Umar b. Sa'd: Difference between revisions

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''' ʿŪmar b. Saʿd b. ʾAbī Waqqās''' (Arabic:{{iarabic|عمر بن سعد بن أبي وقّاص}}) known as '''Ibn Sa'd''' (killed in [[64]], [[65]], [[66]]/684, 685, or 686) was the commander of the army of [['Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad]] in the [[event of Karbala]]. He went to [[Karbala]] with an army of four thousand soldiers in order to achieve the government of Rey(the capital of [[Rey]] County, [[Tehran]] Province, [[Iran]]) and had a major role in the event. He threw the first arrow towards [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] and [[Martyrs of Karbala|his companions]]. After the [[martyrdom]] of imam al-Husayn (a) and his companions, he ordered his soldiers to trample over their bodies with their horses. After the event of 'Ashura, Ibn Sa'd did not reach the government of Rey and was killed by [[al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi]]. He has been among the most hated figures in the Islamic history before [[Shi'a]] and is cursed in [[Ziyarah 'Ashura']].

The date of his birth is not clear. Some sources have mentioned his birthday at the time of [[the Prophet (s)]] and some others have mentioned it at the same year when [['Umar b. al-Khattab]] was killed in [[23]]/643. According to Tabari, 'Umar was a teenager when he accompanied his father in conquering [[Iraq]] in [[17]]/637 and he was even appointed by his father to conquer [[Ra's al-'Ayn]].

In [[37]]/657, he was in Dumat al-Jandal when the case of judgment between [[Imam 'Ali (a)]] and [[Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan]] happened there and after seeing the argument between Imam Ali's (a) commanders and Mu'awiya, he went to his father and encouraged him to claim the caliphate but his father did not accept.

[[Khwarazmi]] quoted from [[Ibn A'tham al-Kufi]] (this is not existent in the current version of Tarikh written by Ibn 'Atham; as if Khwarazmi had a version which has been different from other available versions) that when [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] immigrated from [[Medina]] to [[Mecca]] in order to refrain from making [[allegiance]] with [[Yazid b. Mu'awiya]], 'Umar b. Sa'd was Emir (or maybe [[Emir al-Hajj]]) of Mecca and when he saw the huge welcome from pilgrims of [[hajj]] to [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]], he went to Medina and wrote a letter to Yazid and informed him about coming of Imam al-Husayn (a) to Mecca.

In Islamic history, 'Umar b. Sa'd is mostly known for his role in the bloody [[event of Karbala]] in which [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] and his companions were martyred. The role of 'Umar b. Sa'd in this event made him one of the most hated figures in the history.

After entering of [['Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad]] to [[Kufa]], Ibn Sa'd who was appointed as the governor of Rey and Dastebi (Arabized word for Shasht-pey, a great flat between Rey and Hamedan which was later appended to [[Qazvin]]) had camped out of Kufa with four thousand soldiers and was ready to move towards Rey, but the news about moving of Imam al-Husayn (a) towards Kufa made 'Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad to send Ibn Sa'd to either fight against Imam al-Husayn (a) or leaves the rule of Rey and Ibn Sa'd chose the new mission and moved towards Karbala with his soldiers.

Ibn Sa'd entered [[Karbala]] on Friday, [[Muharram]] 2 or 3, [[61]]/680 and sent [[Qurra b. Qays al-Hanzali]] to [[Imam al-Husayn (a)]] to ask Imam (a) why he (a) has come to [[Iraq]]? Imam (a) replied, "People of [[Kufa]] have asked me to come and thus I have come to Iraq; now, if they do not want me, I will come back."