Walid’s recall. He delayed giving the order, however, and
balked at the demand for a ɻogging. Nobody could be
found who was willing to administer the required eighty
lashes, he claimed, though this was clearly untrue.
Worse, the contrast with his predecessor, Omar, could
not have been stronger. Nobody had forgotten that Omar
had ordered precisely the same punishment for one of
his own sons, who had then died under the lash. Under
Omar, loyalty to the principles of Islam had trumped any
loyalty to family—a principle now utterly undermined
by Othman.
Merely recalling his half brother was no longer
enough. Letters calling for stronger action traveled the
desert routes between Arabia, Egypt, and Iraq, and
among them, ɹery broadsides from Aisha. Writing in the
name of all the Mothers of the Faithful, she called on
true Muslims to defend Islam against injustice and
corruption. The response took even her by surprise.
Within weeks, three columns of heavily armed warriors
had arrived in Medina: one each from the garrisons of
Kufa and Basra in Iraq, and one from the garrison of
Fustat in Egypt, just south of what would eventually be
the city of Cairo.
These were no “provincial riʃraʃ.” They were several
hundred of the best of the Muslim military, led by men of
impeccable lineage who left no doubt as to what they
wanted: Either Othman took decisive action to address
their complaints, or he should resign. Most prominent