ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān

ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (died June 17, 656, Medina, Arabian Peninsula) was the third caliph to rule after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. He centralized the administration of the caliphate and established an official version of the Qurʾān. ʿUthmān is critically important in Islamic history because his death marked the beginning of open religious and political conflicts within the Islamic community (see fitnah). ʿUthmān was born into the rich and powerful Umayyad clan of Mecca,...