Musalman Mujahid Ep27 | Battle of al-Qadisiyyah & Role of Hazrat Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas

Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqās (Arabic: سعد بن أبي وقاص), also known as Saʿd ibn Malik,[1] was one of the companions of the Islamic prophet, military conqueror of Sassanid Persia and founder of Kufa.[2]

Saʿd was the seventh[1] person to embrace Islam in history, which he did at the age of seventeen. He is mainly known for his commandership in the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah and in the conquest of Persia in 636, his governorship over Persia, and allegedly yet controversially diplomatic sojourns to China in 651. Before participating the conquest of Persia, Sa'd participated in all battles under Muhammad during their stay in Medina.

After the battle of al-Qadisiyyah and the Siege of Ctesiphon (637), Sa'd served as supreme commander of Rashidun army in Iraq that conquered Khuzestan province before being replaced by Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, another Rashidun general and Sahaba.

In 636, after the ascension of Umar ibn al-Khattab as second Caliph, Umar sent Sa'd to lead a corps towards Iraq to assist Abu Ubayd al-Thaqafi in the Muslim conquest of Persia.Al-Basalamah remarked that Umar muster precisely 12,000 soldiers in Medina for under Sa'd, as al-Basalamah believed the Caliph were attempted to implement a Hadith that "if 12,000 whole-hearted Muslims goes for sincere Jihad, they will invincible in any battlefield", regardless how much and how strong the enemies.[7] although, Tirmidhi has deemed this narration were not authentic and weak.[27] However, before the army of Sa'd dispatched from Medina, a message from the Iraq front arrived, that Abu Ubayd were Killed in action during the Battle of the Bridge and the Iraqi soldiers were forced to withdraw to south-west of Iraq.[26] This development caused Umar changed his plan, as the Caliph instructed Sa'd to march to Iraq with 6,000 soldiers, while also bringing new caliphate instructions to Rashidun armies in Iraq to merge Sa'd forces with the forces of Arfajah who brought 400 to 700 Azd cavalry,[28] Jarir ibd Abdullah of al-Bajali and Al-Muthanna ibn Haritha of Shayban tribe, as those three commanders has just defeated the Sassanid vanguard in the battle of Buwaib. Umar further instructed to appoint Sa'd as the overall commander and the other three under his command, then Sa'd restructuring the overall army as Arfajah then placed under the banner of al Mughira ibn Shu'bah, whose company in total were about 1,500-1,800 soldiers.Sa'd scavenging every portions of Rashidun soldiers left in Iraq during his marches, until he manage to collect 30,000 soldiers.According to al-Basalamah, as Rostam Farrokhzad, the Persian commander who led massive army to confront the caliphate, deliberately marched slowly as a strategy to drag the time so Sa'd army will gradually lose their patience in time and baited being incited to act first.However, al-Muthanna advised Sa'd for the army to move on the periphery of Iraq desert and not moving their army too deep to Persian territory, which Sa'd agreed to follow, as he instructed his army to move according to al-Muthanna advice. The second particular instruction from Sa'd was daily routine correspondency with the central government in Medina, as Sa'd dilligently wrote any development, major and trivial, and sent at least two messengers everyday, who will bring his message and also brought further instruction from caliph Umar, which the Caliph responded to forbade Sa'd from preemptive attack to engage as long as their opponent does not react first, Thus, the counsel from both al Muthanna and direct instruction from the Caliph rendered Rostam plan useless.#HazratUmarBinKhattab#HazratKhalidBinWaleed