Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula

Abu Sa'id Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula (Arabic: ابو سعید عثمان بن أَبِي العلا‎; also Don Uzmén in Castilian sources;^[1] died 1330) was a Marinid prince who led an unsuccessful rebellion aiming to capture the throne, and fled to the Nasrid Emirate of Granada in its aftermath. There he served as the Commander (shaykh al-ghuzat) of the Volunteers of the Faith of Granada, and became one of the most important political figures of the Nasrid realm.

Descended from a branch of the Marinid dynasty, he entered the Nasrid service under Muhammad III after a failed rebellion against Sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf in his native Morocco. He was appointed to lead the Volunteers of the Faith in the western city of Málaga. When Muhammad III came into conflict with Abu Yaqub Yusuf over Ceuta, Uthman allied himself with Granada, conquered a part of Morocco and declared himself Sultan. He was eventually defeated in 1309 by Abu al-Rabi Sulayman, Abu Yaqub's grandson who became Sultan since 1308.

He then returned to Granada, assisting with the relief of Almería against an Aragonese siege of 1309. He and the Volunteers under his command played an important role in the overthrow of Emir Nasr in favour of his nephew Ismail I. Under Ismail, he was appointed the overall chief of the Volunteers (shaykh al-ghuzat) and in this role won a decisive victory against a Castilian Army at the 1319 Battle of Sierra Elvira. His power continued to grow, alienating other ministers in the Emirate, including the Vizier Muhammad ibn al-Mahruq. The struggle between Uthman and Ibn al-Mahruq escalated to a civil war, which ended with Ibn al-Mahruq's assassination on the order of Sultan Muhammad IV and Uthman's retention of his previous power. He lost a battle against Castile in the Battle of Teba in 1330, and died on the same year at Málaga.