In his book Uthman, Taha Hussain has found fault with Uthman for enlarging the jurisdiction of Amir Muawiyah as Governor. Taha Hussain considers that if Muawiyah had not been made so strong, he would not have aspired to the caliphate later on. The criticism of Taha Hussain is misconceived. Muawiyah was a Governor of exceptional merit and if in recognition of such merit, Uthman enlarged the jurisdiction of Muawiyah there was nothing wrong therein, and he did what was in the best interests of the State.
In the accounts that have come down to us, it is observed that Ali criticized Uthman for allowing too much latitude to Muawiyah lt. is alleged that Muawiyah took action on his own account and declared that was the
order of the Caliph. No specific instances in this behalf have been cited and we are not in a position to observe how far the criticism of Ali was justified. Prima facie this was a matter of personal equation between Uthman and Muawiyah, and if Uthman had confidence in Muawiyah such confidence cannot be made a ground for criticism.
