Ibn Hishām reports that the Prophet appointed al-Sāʾib ibn ʿUthmān ibn Maẓʿūn to govern Madinah in his absence.
Al-Wāqidī, however, says that he left Saʿd ibn Muʿādh in charge. On this march the Messenger of Allah was accompanied by two hundred mounted men, the banner being carried by Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ. His purpose was to intercept a Quraysh caravan in which were Umayyah ibn Khalaf, one hundred men, and two thousand five hundred camels.
Ibn Isḥāq relates that the Prophet advanced as far as Buwāṭ, on the flank of Mount Raḍwā, then returned to Madinah without meeting the enemy. He remained in the city for the rest of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir and part of Jumādā al-Ūlā.
[The Expedition of al-ʿUshayrah]
He then set out once more against Quraysh in what is known as the Expedition of al-ʿUshayrah (also pronounced al-ʿUshir or al-ʿUshirāʾ).
Ibn Hishām states that on this occasion he placed Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Asad in charge of Madinah.
Al-Wāqidī adds that the banner was entrusted to Ḥamzah ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib and that the Messenger of Allah went out to intercept Quraysh caravans bound for Syria.
Ibn Isḥāq continues: the Prophet took the pass of Banū Dīnār, crossed the upland of Fayfāʾ al-Khabar, and halted beneath a tree in the valley of Ibn Azhar called Dhāt al-Sāq. There he prayed—the site is now marked by a mosque—and a meal was prepared for him, from which he and those with him ate; the stones that once supported the cooking-pot are still visible. Water was drawn for him from a spring known as al-Mashīrib.
He then moved on, leaving al-Khalāʾiq to his left, followed the ravine of ʿAbd Allāh, and veered leftward until he descended to Yalīl, where he camped at the junction of that valley and al-Ḍabūʿah. From there he crossed the plain of Mallal and met the main road at Sukhayrāt al-Yamām. The road led straight to al-ʿUshayrah in the valley of Yanbuʿ, where he stayed through Jumādā al-Ūlā and into the early part of Jumādā al-Ākhirah. During this time he concluded a pact of non-aggression with Banū Mudlij and their allies of Banū Ḍumrah. Afterwards he returned to Madinah without engaging in combat.
Al-Bukhārī records: “ʿAbd Allāh related to us; Wahb related to us; Shuʿbah related to us, from Abū Isḥāq, who said: ‘I was standing beside…’”