Ibn Isḥāq (1) said: When relief descended upon ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jahsh and his companions with the revelation of the Qur’ān, their hearts turned to the reward, and they said, “O Messenger of Allah, may we hope that this will count for us as a raid, so that we receive the recompense of those who fight in Allah’s cause?” Thereupon Allah revealed regarding them: “Indeed, those who have believed, emigrated, and striven in the path of Allah—it is they who hope for Allah’s mercy; and Allah is All-forgiving, Most Merciful” (al-Baqarah, 2:218). In this way Allah placed them upon the greatest hope.

Ibn Isḥāq (2) also said: This report is related by al-Zuhrī and Yazīd ibn Rūmān from ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr. It is likewise recorded by Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah in his Maghāzī from al-Zuhrī (3), and Shuʿayb (4) transmits a similar account from al-Zuhrī from ʿUrwah, in which it is stated: “Ibn al-Ḥaḍramī was the first man killed between the Muslims and the polytheists.”

ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Hishām (5) said: He was the first person slain by the Muslims; this was the first booty the Muslims ever acquired; and ʿUthmān together with al-Ḥakam ibn Kaysān were the first prisoners captured by the Muslims.

I say: It has already been mentioned in the narration recorded by Imām Aḥmad (6), on the authority of Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, that he said: “ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jahsh was the first commander in Islam.”

We have also cited in the Tafsīr (7), in connection with Ibn Isḥāq’s account, corroborating reports with full chains.

Among them is what the ḥāfiẓ Abū Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥātim related: My father told us; Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr al-Maqdamī told us; al-Muʿtamar ibn Sulaymān told us from his father, who said: al-Ḥaḍramī narrated to me, from Abū al-Sawwār, from Jundub ibn ʿAbd Allāh that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ dispatched a detachment and placed Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrah—or ʿUbaydah ibn al-Ḥārith—in command of them. When the latter set out, longing for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ overcame him and he began to weep, so he stayed behind. The Prophet then appointed ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jahsh in his place, wrote him a letter, and instructed him not to read it until he had reached such-and-such a place, adding, “Do not compel any of your companions to travel on with you.” When he read the letter he said, “To Allah we belong and to Him we return,” and declared, “I hear and obey Allah and His Messenger.” He then informed them of the matter and read the letter to them; two men turned back, while the rest continued. They encountered Ibn al-Ḥaḍramī and killed him, not knowing whether that day fell in Rajab or in Jumādā. Then he said—