Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Sufyan

Uthman belonged to the Banu Umayya clan and was a grandson of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, making him a paternal cousin of Caliph Yazid I.

According to an account recorded in the history of the 9th-century historian al-Tabari, Uthman's appointment came about as a result of a ploy by the Mecca-based, anti-Umayyad claimant to the caliphate, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.

[4] Afterward, the townspeople of Medina, led by a member of the embassy, Abd Allah ibn Hanzala, revolted against Yazid and assaulted Uthman.

The Banu Umayya and their mawali (non-Arab clients) and supporters among the Quraysh, numbering some 1,000 people, were likewise attacked and found refuge with the senior Umayyad of the region, Marwan ibn al-Hakam.

[5] Uthman, being "only a young lad without any judgement", according to al-Tabari, was sidelined by Marwan who managed the Hejazi Umayyads during this crisis.