Uthman’s Assassination and the First Fitna is a clear, source-critical history of the crisis that reshaped the seventh-century Muslim community—from the siege in Medina (35 AH / 656 CE) to the rise of Umayyad rule (41 AH / 661 CE).

Moving chapter by chapter, it reconstructs how local grievances in Egypt, Kufa, and Basra escalated into a general rebellion; how the killing of the caliph ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān unfolded and was remembered; why rival coalitions formed around ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; and how the battles of the Camel and Ṣiffīn, the arbitration, and the emergence of the Kharijites changed ideas of authority, justice, and communal order. The narrative then follows al-Ḥasan’s settlement with Muʿāwiya and the consolidation of a Syrian-centered state.

What sets this book apart is its method. Reports from early Arabic chronicles are weighed against administrative habits, papyri, coin sequences, and non-Arabic notices; claims are presented in graded form—well-attested, plausible, contested, or unlikely—so readers can see what the evidence truly supports. Along the way, key terms such as bayʿa (public pledge), dīwān (pay register), baghy (armed transgression), and khutba/sikka (pulpit/coinage as emblems of rule) are defined in plain English.

Ideal for: general readers, students of Middle Eastern or religious history, book clubs, and anyone seeking a balanced account that neither sanctifies the past nor indicts it without evidence.

Inside you’ll find:

A verified timeline of the siege and assassination
Clear coverage of the Camel and Ṣiffīn and the arbitration
How legal and theological debates (justice, rebellion, responsibility) took shape
How early statecraft—pay, roads, courts—made or broke legitimacy

A rigorous, readable guide to one of the most consequential turning points in early Islam.

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