Editing Umayyad Caliphate (section)

====Caliphate of Uthman====
[[File:Syria in the 9th century.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Map of [[Bilad al-Sham|Islamic Syria]] (''Bilad al-Sham''), the metropolis of the Umayyad Caliphate. The founder of the Umayyad Caliphate, [[Mu'awiya I]], had originally been governor of the ''[[junds]]'' (military districts) of [[Jund Dimashq|Damascus]] (''Dimashq'') and [[Jund al-Urdunn|Jordan]] (''al-Urdunn'') in 639 before gaining authority over the rest of Syria's ''junds'' during the caliphate of [[Uthman]] (644–656), a member of the [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyad family]]]]

Umar's successor, [[Uthman ibn Affan]], was a wealthy Umayyad and early Muslim convert with marital ties to Muhammad.{{sfn|Madelung|1997|p=80}} He was elected by the ''[[shura]]'' council, composed of Muhammad's cousin [[Ali]], [[al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam]], [[Talha ibn Ubayd Allah]], [[Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas]] and [[Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf]], all of whom were close, early companions of Muhammad and belonged to the Quraysh.{{sfn|Madelung|1997|p=80}}{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=45}} He was chosen over Ali because he would ensure the concentration of state power into the hands of the Quraysh, as opposed to Ali's determination to diffuse power among all of the Muslim factions.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=70}} From early in his reign, Uthman displayed explicit favouritism to his kinsmen, in stark contrast to his predecessors.{{sfn|Madelung|1997|p=80}}{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=45}} He appointed his family members as governors over the regions successively conquered under Umar and himself, namely much of the [[Sasanian Empire]], i.e. Iraq and Iran, and the former Byzantine territories of Syria and Egypt.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=45}} In Medina, he relied extensively on the counsel of his Umayyad cousins, the brothers [[Al-Harith ibn al-Hakam|al-Harith]] and [[Marwan ibn al-Hakam]].{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=75}} According to the historian [[Wilferd Madelung]], this policy stemmed from Uthman's "conviction that the house of Umayya, as the core clan of Quraysh, was uniquely qualified to rule in the name of Islam".{{sfn|Madelung|1997|p=80}}

Uthman's nepotism provoked the ire of the Ansar and the members of the ''shura''.{{sfn|Madelung|1997|p=80}}{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=45}} In 645/46, he added the [[Al-Jazira (caliphal province)|Jazira]] (Upper Mesopotamia) to Mu'awiya's Syrian governorship and granted the latter's request to take possession of all Byzantine crown lands in Syria to help pay his troops.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=63}} He had the surplus taxes from the wealthy provinces of [[Kufa]] and Egypt forwarded to the treasury in Medina, which he used at his personal disposal, frequently disbursing its funds and war booty to his Umayyad relatives.{{sfn|Madelung|1997|pp=80–81}} Moreover, the lucrative Sasanian crown lands of Iraq, which Umar had designated as communal property for the benefit of the [[amsar|Arab garrison towns]] of Kufa and [[Basra]], were turned into caliphal crown lands to be used at Uthman's discretion.{{sfn|Madelung|1997|p=81}} Mounting resentment against Uthman's rule in Iraq and Egypt and among the Ansar and Quraysh of Medina culminated in the [[Assassination of Uthman|killing of the caliph]] in 656. In the assessment of the historian [[Hugh N. Kennedy]], Uthman was killed because of his determination to centralize control over the [[Rashidun Caliphate|caliphate]]'s government by the traditional elite of the Quraysh, particularly his Umayyad clan, which he believed possessed the "experience and ability" to govern, at the expense of the interests, rights and privileges of many early Muslims.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=75}}