Uthman ibn Hayyan al-Murri () was an 8th-century provincial governor and military commander for the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...

. He served as the governor of

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

from 712 or 713 to 715.

Career

A member of the

Banu Murra Banu Murra () was a tribe during the era of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. They participated in the Battle of the Trench.Rodinson, ''Muhammad: Prophet of Islam'', p. 208. They were members of the Ghatafan tribe See also *List of battles of Muham ...

, Uthman was appointed over Medina during the reign of

al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ( ar, الوليد بن عبد الملك بن مروان, al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān; ), commonly known as al-Walid I ( ar, الوليد الأول), was the sixth Umayyad caliph, ruling from O ...

() after being recommended to the caliph by

al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf Abu Muhammad al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi Aqil al-Thaqafi ( ar, أبو محمد الحجاج بن يوسف بن الحكم بن أبي عقيل الثقفي, Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Abī ʿAqīl al-T ...

, the powerful governor of

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. During his administration Uthman took harsh measures to crack down on anti-Umayyad elements in the city and punished a number of individuals who were suspected of engaging in sedition. He particularly took action against a large group of Iraqi emigres whose presence in Medina had caused the city to develop a reputation as a center of political dissent, forcibly deporting them back to al-Hajjaj in neck collars and threatening to demolish the homes of any Medinese who were caught providing shelter to them. At the urging of several Medinese citizens he also issued a directive to expel singers and adulterers from the city in an effort to clamp down on corruption, but following the intercession of a local notable he changed his mind and rescinded the order. Uthman's term as governor lasted until 715, when he became a target of the new caliph

Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik ( ar, سليمان بن عبد الملك, Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, – 24 September 717) was the seventh Umayyad caliph, ruling from 24 February 715 until his death. He began his career as governor of Palestine, wh ...

's campaign to remove his predecessor's political appointees from power. In June of that year Sulayman dismissed Uthman in favor of the chief ''

qadi A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...

'' of Medina,

Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm ( ar, أبو بكر بن محمد بن عمرو بن حزم) (died 120/737) was an 8th-century Sunni Islamic scholar based in Madinah. He is among those who compiled hadiths at Umar II’s behest. Umar asked ...

, and additionally sent instructions to have him flogged. This act made Uthman deeply resentful of Abu Bakr, and after Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik became caliph in 720 he petitioned that an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his flogging be opened, which led to Abu Bakr himself receiving the ''

hadd ''Hudud'' (Arabic: ''Ḥudūd'', also transliterated ''hadud'', ''hudood''; plural of ''hadd'', ) is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". In the religion of Islam it refers to punishments that under Islamic law ( sharīʿah) ar ...

'' punishment from the new governor of Medina Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Dahhak. The feud between Uthman and Abu Bakr continued at least until 721/2, when Abd al-Rahman was ordered to effect a reconciliation between the two men. Uthman later served as a military commander on the Byzantine frontier, and was a leader of the 722 and 723 summer expeditions against the Byzantines.; ; .

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Uthman ibn Hayyan al-Murri 8th-century Arabs Ghatafan Umayyad governors of Medina