Imam Hussein with Omar ibn Sa'd Shrine

This shrine is located in the last quarter of the great market of the Bab Al Salalima neighborhood, 241 meters from the sacred Al Hussein Holy Shrine.

It is the site where Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) stood face to face before Omar ibn Sa'd, commander of the Umayyad army, establishing his proof against him and calling him to repentance and to desist from fighting him.

He affirmed that he had not come of his own accord, but came in response to the invitation of the people of Kufa who had broken their covenants and changed their positions, and he offered to allow him to let him go freely to the Hijaz, or Yemen, or wherever God willed. But Ibn Sa'd refused with nothing but arrogance, so the Imam completed his decisive proof before all present.

This shrine was built to immortalize that pivotal moment. Its construction dates back to the year 1113 AH, with renovation works following in 1352 AH, then 1378 AH. After 2003, it was rehabilitated with a grille of white chrome topped by a glazed panel bearing these verses that recall the echo of that dialogue:

Here Hussein stood with Ibn Sa'd, and openly declared

Asking in his words: why must there be war between us?

I did not come of my own accord when I left my homeland

Letters came to us from those accursed ones.

O son of the Chosen Prophet, the space has grown too narrow for us

None but you do we love, and none but you do we accept as sanctuary.

When I came they broke the covenant and sought sedition

And wasted the religion of the Chosen Prophet and his traditions.

And now, O Ibn Sa'd, I have come openly declaring

If you despise my presence, then leave me until I find my way.

To the Hijaz, or to Yathrib, or perhaps Yemen

Or wherever God wills, let me make it my homeland.

Yet every time he guided them, they only increased in malice

While his lights remained, always illuminating the ages.