Another Umayyad cousin named Marwan was Uthman’s chief secretary, or probably Chief of Staff. As in the White House, access to the ruler goes through the Chief of Staff. Marwan could determine who got to talk to Uthman, and he may have acted in the Caliph’s name sometimes. Marwan was entirely in favor of the new Umayyad aristocracy and entirely against the provincial complainants. If the young half-Arabs felt like second-class citizens, it was entitled Umayyads like Marwan who really hammered home that lesson.
Marwan had been against recalling Walid from Kufa. He wanted Uthman to man up and refuse all concessions. It’s hard to know how much influence Marwan had in the events that unfolded, but it’s possible he was the author of, in particular, a famous letter signed with Uthman’s seal.
Hard on the heels of Kufans came a delegation from Fustat to complain about their governor, Abdullah. (Recall this was the Abdullah who was so crooked that even the Prophet didn’t want to pardon him.) Abdullah and Marwan had gone shares in embezzling tax money from Egypt. But Marwan was an insider, while Abdullah was out there visible in the province as the money made its way into his bank.
One of the interesting details of the series of protests and revolts is the role the Hajj played. Just as the Meccan Hajj had brought men from Medina to where they could meet secretly with Muhammad, now the Muslim Hajj mixed together men from all over Arabia and the territories. Uthman led the Hajj in 655, and he made a point of meeting with top generals who had also come to Mecca. He asked their counsel about the unrest, and Amr told him bluntly to demote his Umayyad clan or resign as Caliph. Mu’awiya may have saved his advice for a private meeting: he told Uthman to move to Damascus or set up a proper bodyguard.
But officers from Fustat, Kufa and Basra also met privately. They would have little communication until the following Hajj, so they made a plan to leave early and bring armed men. They would meet at Medina three months before the next Hajj. They would demand meaningful reform. They would draw in power players like A’isha and Ali again. In fact, one of the leaders was Muhammad, A’isha’s brother and Ali’s stepson.
When the time came in 655, the young officers “left early” from their garrison cities “to go to Mecca.” Governor Abdullah knew what was happening; he slipped out of Egypt and took refuge with his cousin Mu’awiya. Arriving at Medina, the rebels set up an army camp around the city instead of staying with their relatives. They sent messages to A’isha, Ali, and Talhah and Zubayr, two men of Ali’s generation who had been close to Muhammad. The older men told the young rebels they were wrong to bring weapons on Hajj. But the stand-off continued, so gradually they all fell into diplomacy between the rebels and the Caliph. Weeks, perhaps months, passed.
A’isha argued to Uthman that it was time to reinstate Amr, the popular general, who had proven himself worthy of trust after all. The rebels argued that the new governor of Egypt should be Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, their age-mate and friend. Marwan argued that it was wiser for the Caliph to persist in doing wrong and then ask mercy from Allah, than to show fear and compromise. He went to the rebel camp and loudly cursed them, leaving Ali to talk the rebels down from immediate violence. Ali came back to argue with Uthman that Marwan needed to be fired. Interestingly, in the received narrative Uthman’s favorite wife, a young woman from Syria, also put in her two cents. She voted for compromise.
When Uthman came into the mosque one Friday to lead prayers, men in the crowd jeered and cursed. They began throwing stones, and eventually one struck the old man on the head, knocking him out. But Uthman did not order his assailants to be executed. He said he would not kill fellow Muslims, but neither could he resign the office Allah had given him. Finally, Uthman offered the rebels a compromise: yes, Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr would be the new governor in Fustat. They agreed to head back to their cities. It appeared that the crisis was over.
Then came the real crisis.
The Fustat delegation rode west for three days, when a man on a horse rode up behind them and rushed past. Spurring ahead faster, some riders caught and brought him back. He was a slave of the Caliph, sent to overtake them and get to Fustat first. In his saddlebag was a letter that directed the governor to have the rebels all executed. It was presumably written by Uthman, with his seal.
They wheeled around and went back to Medina, while the armies from Kufa and Basra did the same. Now they were really angry. This order went against the first principle of Islam: not to shed the blood of fellow believers. Nobody had claimed that the rebels were apostates! And the letter showed the Caliph to be openly lying to fellow believers, too. They suspected that in his old age, Uthman had either lost his principles—-or lost control and was just someone’s puppet. The most likely someone: Marwan.
There was an even more cynical idea circulating among Uthman’s supporters in Medina: that one of the rebels had staged this “letter” stunt to create an incident. It didn’t seem likely to most that Uthman had actually written it. It’s a very familiar situation: both sides accusing each other of false flag operations and disinformation. But to the young men who had read the letter on the desert road, it was Uthman’s work, and if not him, his creature Marwan.
Now they called for Uthman’s resignation. They probably talked of making Ali Caliph in his place, but Ali would not back their violent demands. He withdrew into the mosque to pray. A’isha was torn, because it was all spinning out of control till she didn’t know who to support. She decided that she, too, would withdraw by going to Mecca. Marwan went to her privately and begged her not to leave. She had moral standing with the young rebels. When she left, it would signal that they could do what they wished. She left.
There was a stand-off at Uthman’s grand house. He and his family were besieged, with no well. (How did Uthman manage to build a grand house and not think of a well?) Now the Companions of Muhammad were in a bind. The Quran gave clear orders that they should remain neutral as long as possible, until one of the parties did something morally wrong. Uthman was not giving in, but unless you believed he really wrote that lying letter, he had not done wrong. The rebels, too, so far had not done worse than make demands (except for the rock-throwing incident, previously).
The senior statesmen on hand were Ali, Talhah and Zubayr. They tried to send water to Uthman’s house, and they sent their sons to stand guard. One of Muhammad’s widows (an Umayyad) also tried to take water into the house, but the rebels stopped her. Weeks passed.
Then the city heard that Mu’awiya was coming from Syria to put down the rebellion. It’s not clear to me if he was or wasn’t. But the rebels felt pressured to act, so they assaulted the house twice. The first time, they wounded the sons of Ali and Talhah. The second time, a larger mob rushed the house, used ladders to climb the walls, and set the house on fire. Uthman heard the commotion, but he ordered his household not to fight back or die on his account. Marwan did lead an armed defense, and he was so seriously wounded that he was left for dead and dragged away by his old nursemaid. (He’ll be back.)
Uthman sat in his bedroom with his Syrian wife Naila, reading his copy of the new Quran. When men burst in, he didn’t react. Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr grabbed him by the beard. Uthman rebuked the young man, saying his father would never have done this. But Muhammad, who didn’t remember his father, said he had stronger medicine for the Caliph’s corruption than just holding his beard, and he struck him with the sword. The other rebels joined in until Uthman died. His wife Naila lay across his body to protect him, and the young men cut off two of her fingers, still trying to stab him more. The Quran, on its low stand, was splashed with blood.
The city was in chaos for a few days. Every Umayyad who could fit into the house went to take refuge with Umm Habiba, the Umayyad widow of the Prophet. The rebels roamed the streets looking for targets, though they would not be so impious as to assault the widow’s house. The Caliph’s body was carried out for burial, but they blocked it from being buried with the other Muslims. Caliph Uthman was buried in a cemetery made by one of the old Jewish clans of Medina.
- After the Prophet, by Lesley Hazelton.
- The Heirs of Muhammad, by Barnaby Rogerson