Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad
Back in Syria, he played an important role in securing the Umayyad family's nomination of the experienced, though elderly, Marwan ibn al-Hakam as Caliph, instead of Yazid's young son Khalid. The leading Umayyad commander, Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, then sent him to the Jazira, where, on 6 January 685, he defeated the Shi'a sect of the Penitents at the Battle of Ayn al-Warda. Husayn also participated in the attempted reconquest of Iraq under Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, and like him, fell at the Battle of Khazir on 5 or 6 August 686.