Speaking of Ali, was he doomed to face civil war when he became the caliph? Back in my school (obviously not the greatest of sources), it was said he had to choose between avenging Uthman or removing his family members from power. How accurate is this?
Two groups formed among the Muslims when Uthman was killed. A group that said that Uthman had got what he deserved, and another group that wanted to seek revenge for Uthman. So these groups were already formed and they were going to fight each other no matter what. Ali inherited that situation, and that was known. So, yes, the civil war was inevitable.
What is inaccurate, is Ali having to “choose between avenging Uthman or removing his family members from power”. Banu Hashim, the family of Ali (and the Prophet Muhammad) wasn’t in power. In fact, just about all governors under Uthman were related to Uthman. They were all of Banu Ummayyah, which caused huge friction. In Restatement, the Sayed relays a quote from Ali:
“I am not unaware of the need of penalizing the murderers of Uthman. But do we have the power to do so? At the moment, it is they who have the power. They can dictate to us; we cannot dictate to them. If they wish, they can do harm to us, and we cannot do any harm to them. Can you suggest any way we can overcome them or circumvent them?”
Medina was held primarily by Muslims that weren’t fond of Uthman, to the point that the army led by Aisha could not attack it. If their army wasn’t great enough to oppose the rebels in Medina, Ali surely could not have. To find the killer(s) of Uthman, Ali would first have to end the chaos which was going on over the last several months. I haven’t read a great deal on it at this time, but it seems that Muawiyah and his supporters were the ones that put forth some idea that Ali was just harboring killers. Thanks for the question! I hope this helps some.