Uthman's Assassination and the First Fitna

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.