and she was still a young maiden. Her relatives came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ asking him to return her, but he refused, for Allah had revealed concerning such women: “When believing women come to you as emigrants, test them; Allah knows best their faith. If you ascertain that they are believers, then do not return them to the disbelievers” (al-Mumtahanah 10).

ʿUrwah said, “ʿĀʾishah told me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to test them with the verse, ‘O Prophet, when believing women come to you to pledge allegiance to you…’ (al-Mumtahanah 12). She said, ‘Whoever among them accepted this condition, he would say to her, “I have accepted your pledge,”—only words that he addressed to her. By Allah, his hand never touched the hand of any woman during the pledge; he accepted their pledge solely by his statement.’” Al-Bukhārī recorded this report.

Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah narrated from Ibn Shihāb: “When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ returned to Madinah, Abū Baṣīr ibn Usayd ibn Jāriyah al-Thaqafī slipped away from Thaqīf while they were still idolaters. His story is similar to what we have already mentioned, with an additional detail: Abū Baṣīr left accompanied by five men who had come from Mecca. Quraysh did not send anyone after them, as they had done for Abū Baṣīr earlier, until the group reached the area between al-ʿIṣ and Dhū al-Marwah in the land of Juhaynah, along the Quraysh caravan route by the seashore. No caravan of Quraysh passed them without their seizing it and killing its escorts.

Abū Jandal also escaped with seventy riders who had embraced Islam and migrated. They joined Abū Baṣīr and cut off Quraysh’s supply line from Syria. Abū Baṣīr used to lead his companions in prayer, and when Abū Jandal arrived he became their imam.

When people from Banū Ghifār heard of Abū Jandal’s arrival, a number of them gathered around him