Umar bin Sa'ad and appointed him to fight with Imam Husain (a.s)

"Now then O Husain! I have been informed that you have haulted at Karbala. Yazeed has written to me not to recline my head on the bed and not be sati‌ated until I send you to Allah, or you submit yourself to me and Yazeed bin Mu'awiyah. Greetings." When his letter reached Imam Husain (a.s), he read it and threw it away saying, "The one who seeks the pleasure of people against the displeasure of Allah can never succeed." The messenger asked him the reply for the letter, to which Imam said, "He has no reply, but has the wrath (of Allah)." When the messenger reached Ubaydullah and conveyed the Imam's message to him, he was infuriated and looked towards Umar bin Sa'ad and appointed him to fight with Imam Husain (a.s). Before that Ubaydullah had given the governorship of Ray to Umar bin Sa'ad, thus when Umar excused himself, Ubaydullah told him to return the post bestowed upon him. Umar asked for respite and thereafter agreed in fear of the governorship being taken away from him. The author says that this (Umar bin Sa'ad's excuse to Ubaydullah not to fight) seems unlikely to me. The reliable biographers and historians have mutually agreed that Umar bin Sa'ad reached Karbala one day after Imam Husain (a.s) entered therein, and it was the day of third of Moharram (thus it proves that he was prepared for it from the very beginning). Shaikh Mufeed, Ibne Aseer and others relate that Umar bin Sa'ad bin Abi Waqqas left Kufa towards Karbala the next day accompanied by an army of four thousand horsemen. Ibne Aseer says that the reason of Umar bin Sa'ad going to Karbala, was that Ubaydullah bin Ziyad had sent him on duty to Dashti, with a well-equipped army of four thousand, for the people of Daylam had gained control over it and secondly that Ubaydullah had given him authority over Ray. Umar bin Sa'ad had made Hammamul A'ayan as his encampment. When the matter of Imam Husain (a.s) reached here, Ubaydullah called Umar bin Sa'ad and said, "Go and confront Husain and after accom‌plishing our task, return back to your position." Umar bin Sa'ad tried to excuse himself when Ubaydullah said, "Very well, then you may return back what has been conferred upon you." When Ubaydullah said this Umar replied, "Give me respite for today so that I may take a decision", saying this he left and asked the opinion of his well-wishers, all of whom adviced him to refrain from it. His nephew Hamza bin Mugheera bin Sha'bah came to him and said, "I request you in the name of Allah not to confront

Husain, for by doing this you will be sinning and severing the bonds of relationship with him. By Allah! Even if you have to leave this world, the wealth and the kingdom upon the earth, it is better for you than go to the presence of the Almighty Allah with the blood of Husain upon your neck." Umar replied that he would not do so and he spent the entire night pondering upon it saying, "Could I decline the governorship of Ray, while it is my dream, or should I return back blamed for killing Husain? should I kill him, then I will wind up in the hell from which there is no escape, while the governor‌ship of Ray is the refreshment of my eyes." Then he returned to Ubaydullah and said, "You have deputed me for this task and all the people have heard it. If you desire send me for this job, otherwise send someone else against Husain from the noblemen of Kufa, who would be better than me", then he named some of them. Ubaydullah replied, "If I have to send someone else I will not ask your opinion, then now if you are ready to go to Karbala with the command over our army, do so, or else return back the post which we have conferred upon you." Hearing this Umar replied, "I myself will go", saying this he proceeded until he en‌camped opposite Imam Husain (a.s). The author says that what Imam Ali (a.s) had predicted came out to be true. Sibt ibne Jawzi in his Tazkirah relates that the eminence of Imam Ali (a.s) became apparent here. One day he met Umar bin Sa'ad, who was a young lad at that time, and said, "Woe be to you O son of Sa'ad! What would be your state at the moment when you will be standing between Paradise and hell and you shall choose the hell." When Umar reached Karbala, he haulted at Ninawa. (Irshad) When Umar bin Sa'ad reached Karbala, he called Urwah bin Qays Ahmasi and said, "Go to Husain and ask him as to why he has come here and what he desires." He replied that he was ashamed to go, for he was among those who had written to the Imam inviting him to come. Then when Umar put the same offer to whomsoever in his army, they all refused, for they were among those who had written to Imam. Then Kaseer bin Abdullah Sha'abi, who was a brave man and would never turn his face away from any task, arose and said, "I shall go and if you desire I shall kill him." Umar replied, "I do not desire his murder, then go to him and ask him the reason as to why he has come here." Kaseer went until Abu Samamah Saedi saw him and said, "May Allah reconcile you O Aba Abdillah! The man is coming towards you, who is the worst among the dwellers of this world and who is the boldest and who had shed the most blood among them." Then Abu Samamah himself arose and went up to him and told him to keep his sword down. He refused to do so and said, "I am only a messenger, then if you desire, I shall convey it to you or

else I shall return back." Abu Samamah said, "In that case I shall keep my hand over the hilt of your sword then you may deliver your message." He said, "No, I shall not let your hand reach there." Abu Samamah said, "Then deliver your message to me and I shall convey it to Husain, but I shall not let you go to him for you are a wicked man." Then they started abusing one another until Kaseer returned to Umar bin Sa'ad and informed him. Umar called for Qurrah bin Qays Hanzali and said, "Woe be to you! Go to Husain and ask him as to why he has come here and what he desires." When Imam saw Qurrah he asked, "Does anyone know this man"? Habeeb bin Muzhaahir replied, "Yes, he is from the Hanzala clan of Tameem, and is the son of our sister. I had known him to be a believer and had never thought that he would come here like this." Qurrah came and saluted the Imam and delivered the message of Umar. Imam replied, "The people of your town have written to me and requested me to come here. Then if you hate my presence I shall return back." Then Habeeb bin Muzhaahir said, "Woe be to you O Qurrah! Are you returning back to the oppressive ones? Then assist this man because of whose Fathers Allah will favour you." Qurrah replied, "I shall return back and convey Imam's message to Umar and think over it." He returned and conveyed to Umar what Imam had told him. Then Umar said, "I hope that Allah will spare me from fighting him." Then he wrote to Ubaydullah: "In the Name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful. Now then! When I reached my destination, I sent a messenger towards Husain asking him as to why he came here and what he desired. He replied that the people of this town had written to him and sent messengers inviting him, hence he has come here. He says that if these people do not like my presence and have turned against their words, which were conveyed to me by their messengers, I shall return back." Hassan bin A'ez Asabi says, that I was present there when Umar's letter reached Ubaydullah. When Ubaydullah read the letter, he said, "When he has got trapped in our claws, he hopes to escape, now there is no escape." Then he wrote back to Umar bin Sa'ad: "Now then! I have received your letter, and I have understood whatever you have written therein. Offer a proposal to Husain that he and his companions should take the pledge of allegiance to Yazeed. Then if he does so, we shall see what is to be done. Greetings." When Umar received the letter he said, "I had feared that Ubaydullah would not seek fairness." Mohammad bin Abi Talib says, that Umar bin Sa'ad did not convey this

propo‌sal of Ubaydullah bin Ziyad to Imam Husain (a.s), for he knew that the Imam would never pledge his allegiance to Yazeed. Then Ubaydullah ordered all men to gather at the great mosque of Kufa. Then he came out, mounted the pulpit and said, "O people! You have very well tested the family of Abu Sufyan, and you have found them such as you desired them (to be). This is the commander of the faithful Yazeed, who is well-behaved, a person with a pleasant countenance and kind to his subjects. He bestows rights upon everyone and the roads are safe in his kingdom. And similar was his father Mu'awiyah in his own time. And after him his son Yazeed too respects the slaves of Allah and makes them rich with wealth and honours them. He has increased your rights by a hundred times and has commanded me to increase it further and prepare you to fight his enemy Husain. Then listen to him and obey his orders." Saying this he alighted the pulpit and distributed abundant gifts among people and despatched them to assist Umar bin Sa'ad against Husain. (Manaqib) Ubaydullah started despatching troops to Karbala until twenty thousand horsemen (Malhoof) gathered with Umar bin Sa'ad till the sixth of Moharram. (Tasleeyatul Majalis) Then Ubaydullah sent someone to Shabas bin Raba'ee saying, "Come to me so that I may despatch you to fight Husain." He pretended to be sick and excused himself. Ubaydullah sent him a letter stating: "Now then! My messenger has informed me that you pretend to be sick, and I fear lest you be one of those who when they meet with those who believe, they say 'we believe', but when they go apart to their devils, they say, 'surely we are with you, verily we did but mock' [1]Then if you persist in our obedience, hasten to come to us." Shabas came after the Prayers of Isha, so that Ubaydullah may not see his face, which was free of any illness. When Shabas came, Ubaydullah welcomed him and made him sit near him and said, "I desire that you go to fight that man (Husain) and thus assist Umar bin Sa'ad." Shabas replied that he would surely do so (Manaqib) and he despatched him with an army of one thousand horse-men. (Irshad, Tabari) Then Ubaydullah wrote to Umar bin Sa'ad: "Now then! Prevent Husain and his companions from getting water. They should not get a single drop of water as was done with (Caliph) Usman bin Affan." Umar bin Sa'ad immediately sent Amr bin Hajjaj with five hundred horse-men to go to the bank of the river Euphrates and block the supply of water for Imam and his companions. They did not allow them to take even a single drop of water, and that was three days before the martyrdom of Imam Husain (i.e. [1] Surah al Baqar‌ah: 14.

the seventh of Moharram) (Tabari) Ubaydullah bin Haseen Azdi, who was registered (in the army) of the clan of Bajila, called out in a loud voice (Irshad): "O Husain! Do you see this water similar to the heavens? By Allah! You shall not taste even a drop of it until you perish of thirst." Imam Husain (a.s) replied, "O Allah! Make him die of thirst and never forgive him." Hameed bin Muslim says: By Allah! Later I visited him during his illness. By Allah, besides Whom there is no Deity, I saw him drinking water until it reached his stomach and he vomitted it. Then he shouted "Thirst, thirst" and drank water until it reached his throat and he was never satiated, he remained in that state until he died (May Allah's curse be upon him).