Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas
Muslim general (c. 595 – 674)
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas ibn Wuhayb al-Zuhri (Arabic: سَعْدُ بْنُ أَبِي وَقَّاصِ بْنِ وُهَيْبٍ اَلزُّهْرِيُّ, romanized: Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ ibn Wuhayb al-Zuhrī) was an Arab Muslim commander. He was the founder of Kufa and served as its governor under Umar ibn al-Khattab. He played a leading role in the Muslim conquest of Persia and was a close companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Sa'd was the seventh free adult man to embrace Islam, which he did at the age of seventeen. Sa'd participated in all battles under Muhammad during their stay in Medina. Sa'd was famous for his leadership in the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah and the conquest of the Sasanian capital Ctesiphon in 636. After the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah and the Siege of Ctesiphon (637), Sa'd served as the supreme commander of the Rashidun army in Iraq, which conquered Khuzestan and built the garrison city of Kufa. Due to complaints about his conduct, he was later dismissed from his post by the caliph Umar. During the First Fitna, Sa'd was known for leading the neutral faction that contained the majority of the companions of Muhammad and their followers, who refused to be involved in the civil war. Traditions of Chinese Muslims hold that he introduced Islam to China during a diplomatic visit in 651, though these accounts are disputed.
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