Heather N. Keaney is an Assistant Professor of History at Westmont College, Santa Barbara. She is also the Co-director of the Westmont in Istanbul semester abroad study program, which she designed and led in its first outing during Spring 2012.

This book is a comparative analysis of the medieval Sunni historiography of the caliphate of Uthman b. Affan and the revolt against him. By comparing treatments of Uthman in pietistic literature and universal chronicles, the work traces the gradual silencing of more critical accounts in favor of those that portray Uthman as a saintly companion of the Prophet Muhammad.

1. Introduction: Narrating 'Uthman 2. Representation: 'Uthman in the Third/Ninth Century Syntheses 3. Reaction: 'Uthman in the Fourth/Tenth to Sixth/Twelfth Centuries Fada'il and Chronicles 4. Retrenchment: 'Uthman in the Seventh/Thirteenth Century Fada'il and Chronicles 5. Re-evaluation: 'Uthman in the Eighth/Fourteenth Century Chronicles. Conclusion