Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates/Marwan I/archive1

TFA blurb review[edit]

Marwan I (c. 625 – 685) was the fourth Umayyad caliph, ruling for less than a year in 684–685. He was the secretary of his cousin Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656). During the rebel siege of Uthman's house, Marwan was wounded and the caliph was slain. Marwan considered Talha ibn Ubayd Allah, a companion of the prophet Muhammad, culpable in the death of Uthman, and killed him in the Battle of the Camel in 656. Marwan later served as governor of Medina under his distant kinsman Caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680), founder of the Umayyad Caliphate. After the reigns of Yazid I (r. 680–683) and Mu'awiya II (r. 683–684), the tribal nobility of Syria, led by Ibn Bahdal of the Banu Kalb, elected Marwan caliph. He reasserted Umayyad rule over Egypt, Palestine and northern Syria, and dispatched an expedition to reconquer Iraq, but died while it was underway. His son Abd al-Malik was his designated successor, and the Umayyads continued to rule until 750. (Full article...)

Just a suggested blurb ... thoughts and edits are welcome. - Dank (push to talk) 01:41, 5 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@Dank: Concise and comprehensive. I made a minor change to clarify that it was the tribal nobility of Syria (or parts of Syria, rather) that elected Marwan. Otherwise, the Arab tribal nobility of the Caliphate lent their backing to the rival caliph Ibn al-Zubayr. --Al Ameer (talk) 15:56, 5 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, and thanks for catching that. - Dank (push to talk) 16:11, 5 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry for the late edit (held -> considered). There's nothing wrong with "held culpable" in the lead; the problem in the blurb is that John and I inserted so many words between the two that it created a kind of garden path sentence. - Dank (push to talk) 20:10, 8 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]