Caliph Uthman's Period: A sociological approach

ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān's reign, which constitutes an important place in the history of Islam and contains serious breaks socially, is generally divided into two periods by historians for examination. Historians have described the first six years of Osman's twelve-year power as a period of peace and tranquility, unity and solidarity. However, they have described the second six-year period which ended with the martyrdom of the caliph as a period of unrest and conflict in society depending on political, social and economic conditions. Since no social event occurs suddenly, it should be remembered that every social event has a historical background. On the other hand, the effects of events experienced in a certain period of history are not only limited to their own period but can also effect the future. In this sense, there are many aspects and effects of religious, political, social and economic events that occurred during the ʿUthmān reign, which root back to the past and reflect in the future. ʿUthmān's process of coming to power contained the Umayyad-Hashimi rivalry on the one hand and the struggle of the elite within the power, while on the other hand prepared the ground for future political and social divisions and religious conflicts. Transformation of Asabiyyah based notions into pro-relative policies, ending of legitimate gain of throne with the crisis of legitimacy, proliferation of mundanity due to increasing prosperity are not the political, social and economic events that only exist in the ʿUthmān's reign. Along with religious objections to mundanity, different religious understandings and interpretations of sacred things and religious rituals were among the main issues on the agenda of Islamic societies from the past to the present. Therefore, it is important to examine the causes and effects of the events that occupied the agenda of Islamic societies from the past to the present which showed their first manifestations in the ʿUthmān's reign. In this thesis, we will try to explain and understand the causes of the events that took place during the ʿUthmān's reign with a sociological perspective.