From History of Karbala UMAR BIN SA`D'S Arriving at Karbala, Advice of Shimar Bin Zil Jawshan and letter of IBN ZIYAD

History of Karbala

UMAR BIN SA`D ARRIVES AT KARBALA

Umar bin Sa`d was the son of one of the companions of our Prophet  (p.b.u.h.). He lived in Kufa. The governor told him that a movement had emerged against the government in Dalam and he should go there and destroy it. He would be given an army of 4,000 men and after he has destroyed this movement he will be appointed as the new governor of the province of Rayye." When Umar bin Sa`d was ready to leave, Ibn Ziyad suddenly changed his mind and said, "Instead of going to Dalam, go to Karbala where Imam Husain has gone and is camping and is trying to mobilize the people against this government." Umar bin Sa'd said, "If I have to go into battle or arrest Imam Husain then I am not willing to go." The governor said, "You know that I have appointed you the governor of Rayye. I will suspend you and not give you the governorship of Rayye unless you do as I demand." Umar bin Sa'd asked for sometime to reconsider his options. He thought very deeply and asked his friends and advisers on what he should do. Deep down inside he did not want to go and his advisers also told him not to go as Imam Husain was the grandson of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.). He went to Ibn Ziyad and recited a poem saying, "I have two options before me. One is that I become governor of Rayye and fulfil my desires. Secondly, I should confront Imam Husain and kill him in battle and be hated amongst all the people and enter into Hell." After reciting this poem he said to Ibn Ziyad, "I am not going to fight against Imam Husain and I do not want your governorship of Rayye but if you send so and so he will go and fulfil your orders."

Ibn Ziyad said, "If you do not want to go then go home, I do not require your advice on who to send or who not to send. I am above you in rank and have greater knowledge on these matters than you do." When the governor said this, Ibn Sa`d was startled; he began to reconsider his position. After careful consideration he decided to take the post and become in charge of the army. He got his men ready and left for Karbala. Upon reaching Karbala he met Imam Husain and enquired, "Why did you come to Kufa?" Imam Husain replied, "I came to Kufa because I was invited through letters, messages and personal invitations and now that I have reached here you do not want me to be here."

Ibn Sa`d said that he would write a letter to his governor Ibn Ziyad to see what he would like Imam Husain to do. Imam Husain said, "Could you write in your letter that if you do not let us enter Kufa then would you please let us return to Makkah because I dod not want to cause anarchy in the country." When Ibn Ziyad received the letter from Ibn Sa`d, he wrote back saying, "Tell Imam Husain to swear allegiance to King Yazid. If he does, then we shall come to an agreement but if he does not then we shall fight with him and his people. We will also stop their supply of drinking water." Ibn Sa`ad sent 500 of his men with Umar Ibn al-Hajjaj as their leader. On 7th of Muharram he was given orders to go to the river and stop Imam Husain and his people from obtaining any water from it. When Imam Husain and his men started to run out of water from their containers, Imam Husain told his brother to take 20 people with him and go to the river Euphrates to get some water. On the way back from the river Imam Husain`s brother and the people with him were attacked by the enemy. After this incident Imam Husain sent Umar bin Qurza to go and see Umar Bin Sa`d, and tell him that Imam Husain would like to have a meeting with him. Both Imam Husain and Umar Bin Sa`ad met and had a long discussion and then went back to their own camps. They had several meetings like this and then Umar Bin Sa`ad wrote a letter to Ibn Ziyad.

In the letter he stated, "I feel that we will not have to go into battle with Imam Husain and his followers because Imam Husain has made three requests, and if we agreee to any one of these requests then this problem can be solved.

His requests are: 
1. Allow him to return to Makkah where he had come from. 
2. Allow him to join one of the forces that are in Jihad with the non-believers, so he may fight along side them. 
3. Take him to king Yazid in Syria so he may personally have a conversation with him.

NOTE: In some narrations Imam Husain has asked to let him go to Yazid so he could swear allegiance to him. But this narration is not authentic, if he had said this then there was no need for the war to take place because this was what the government wanted. This narration has been rejected by Uqbah bin Saman, who was reported to be present with Imam Husain during all meetings and claimed that he did not say such a thing.

When Ibn Ziyad read this letter he said, "I accept these requests because the letter which has come to me is from a person who is thinking of the best interests of the government and the people."

SHIMAR BIN ZIL JAWSHAN`S ADVICE

Shimar bin Zil Jawshan was present when Ibn Ziyad read the letter. He stood up and said to Ibn Ziyad, "How can you let someone leave who has come to overthrow you? He is in your area at the moment, in your grip, I swear by Allah Most High that if he leaves now without swearing allegiance to you, he will become more powerful than you. He will gather a large number of his followers and then you will not be able to stop him fulfilling his ambition. I advise you to force him to pledge allegiance to you at this moment and if he refuses then you should punish him. If you forgive him and let him go then you will be blamed. I swear by Allah Most High again that I have also found out that there have been meetings going on at night between Imam Husain and Umar bin Sa'd. From this you can imagine that they are conspiring against you."

LETTER OF IBN ZIYAD

Shimar's advice appealed to Ibn Ziyad and he gave him a letter to take to Umar bin Sa'd. In the letter he told Umar bin Sa'd, "I did not send you to talk to Imam Husain and waste time pleading with him on my behalf. I ordere you to attack and kill Imam Husain and his followers if they refused to pledge their allegiance to me. After you have killed them, I want you to decapitate them, cut off their noses and ears and poke out their eyes, so that they are not recognisable. That is the punishment they deserve for rebelling against the government. Then take their bodies and throw then into an open field and ride your horses over them at high speed so that their flesh is separated from their bones. If you obey my orders, then you will be rewarded with gifts from me, but if you do not then I am immediately suspending you from your post and appointing Shimar in charge of the army." Ibn Ziyad also told Shimar that he would be appointed commander of the army if Umar bin S'ad failed to comply with his orders.

Shimar took this letter to Umar bin Sa'd. After reading the letter Umar bin Sa'd said, "I thought Ibn Ziyad might compromise and make peace with Imam Husain but I did not expect him to react in such a cruel manner." Shimar said, "You were mistaken then. Now tell me whether you are going to obey his orders or will I have to kill you and cut your head off and send it to Ibn Ziyad?"

Umar bin Sa'd assured Shimar that he would obey Ibn Ziyad's orders. Then Shimar called some of his relatives who were in Imam Husain's group; their names were Abdullah, Abbas, Jaffer, and Uthman. He said, "Come with me and live a life of peace and tranquillity." They replied, "You are cursed and evil, we are not going to come with you. We will stay with Imam Husain. If we come with you we will be punished with Hellfire, and if we stay with Imam Husain then we will enter Paradise."

Imam Husain and some of his followers were sat outside their tents at the time of Asar prayers. They saw that Umar bin Sa`ad was coming towards them with some of his followers. Imam Husain's brother Sayyiduna Abbas said, "I have a feeling the people who are coming towards us are here to fight. Get up and get ready to attack them," Imam Husain told them to prepare for the battle. His brother said, "Let me go first and ask why they have come." Sayyiduna Abbas took twenty people with him and said to Umar bin Sa'd "What is your reason for coming her?" Umar bin Sa'd replied that he had come to inform Imam Husain of the contents of the letter which Ibn Ziyad had sent. Upon finding out Ibn Ziyad's intentions, Imam Husain told Sayyiduna Abbas to tell Umar to give them until tonight to make Dua (supplication), recite the Qur'an and perform Salah (prayers). Whatever is destined to happen tomorrow will happen. Umar agreed to give them until the morning to prepare for the battle. They each returned to their own tents.