. He turned down the second proposal to escape to Mecca on the ground that he had heard from Muhammad that a man of the Quraish would be buried in Mecca on whom would be half the chastisement of the world, and he did not want to be that person. He rejected the third proposal on the ground that he could not forsake Medina.

Abdullah bin Salam, a companion of Muhammad visited the house of Uthman and he is reported to have addressed the besiegers as follows:

"Slay him not, for by Allah not a man among you shall slay him, but he shall meet the Lord mutilated without a hand, and verily the sword of God has continued sheathed, but surely by Allah if you slay him the Lord will indeed draw it, and will never sheath it from you. Never was a Prophet slain, but there were slain on account of him 70,000 persons, and never was a Caliph slain, but 35,000 Persons were killed on his account."

A companion Nayyar bin Ayyad Aslami who joined the rebels exhorted them to enter the house and assassinate Uthman. When the rebels under the leadership of Nayyar bin Ayyad advanced to rush into the house, Kathir bin Salat Kundi, a supporter of Uthman, shot an arrow which killed Nayyar. That infuriated the rebels. They demanded that Kathir bin Salat Kundi should be handed over to them. Uthman said that he could not thus betray a person who had shot an arrow in his defense. That precipitated the matters. Uthman had the gates of the house shut. The gate was guarded by Hasan, Hussein, Abdullah bin Az-Zubair, Abdullah ibn Umar, Muhammad ibn Talha, Marwan and a few other persons. Open fighting now began between the rebels and the supporters of Uthman. There were some casualties among the rebels. Among the supporters Hasan, Marwan and some other persons were wounded.

Assassination of Uthman

The rebels increased their pressure and reaching the door of the house of Uthman set it on fire. Some rebels climbed the houses of the neighbors and then jumped into the house of Uthman. It was July 17, 656 C.E. and Uthman was fasting that day. The previous night he had seen Muhammad in a dream. Muhammad had said,"If you wish help can be sent to you and if you want you can break your fast with us this evening. We will welcome you." Uthman opted for the second. That made Uthman know that it was his last day of life. He was assassinated while reciting the Quran, The ayat of Surah Baqarah "137. So if they believe in the like of that which you believe, then they are rightly guided, but if they turn away, then they are only in opposition. So Allah will suffice you against them. And He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower". According to some traditions, the blood-stained Quran he was reciting from is still preserved in a museum in Tashkent today. Other copies of the Quran, preserved in other cities, are also claimed to be "Uthman's Quran".

In 656, Uthman ibn al-Affan, was killed. These people were said to have been among Uthman’s murderers: Muhammd ibn Hazif, Ibn Hazm, Kanane ibn boshr Tajibi, Ummar ibn Hamq Khazai, Abdul Rahman bin Udais al-Balawi and Sudan ibn Hamran.[25]

Footnotes

1. Valerie Jon Hoffman, The Essentials of Ibadi Islam, pg. 8. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2012. ISBN 9780815650843
2. Madelung (1997), pp. 87 and 88
3. Madelung (1997), p. 90
4. Madelung (1997), pp. 92–107
5. Timani, Hussam (2008). Modern Intellectual Readings of the Kharijites. Peter Lang. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-8204-9701-3.
6. Timani, Hussam (2008). Modern Intellectual Readings of the Kharijites. Peter Lang. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-8204-9701-3.
7. Muawiya Restorer of the Muslim Faith by Aisha Bewley, page 14, with text from Al-Baladuri
8. Muawiya Restorer of the Muslim Faith By Aisha Bewley Page 13
9. Modern Intellectual Readings of the Kharijites By Hussam S. Timani Page 49
10. Timani, Hussam (2008). Modern Intellectual Readings of the Kharijites. Peter Lang. pp. 61–65. ISBN 978-0-8204-9701-3.
11. Modern Intellectual Readings of the Kharijites By Hussam S. Timani Page 61-65 about the writings of M. A. Shahban, In his Islamic History A.D. 600–750 (A.H. 132): A new Interpretation (1971)
12. Kirk H. Sowell (2004). The Arab World: An Illustrated History. Hippocrene Books. pp. 41–42. ISBN 978-0-7818-0990-0.
13. Modern Intellectual Readings of the Kharijites By Hussam S. Timani Page 61
14. Muawiya Restorer of the Muslim Faith By Aisha Bewley Page 14 with text from Al-Baladuri
15. Hussam S. Timani (2008). Modern Intellectual Readings of the Kharijites. Peter Lang. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-8204-9701-3.
16. Ahmad Bin Yahya Bin Jabir Al Biladuri (1 March 2011). The Origins of the Islamic State: Being a Translation from the Arabic Accompanied With Annotations, Geographic and Historic Notes of the Kitab Futuh Al-buldan. Cosimo, Inc. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-61640-534-2.
17. Muawiya Restorer of the Muslim Faith By Aisha Bewley Page 16
18. Muawiya Restorer of the Muslim Faith By Aisha Bewley Page 14
19. Madelung (1997), pp. 111–112
20. • Madelung (1997), pp. 112, 113 and 130
21. "Ali ibn Abitalib". Encyclopedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
22. Madelung (1997), pp. 107 and 134
23. "Ali". Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
24. See:
    • Nahj al-Balaghah Sermon 30 Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
25. Tarikh al-Yaqubi, Vol 2. pp. 175, 176.

References

• Ali ibn Abi Talib (1984). Nahj al-Balagha (Peak of Eloquence), compiled by ash-Sharif ar-Radi. Alhoda UK. SBN 0940368439.
• Al-Tabari, Muhammad ibn Jarir (1990). History of the Prophets and Kings , translation and commentary issued by R. Stephen Humphreys. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-7914-0154-5. (volume XV.)
• Holt, P. M.; Bernard Lewis (1977). Cambridge History of Islam, Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-29136-4.
• Madelung, Wilferd (1997). The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-64696-0.