Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas

Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas was one of the first Muslims, the archer of Badr, and the commander who broke the Sasanian army at al-Qadisiyya. The city of Kufa was among his foundations.

A young Qurashi of Banu Zuhra, the clan of the Prophet ﷺ's own mother, Sa'd embraced Islam at the hands of Abu Bakr while still under twenty, among the first ten believers ¹. He witnessed Badr, which tradition calls the first arrow shot in the cause of Islam, and the battles of Medina after it ¹.

In 636 CE, as commander on behalf of Umar, he met the Sasanian army at al-Qadisiyya in Iraq and defeated it in a battle lasting several days, after which all the lands of Persia opened to the Muslims ². On Umar's command he founded the garrison city of Kufa and governed Iraq. Then he withdrew to his estate at Aqiq, near Medina, and died around 674 CE ¹.

Kufa, the seat of Ali's rule, the cradle of Arabic grammar and early jurisprudence, and the base of the east, began as Sa'd's garrison camp. The saying attributed to the Prophet, "O God, make Sa'd's arrow find its mark," made him the tradition's model archer.

The book counts him among those who embraced Islam through the call of Abu Bakr during the years of the secret call. He was one of the eight who preceded others, forming the vanguard and foremost of Islam ^{3 4}. The book mentions him with his Zuhri lineage ³.

Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy mentions Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas in several places in the series. He tells that Sa'd made the people swear by God to reveal who had opened the breach into al-Madain, and that the man disappeared after opening it ⁵.

He cites Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him)'s letter to Sa'd at al-Qadisiyya: the Muslims are helped by their obedience to God and the enemy by his disobedience, and the sins of an army are more to be feared than its enemy ⁶. Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy holds, as his own opinion, that this letter shows religion covers everything and is not separate from politics ⁷.

He says Sa'd was known among the Arabs for his bravery, that he was the fifth to accept Islam, and that he came to Islam through Abu Bakr ⁸ (needs_source).

He names Sa'd's command at al-Qadisiyya among the conquests ⁹, describes Sa'd praying before al-Qadisiyya ^{10 11}, and returns to Umar's words to Sa'd that victory comes through obedience to God ¹².

He recounts that the Prophet said "my father and mother for you" to Sa'd, and that this phrase was said to no one but Sa'd and one other Companion ¹³. He says Umar named six men, Sa'd among them, from the ten promised Paradise, to choose a successor from among themselves ¹⁴, and that Sa'd withdrew from the caliphate together with Talha and al-Zubayr ¹⁵.

He recounts that in Iraq Sa'd prayed that God show a sign against a man who was spreading slander about him, and a she-camel dragged that man until he died ^{16 17}. He also recounts that Sa'd prayed against a neighbour woman who spread false accusations; she fell into a well and died ^{18 19} (needs_source). Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy holds, as his own opinion, that the prayer of the wronged is not turned away ¹⁹.

He imagines, as his own opinion, that Sa'd, if alive today, would set up factories producing arms for the Muslims ²⁰.