Re: United Muslims: Shia+Sunnis+Wahabis
Salam
Yaar the debates that should have been academic have been very cheapened in the recent yrs because of mass availibity of information.No one wants to get to the depth of the matter, but merely wants to take potshots at the oppositte group.The simple answer to your question if i may give my $0.02 is that the beliefs of the people who were for or against uthman are not completely consistent with either sunnis of today or 12er imami shais of today.Best we can say all muslims at that time agreed on the leadership of Shaykhan Sayyidna AbuBakr and Umar R.A.Uthamn and ALi became rather controversial figures and remained so for several decades until in the time of Umar b ABdul Aziz R.A there was a genuine attempt to recouncile the community and bring all warring factions togather.This fusion of Pro-Alids Pro-Uthmanids, Neutrals and certain khariji factions became what Prof Qamar Zaman calls the Proto-Sunnis and led to the age of the 4 Imams of ahle sunnah.Thats why you find some very pro-ali ahadith and some very pro-ummayyad ahadith and some very neutralist ahadith in sunni works.
Imami 12ers evolved seperately and did not reach their present form until the time of As-Sadiq ( at the earliest) being a minority they were not compelled to develop any kind of recounciliation with other factions so could focus on a more revisionist version of history.This came increasingly hostile wrt to Sahaba esp Umar/AbuBakr and the gulf between imamis and other muslim groups widened.
Wrt Uthman’s murder, even if we assume some shady figure called ibn saba existed and incited a rebellion it does not in anyway explain the mass uprsisings against uthman and the destructive civil wars that followed.It was not a theological dispute that led to uthmans murder rather a fight over land rights, stipends and tribal supremacy.This is BLATANLY apparent in the historical records from that period.