Siege of Uthman

The Third Rightly Guided Caliph, Uthman, 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 to which demands Uthman had refused and on July 17, 656 C.E., 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.

Uthman Ibn Affan, third caliph, was being sieged by several rioters for several reasons, chief of these was making his kin, Banu Umayya, governors of key Islamic provinces. . The dissatisfaction with his regime and the government's appointed by him wasn't restricted to the provinces outside Arabia. When Uthman's kin, especially Marwan, gained control over him, Uthman lost control over his Caliphate and many of the noble Companions including most of the members of elector council, withdrew their support.

Finally dissatisfaction led to rebellion in Egypt, Kufa and Basra. When Egyptian rebels gathered near Medina, Uthman asked Ali to speak with them. The delegates of Muhajirun 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 rebellion settled down. As the rebel party departed back towards Egypt, they were overtaken by a courier from Medina, upon whom they discovered a letter which (it is claimed) featured the official seal from the office of Caliph Uthman. 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.

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