Al-Bayhaqī also recorded the report in his Dalāʾil (1) through the isnād of Yaḥyā ibn Abī Zāʾidah, from Mujālid, with wording similar to the version above. He added, after their question to the Companions, “Why are you fighting during the Sacred Month?!” that they replied, “We are fighting in the Sacred Month against those who expelled us from the Sacred Precinct.” (2)

He further narrated it (3) through Abū Usāmah, from Mujālid, from Ziyād ibn ʿIlāqah, from Quṭbah ibn Mālik, from Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, with like wording. In this chain Quṭbah ibn Mālik is placed between Saʿd and Ziyād, which is more appropriate—Allah knows best.

This ḥadīth indicates that the first commander of any expeditionary detachment was ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jahsh al-Asadī. This differs from what Ibn Isḥāq related—namely, that the very first banner was entrusted to ʿUbaydah ibn al-Ḥārith ibn al-Muṭṭalib (4)—and from al-Wāqidī’s report (5) claiming that the first banner was given to Ḥamzah ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. Allah knows best.

Chapter: The expedition of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jahsh, which became the cause of the Great Battle of Badr—the Day of Criterion when the two hosts met; and Allah has power over all things.

Ibn Isḥāq (6) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ dispatched ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jahsh ibn Riʾāb al-Asadī in the month of Rajab, upon his return from the first Badr expedition. He sent with him eight men from the Emigrants, with no Helper among them. They were: Abū Ḥudhayfah ibn ʿUtbah; ʿUkkāshah ibn Miḥṣan ibn Ḥarthān, an ally of Banū Asad ibn Khuzaymah; ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān, an ally of Banū Nawfal; Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ al-Zuhrī; ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿah al-Wāʾilī, an ally of Banū ʿAdiyy; Wāqid ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn ʿArīn ibn Thaʿlabah ibn Yarbuʿ al-Tamīmī, likewise an ally of Banū ʿAdiyy; Khālid ibn al-Bukayr of Banū Saʿd ibn Layth, also an ally of Banū ʿAdiyy; and Suhayl ibn Bayḍāʾ al-Fihri. These were seven, and their eighth was their commander, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jahsh—may Allah be pleased with him.