AD 656

First Fitna

Egyptian rebels kill Caliph Uthman in Medina, opening the First Fitna

The event that conventionally opens Islam's first civil war happened in Uthman's house in Medina — not on an Egyptian battlefield.

Summer 656, in Medina

In the summer of 656, malcontents from the Egyptian garrison town of Fustat killed Caliph Uthman in Medina. That regicide conventionally opens the First Fitna.

The decisive event did not occur in Egypt: rebels from Egypt and Iraq had traveled to Medina, where Uthman was killed.

They were not a handful of sympathizers but organized provincial dissidents — soldiers from a garrison town founded during the conquests.

Who did it is contested

Provincial opposition, Egyptian above all, converged with opposition inside Medina. The relationship between the two groups, and responsibility for the killing, remain contested in the sources.

Early Muslim narratives disagree over the individual assailants, over the disputed letter that caused the Egyptians to turn back, and over how far prominent Medinans were complicit.

Later Sunni, Shia, Kharijite and Umayyad political memories shaped the accounts that survive.

A caliph with an unpayable debt

Ali assumed the caliphate after the murder, but the succession came with unresolved demands that the killers be punished — killers entangled with the armed factions present in the capital.

Within days the caliphate had a new leader and no accepted settlement of the killing that had put him in office. Armed opposition followed.

The First Fitna created a hiatus in further Muslim advances on at least the eastern frontier.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

What the sources leave uncertain

The year and Medina location are secure. Exact Gregorian dates vary in modern retellings, so the sheet retains year-level precision.
Early Muslim narratives disagree over individual assailants, the disputed letter that caused the Egyptians to return and the degree of complicity of prominent Medinans.
The unrest began before Uthman’s death; 656 marks the regicide and conventional opening of the First Fitna, not the first appearance of opposition.
Later Sunni, Shia, Kharijite and Umayyad political memories shaped the surviving accounts, requiring caution over personal motives and blame.