Under Abu Bakr and Omar, Muhammad’s ethic of
simplicity and egalitarianism had prevailed, but now
conspicuous consumption became the order of the day,
exempliɹed in the extravagant new palace Othman had
built in Medina, with enclosed gardens, marble columns,
even imported food and chefs. Where both Abu Bakr and
Omar had taken the relatively modest title of Deputy of
Muhammad, Othman took a far more grandiose one. He
insisted on being called the Deputy of God—the
representative of God on earth—thus paving the way for
the many future leaders all too eager to claim divine
sanction for worldly power.
The old Meccan aristocracy rapidly became the new
Muslim aristocracy. Othman began to deed vast private
estates to his relatives, some with thousands of horses
and as many slaves. In Iraq, so much of the rich
agricultural land between the two rivers was given to
Umayyad nobles that the whole of the Mesopotamian
valley gained a new, ironic nickname, the Garden of the
Umayyads. The other legacies of Othman’s rule—the
authoritative written compilation of the Quran and the
further expansion of the empire north into the Aegean,
west along the North African coast, and east to the
frontiers of India—were increasingly overshadowed by
what was seen as the Umayyad stranglehold on power.
The ruling class of Mecca was back in control, and
with a ven geance. There was no doubt as to who was
drawing the milk, and the ones left holding the horns