a man from his household. Another explanation was that he sent ‘Alī after Abū Bakr to assist and support him. For this reason, al-Siddīq asked him, “Are you in command or under orders?” He replied, “I am under orders” (1).
As for the enemies of Allah, the Rāfidah (Rejectionists), they claim instead that he dismissed Abū Bakr and replaced him with ‘Alī. This is nothing new among their lies and fabrications.
There are two views as to whether this pilgrimage took place in Dhū al-Hijjah or in Dhū al-Qa‘dah because of the practice of postponing the sacred months. Allah knows best.
Section
On the guards of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him
Among them was Sa‘d ibn Mu‘ādh, who guarded him on the day of Badr while he slept in the shelter.
Among them was Muhammad ibn Maslamah, who guarded him on the day of Uhud, and al-Zubayr ibn al-‘Awwām, who guarded him (2) on the day of the Trench.
Among them was ‘Abbād ibn Bishr, who was in charge of (3) his guards.
(1) Reported by Ibn Ishāq, as cited by Ibn Hishām (2:545–546), from Abū Ja‘far Muhammad ibn ‘Alī al-Bāqir as a mursal report (with the Companion omitted from the chain). It was also reported by al-Nasā’ī (2993) from Jābir ibn ‘Abd Allāh, through Ibn Jurayj, from ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Uthmān ibn Khuthaym, from Abū al-Zubayr, from Jābir. This version reads: “Are you a commander or an emissary?” Al-Nasā’ī commented afterward: “Ibn Khuthaym is not strong in hadith transmission. I included this report only so that the chain would not be presented as Ibn Jurayj narrating directly from Abū al-Zubayr. We recorded it only from Ishāq ibn Ibrāhīm. Neither Yahyā ibn Sa‘īd al-Qattān nor ‘Abd al-Rahmān [ibn Mahdī] abandoned Ibn Khuthaym’s hadiths. However, ‘Alī ibn al-Madīnī said: ‘Ibn Khuthaym is munkar al-hadīth (a narrator of objectionable reports).’ It is as though ‘Alī ibn al-Madīnī was created for hadith scholarship.” Ibn Hajar described ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Uthmān ibn Khuthaym as sadūq (truthful).
(2) sād, jīm: “min harasihi (one of his guards).”
(3) “‘alā (in charge of)” is omitted in kāf and ‘ayn.