Draft:Umar ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas

Umar ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas
Name	Umar ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas
Other Names	{{{other_names}}}
Personal Details
Death Date	65 AH
Religion	Islam

Umar ibn Sa'd, known as Ibn Sa'd, was the son of one of the early Islamic commanders named Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas. According to one narration, he was born during the time of the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his progeny), and according to Yahya ibn Ma'in, on the day of the death of the First Caliph. In his youth, he participated in the conquest of Iraq with his father. Ibn Sa'd was the commander of Ibn Ziyad's army in Karbala who fought against Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) and martyred him.

Lineage

According to Khalifa ibn Khayyat, the lineage of Umar ibn Sa'd is as follows: Father: Umar ibn Sa'd ibn Malik ibn Uhayb ibn Abd Manaf ibn Zuhra ibn Kilab ibn Murra ibn Ka'b ibn Lu'ayy ibn Ghalib Abu Hafs al-Qurashi al-Zuhri. Mother: Mariya bint Qays ibn Ma'dikarib ibn al-Harith ibn al-Simt ibn Imru' al-Qays ibn Amr ibn Mu'awiya, from the Kinda tribe. His kunya is Abu Hafs, and Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd killed him in 65 or 66 AH in revenge for Imam Husayn (peace be upon him).

Birth

According to one narration, he was born during the time of the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his progeny), and according to another narration, on the day of the death of the First Caliph.

Confrontation with Imam Husayn (peace be upon him)

Umar Sa'd is mostly known for the event of Karbala and the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him). Driven by greed for the governorship of Ray which Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad granted him, he decided to fight against Imam Husayn, and no advice or prohibition was effective on him. He was tasked by Ibn Ziyad to compel Husayn ibn Ali and his companions to pledge allegiance to Yazid, but negotiations with Husayn did not yield results, and he refused to pledge allegiance to Yazid. Umar Sa'd's army attacked Husayn and his family on 10 Muharram 61 AH, killing more than seventy of his companions.

Betrayal of Muslim ibn Aqil

When Muslim ibn Aqil, the representative of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him), went to Kufa to secure allegiance from the people for the Imam, Ibn Sa'd, like some of the nobles of Kufa, wrote a letter to Yazid and recommended that if he wants Kufa not to slip from his hand, he should dismiss Nu'man ibn Bashir, the then governor of Kufa. After Muslim ibn Aqil was arrested by order of Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, in Ubayd Allah's council, away from others, he made a testament to Umar ibn Sa'd, but Ibn Sa'd recounted Muslim's testament to Ubayd Allah and betrayed Muslim.

Ambition for the Governorship of Ray

At the time of the event of Karbala, Umar ibn Sa'd was a young man seeking position. According to what is narrated in hadith books, amidst the expansion of Islamic governance across the world of that time and the expansion of the realm in Iran, he was very eager to govern the central regions of Iran with the center of Ray at that time.

A vast region with a pleasant climate, blessed, and endowed with natural and human resources. According to what Sayyid Muhammad Sahafi writes in the translation of the noble book Al-Lahuf ala Qatla al-Tufuf or Al-Lahuf by Sayyid ibn Tawus, Umar Sa'd's ambition to govern Ray was about to be realized.

Coinciding with the arrival of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) in Iraq, Yazid, the newly seated Caliph, handed him the decree of governorship over Ray along with 4,000 cavalry troops to depart for Ray. He set out on the journey when news of Imam Husayn's (peace be upon him) movement towards Kufa prompted Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad to send Ibn Sa'd to confront the Imam. He initially refused this task, but Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad threatened him that he must either go to confront Husayn (peace be upon him) or return the decree of governorship of Ray.

Umar Sa'd's Hesitation

Umar ibn Sa'd was among the Islamic scholars and knew that killing the Prophet's son and committing this crime was an unforgivable sin; therefore, he took a night's respite from Yazid to decide. All the wise men of his tribe warned him against confronting the Sayyid al-Shuhada (Master of the Martyrs), but the endless love for power had so conquered his heart that no advice was effective. The next day, Umar ibn Sa'd, contrary to the opinion of friends and acquaintances, took the path to Karbala and, with an army of four thousand, set out to battle the Imam (peace be upon him).

Sending an Envoy to Imam Hussein (peace be upon him)

Umar ibn Sa'd arrived in Karbala on Friday, the 2nd or 3rd of Muharram 61 AH / 680 CE and sent Qurra bin Qays Hanjali to Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) to ask the Imam why he had come to Iraq. The Imam replied that the people of Kufa had invited him, and that was why he had come to Iraq; however, if they did not want him, he would return. Ibn Sa'd wrote the Imam's response to Ubaydullah, but Ubaydullah's associates, such as Shimr bin Dhil-Jawshan and others who favored war with Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), prevented Ubaydullah from showing leniency towards the Imam. Ubaydullah wrote to Ibn Sa'd, who initially wished to resolve the matter through peace, ordering him to either fight Hussein (peace be upon him) or hand over the command of the Kufa army to Shimr bin Dhil-Jawshan. However, in response to this letter, Ibn Sa'd told Shimr that he himself would be the commander of the army and would fight Hussein (peace be upon him). Following Ibn Ziyad's order, he stationed five thousand cavalrymen on the banks of the Euphrates to prevent the Imam's army from accessing water.

Meeting with Imam Hussein (peace be upon him)

Umar ibn Sa'd, between the 3rd of Muharram and 9th of Muharram, met with the Imam (peace be upon him) several times and exchanged words with His Holiness (peace be upon him). It is narrated that one day the Imam (peace be upon him) sent someone to the son of Sa'd and requested a nighttime meeting with him.

At night, Abu Abdillah and Ibn Sa'd each arrived at the meeting place accompanied by twenty horsemen. Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), except for Abbas (peace be upon him) and Ali Akbar (peace be upon him), asked the rest of his companions to keep their distance. Ibn Sa'd also kept his son Hafs and his servant, ordering the others to move back.

In this meeting, Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) said to him: "O Umar, woe unto you; are you not afraid of God, to whom we all shall return, that you have come to fight me? Yet you know who I am. Abandon this wrong thought and choose the path that is in the best interest of your religion and worldly life, and come to me. Deliver yourself from this misguidance and do not be deceived by this treacherous, deceptive world, which has seen many like you and me. Be certain that your salvation and safety lie in what I say."

Ibn Sa'd said: "You speak the truth; but I fear that if I come to you, [Ubaydullah] will destroy my house." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "I will build a better house for you."

Umar ibn Sa'd said: "I have a cultivated and fertile piece of land; I fear that Ibn Ziyad will take it from me and deprive my children of its benefit."

Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) said: "I will give you better land than that in the Hejaz."

Umar fell silent and said nothing more. Seeing this, the Imam (peace be upon him) returned, saying: "God may destroy you and not forgive you on the Day of Judgement; I hope that by God's grace you will not eat the wheat of Iraq."

Umar ibn Sa'd said: "O Hussein (peace be upon him)! If there is no wheat, barley can be eaten." He said this and then returned to his camp.

Crimes of Umar ibn Sa'd

One of the crimes of Umar ibn Sa'd in Karbala was blocking water from Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) and his Ahl al-Bayt. Following the order of Ibn Ziyad, Umar ibn Sa'd summoned Amr ibn al-Hajjaj al-Zubaydi and ordered him to prevent water from reaching the tents of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) along with five hundred soldiers from the Kufa army.

On the day of Tasua, Umar ibn Sa'd prepared his soldiers for war and proclaimed: "O riders of God! Mount; glad tidings of Paradise be upon you." The Kufans also mounted and prepared for battle.

However, at the request of the Imam (peace be upon him), who had asked them to grant him respite until the night of Ashura to perform worship, he desisted from fighting on this day and postponed the war to the day of Ashura. On the day of Ashura, he arranged his army for attack and introduced his commanders, ready to begin the war.

It is narrated that before the start of the war, the Imam (peace be upon him), in one of his speeches, addressed Umar ibn Sa'd and said:

"O Umar! Will you kill me and think that the illegitimate son, the son of an illegitimate son, will make you the governor of the lands of Ray and Gorgan? By God, you will never taste the sweetness of that day. This is a certain matter; so do whatever you want, for you will not be happy in this world and the hereafter after me."

But Ibn Sa'd, paying no attention to these words, called his slave and released the first arrow towards Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) and his companions, and loudly addressed his companions and followers saying, "Testify before the Emir that I was the first person to release the arrow of war."

It is narrated that in the afternoon of Ashura, in the last moments of the noble life of the Imam (peace be upon him), Zaynab Kubra (peace be upon her) came out of the tent camp and upon seeing the scene of his martyrdom (peace be upon him), addressed Umar Sa'd saying: "O Umar ibn Sa'd! Is Abu Abdillah being killed and you are watching?"

Umar Sa'd, while tears were flowing on his cheeks and beard, turned his face away from Lady Zaynab (peace be upon her).

After the martyrdom of the Leader of the Martyrs (peace be upon him), Umar ibn Sa'd asked for volunteers from among his followers to trample the holy body of the Imam (peace be upon him) with horses. Then ten of the Kufans expressed readiness and mounted their horses and trampled the body of the Imam (peace be upon him), breaking the chest and back bones of the Holy Presence (peace be upon him).

After the Event of Karbala

After the heart-rending event of Ashura, he remained in Karbala for two days and attended to the burial of the bodies of his own army's dead, then while leaving the holy and pure bodies of the martyrs of Karbala on the scorched soil of Karbala, he moved towards Kufa along with the captives of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them).

Umar ibn Sa'd returned to Kufa; but just as Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) had told him before his martyrdom, the sweet dream of obtaining the governorship of Ray never came true for him.

Ibn Sa'd, whose hands were now short from everywhere, described his state to his friends as follows: "No one returned to his home more loss-making than me; for I have obeyed a sinful and unjust ruler, trampled justice, severed kinship, and committed a great sin."

After the Death of Yazid

With the death of Yazid, the beginning of the uprisings of the Shia of Iraq marked hard and frightening days for the son of Sa'd. So much so that it is said after the uprising of Sulayman ibn Surd al-Khuza'i, Ibn Sa'd, due to fear of being killed, slept in the Dar al-Imarah at nights.

However, what frightened him more than the uprising of Sulayman was the knowledge of the truth of the Uprising of Mukhtar; thus, he and a group of other Kufan nobles considered the uprising of Mukhtar far more dangerous than the uprising of the Tawwabun and warned others of its danger.

With the occurrence of the uprising of Mukhtar, Umar fled from Kufa along with Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath and returned to Kufa simultaneously with the revolt of the Kufans against the government of Mukhtar.

After the defeat of this revolt, Umar ibn Sa'd remained in Kufa; but due to the fear he had of Mukhtar, he resorted to Abdullah ibn Ja'dah ibn Hubayrah, who was among the top-tier Shia of Kufa and a close friend of Mukhtar, and asked him to obtain a safe conduct from Mukhtar for him.

Mukhtar also wrote a safe conduct for the son of Sa'd and stipulated the condition of not going to hadath (according to a hadith that has reached us from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him), Mukhtar's intention from hadath was that as long as Ibn Sa'd does not go to the bathroom and do anything, this safe conduct will be valid.) as the condition for the continuation and permanence of this safe conduct.

Death

Mukhtar sent one of his commanders named Abu Qulus Shabami to pursue them. He arrested Ibn Sa'd and brought him to Mukhtar. Ibn Sa'd and his son Hafs, who was also present in Mukhtar's court, were killed by Mukhtar's order. After burning their bodies, he sent their heads to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya in Medina.

However, another narration states that Mukhtar sent Abu Amra in pursuit of Ibn Sa'd. Umar stood up and put on his clothes to go with him to the Dar al-Imara; but he slipped and fell to the ground, so Abu Amra seized the opportunity and severed his head from his body.

He brought the head of Sa'd's son to Mukhtar and placed it before him. Then Mukhtar issued the order for the killing of Hafs, son of Ibn Sa'd. Then he sent these heads with some money to Medina.

References

Retrieved from the website Complete Biography of Umar ibn Sa'd and Finally Him - IVAMag Magazine