7. Martyrdom of Aggrieved Caliph : A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Hazrat Uthman (r) became the third caliph after the death of Umar (r). The historians call his martyr as the beginning of ‘First Fitna’ in the Islamic history. After his martyr, the days of reign of Ali (r) were the days of civil war in the Islamic nation. The last years of Uthman (r) were criticized by some historians and some others criticized the dealing of the next caliph Ali (r), how he dealt with the political dilemma after the martyr of the aggrieved leader of believers.

This article had a descriptive study about the third caliph Uthman (r), aiming to trace out the political situation and reasons behind his martyr. The study explored and did find out that there were no hands of Ali bin Abi Talib (r) in the blood of Uthman(r), like some opportunist-historians opined. Some rebels against Uthman (r) created a kind of political quagmire, and Ali (r) subjugated them to an extent.