Therefore...

Therefore, during the time of `Uthman he gathered around him a coterie of the Umayyad who would back him to the hilt. He was looking for an opportunity, with their backing, to declare himself the king. Therefore, when he felt that the tide had turned against `Uthman, he thought of taking advantage of that by asking him to move to Syria under his protection and in al-Madinah he had the danger from the disgruntled lot.

The purpose of Mu`awiyah was to remove `Uthman from the center and take the reins of the administration in his own hands. This way he could have easily converted the temporary control into permanent hegemony. But `Uthman refused to move to Syria and this subterfuge of Mu`awiyah failed. When `Uthman was assassinated,…