at an-Nabīt (1), a spot in the lava field of Banū Bayāḍah, in a depression known as Naqīʿ al-Khaḍimāt (2).
He said, “I asked, ‘How many of you were there that day?’” He replied, “Forty men.”
This ḥadīth has also been recorded by Abū Dāwūd and Ibn Mājah (3) through the narration of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq—may Allah have mercy on him. Al-Dāraqutnī (4) likewise transmits from Ibn ʿAbbās that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ wrote to Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr instructing him to establish the Friday prayer, though there is some oddity in its chain of transmission; Allah knows best.
Ibn Isḥāq (5) further relates: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn al-Mughīrah ibn Muʿayqīb (6) and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Bakr ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm told me that Asʿad ibn Zurārah went out with Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr intending to visit the quarters of Banū ʿAbd al-Ashhal and Banū Ẓafar; Saʿd ibn Muʿādh was Asʿad’s maternal cousin. They entered an orchard belonging to Banū Ẓafar near a well called Biʾr Marq, sat down there, and a number of the men who had accepted Islam gathered around them. At that time Saʿd ibn Muʿādh and Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr were the chiefs of their clan, Banū ʿAbd al-Ashhal, and both were still idolaters following the religion of their people.
When they heard about this, Saʿd said to Usayd, “For shame! Go to those two men who have come into our quarter to corrupt our weak ones. Drive them off and forbid them to enter our area. Were it not that Asʿad ibn Zurārah is related to me—as you know—I would have spared you the task; he is the son of my aunt, and I am reluctant to confront him directly.”
So Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr picked up his spear and went toward them. When Asʿad ibn Zurārah saw him, he said to Muṣʿab, “This is the leader of his people; he has come to you. Be sincere to Allah concerning him.”
Muṣʿab replied, “If he will sit down, I shall speak with him.”
Usayd stood over them, rebuking, and said, “What has brought you two here, trying to make fools of our weak ones? Keep away from us if you care for yourselves!”
Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah adds: A young man said to him, “You have brought this lone, alien outcast into our very quarter so that he may deride our weak ones with falsehood and call them to it.” Ibn-