Editing Omar Ibn Sa’d (section)

==In the Battle of Karbala==
[[File:Omar 1.jpg|thumbnail|Hussain ibn Ali and Omar ibn Sa'd's meeting place in Karbala.]]
Son of the famous Arab general Saʿd b. Abi Waqqas, he had just been made deputy-governor (naʾeb) of Ray by [[Obayd-Allah Ibn Ziad]] and was to go to Dastaba to quell a Daylamite rising when he was called back to check Hussain b. ʿAli’s insurrection. It was only under the threat of losing his post that he finally obeyed and marched at the head of 4,000 men, reaching Karbala on 3 Muharram 61/3 October 680. Although he cut off Hussain’s access to water, he tried to negotiate a settlement. At the urging of Shamer (known as [[Shemr|Shimr]] by the Shiʿites) b. Dhu’l-Jawshan ʿAmeri, a former follower of [[ʿAli ibn Abi Talib|ʿAli b. Abi Taleb]], Ibn Ziad ordered Ibn Saʿd to attack Hussain immediately and threatened to give Shimr the command of the army. On the evening of 10 Muharram/10 October, Ibn Saʿd sent an ultimatum to Hussain through [[Abbas b. ʿAli]] (Tabari, II, pp. 308-20). The next morning Ibn Saʿd attacked, apparently hoping that Hussain and his followers would surrender, but the circumstances ended in massacre. 

According to some accounts, Ibn Saʿd was reluctant to fight Hussain (Tabari, II, pp. 309-11), and his intervention probably saved the life of [[ʿAli b. al-Hussain|ʿAli b. Hussain Zayn-al-ʿAbedin]]. On the other hand, most traditions show him eager to obey Ibn Ziad’s orders. He thus had Hussain’s corpse trampled by ten horsemen (Tabari, II, pp. 365-68; Masʿudi, Moruj III, p. 259; cf. Balʿami, ed. Rowshan, p. 711, tr. Zotenberg, IV, p. 45). For his role in the tragedy of Karbala, Ibn Saʿd was executed in Dhul’-Hejja 66/July 686 by Ibrahim b. Ashtar, at [[Mukhtar]]’s orders, during the latter’s rebellion (Tabari, II, pp. 671-74; Hawting).