The Biography of Uthman Ibn Affan R Dhun Noorayn

Governors at the time of 'Uthrnh & 353
him; and some people asked 'Uthmh to appoint a Qurashi as
their governor.[ll So 'Uthmsn dismissed Abu Moosa and
appointed 'Abd-AllSh ibn 'Aamir in his place. Here the wisdom
and open-mindedness of Abu Moosa, and his obedience to the
command of the caliph, become clear to us, and we see that he was
not keen to remain govemor as some people think. When the news
of his dismissal and the appointment of 'Abd-All& ibn 'Aamir in
his place reached him, he ascended the minbar and praised 'Abd-
AllSh ibn 'Aamir, who was a young man of 25 years, and one of
the things that Abu Moosa said in praise of him was: There has
come to you a young man of noble Qurashi descent, who will be
generous to yo~.12]
In these difficult circumstances in Basra, 'UMn &
managed to appoint a new leader to whom the troops would
listen and thus become united in the face of the enemy. Moreover
this dismissal was an honour for Abn Moosa, as it spared him
from humiliation at the hands of the common folk who had been
influenced by the troublemakers and the deviant ideas of the
rebels who bore hatred against him and had started to slander
him and incite people against himM The province of Basra went
through some difficulties when Ibn 'Aamir was appointed
governor, which motivated 'Uthmh to introduce some political
changes in provincial administration; he put the troops of Bahrain
and Oman under the control of Ibn 'Aamir in Basra, so that he
would have stronger authority in facing the threats that he was
facing at that time. His introduction of new troops had the effect
of strengthening the power and authority of Ibn 'Aamir, and it
also had an effect on Basra itself, which became one of the
established Islamic capitals, and the tribes began to migrate to it in
even greater numbers than before.141 Thus the burdens of
ibid.
['I op. cit., 5/266; Siyar Arliim an-Nubala'. 3/19
I3I al-Mliiyah 'ala al-Buldiin, 1/189
'41 al-Tanzemit al-Ijtim3iyyah warl-lqtisidiyyah fir-Basrah Yl-Qarn al-Awwal al-
Hijri, by S2lih alL'Ali, p. 141