ʿUthman ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Sufyān () () was a member of the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

ruling family who served as the

governor of Medina In early Islamic history, the governor of Medina () was an official who administered the city of Medina and its surrounding territories. During the era of the Rashidun, Umayyad and early Abbasid caliphates, the governor was generally appointed b ...

under the

caliph

Yazid I Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (; 11 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from April 680 until his death in November 683. His appointment by his father Mu'awiya I () was the first ...

() in 682 until being expelled by its townspeople in 683 during the

Second Fitna The Second Fitna was a period of general political and military disorder and civil war in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad Caliphate. It followed the death of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I in 680, and lasted for about twelve y ...

Life

Uthman belonged to the Banu Umayya clan and was a grandson of

Abu Sufyan ibn Harb Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayya (; ), commonly known by his ' Abu Sufiyan (), was a prominent opponent-turned companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was the father of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I () and namesake of the S ...

, making him a paternal cousin of Caliph

.Howard 1990, p. 197, note 655. The latter appointed Uthman governor of

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

in 682, replacing their other cousin,

al-Walid ibn Utba ibn Abi Sufyan Al-Walīd ibn ʿUtba ibn Abī Sufyān () (died 684) was an Umayyad ruling family member and statesman during the reigns of the Umayyad caliphs Mu'awiya I () and Yazid I (). He served two stints as the governor of Medina in 677/78–680 and 681–6 ...

. According to an account recorded in the history of the 9th-century historian

al-Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...

, Uthman's appointment came about as a result of a ploy by the

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

-based, anti-Umayyad claimant to the caliphate,

Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam (; May 624October/November 692) was the leader of a caliphate based in Mecca that rivaled the Umayyads from 683 until his death. The son of al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and Asma bint Abi Bakr, and grandson of ...

. The latter had sent a letter disparaging al-Walid ibn Utba as unfit and suggesting he be replaced by a governor more inclined to cooperation. Yazid responded by installing Uthman. According to the historian

Julius Wellhausen Julius Wellhausen (17 May 1844 – 7 January 1918) was a German biblical scholar and orientalist. In the course of his career, his research interest moved from Old Testament research through Islamic studies to New Testament scholarship. Wellhau ...

, Uthman was "a young man, inexperienced and conceited".Wellhausen 1927, p. 152. In an effort to conciliate the growing opposition to Yazid in Medina, Uthman sent an embassy of city notables to Yazid's court in Damascus in hopes that the caliph would secure their support with financial incentives; though Yazid gave them numerous gifts, they returned to Medina with reports of the caliph's misdeeds and lack of religion. Afterward, the townspeople of Medina, led by a member of the embassy, Abd Allah ibn Hanzala, revolted against Yazid and assaulted Uthman. The Banu Umayya and their ''

mawali ''Mawlā'' (, plural ''mawālī'' ), is a polysemous Arabic word, whose meaning varied in different periods and contexts.A.J. Wensinck, Encyclopedia of Islam 2nd ed, Brill. "Mawlā", vol. 6, p. 874. Before the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the te ...

'' (non-Arab clients) and supporters among the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

, numbering some 1,000 people, were likewise attacked and found refuge with the senior Umayyad of the region,

Marwan ibn al-Hakam Marwan ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya (; 623 or 626April/May 685), commonly known as MarwanI, was the fourth Umayyad caliph, ruling for less than a year in 684–685. He founded the Marwanid ruling house of the Umayyad dynasty, which re ...

. Uthman, being "only a young lad without any judgement", according to al-Tabari, was sidelined by Marwan who managed the Hejazi Umayyads during this crisis. The Umayyads ultimately relocated to Syria, the political center of the Umayyad Caliphate. There is scant information available about Uthman beyond his short term in Medina. One of his daughters, Atika, was later wed to the Umayyad caliph

al-Walid II Al-Walid ibn Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik (; 70917 April 744), commonly known as al-Walid II, was the eleventh Umayyad caliph, ruling from 743 until his assassination in 744. He succeeded his uncle, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. Birth and background Al-W ...

().Robinson 2020, p. 146.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{s-end 7th-century Arab people People of the Second Fitna Umayyad dynasty Umayyad governors of Medina