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Article: Caliph Uthman Murdered: June 16th, 656.(Uthman ibn Affan)(Biography)
- Article from:
- History Today
- Article date:
- June 1, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 History Today Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The first two Caliph, or 'successors' to the Prophet Muhammad, who left no male heir when he died in his early sixties in 632, were Abu Bakr and Umar, who presided over the campaigns which carried Islam outside Arabia into Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt and North Africa. Both men had been friends and disciples of Muhammad since the early days in Mecca and they were the fathers of two of his wives. Another obvious candidate for the caliphate was Ali ibn abu Talib, Muhammad's young cousin and adopted son, who married Muhammad's daughter Fatimah. Their two sons were the prophet's only male descendants.
However, when Umar died in November 644 the tiny ...