Yūnus ibn Bukayr likewise recounts this incident—[transmitting] from Ibn Isḥāq, from an elder of the Banū Salimah, from men of his own clan—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent Ghālib ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Kalbī to the land of Banū Murrah, where he came upon Mirdās ibn Nuhayk, an ally of theirs from the clan of al-Ḥurqah. He said: and Usāmah killed him.

Ibn Isḥāq said (1): Muḥammad ibn Usāmah ibn Muḥammad ibn Usāmah related to me, from his father, from his grandfather Usāmah ibn Zayd, who said:

“I and a man from the Anṣār caught up with him—meaning Mirdās ibn Nuhayk. When we raised our weapons against him he declared, ‘I bear witness that there is no god but Allah.’ Even so, we did not desist until we had killed him. When we returned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and informed him, he said,

‘Usāmah, what will protect you from “There is no god but Allah”?’

“I replied, ‘Messenger of Allah, he uttered it only to seek refuge from being killed.’ He said,

‘And what will protect you, Usāmah, from “There is no god but Allah”? By Him Who sent him with the truth, he kept repeating that to me until I wished that none of my previous Islam had taken place and that I had embraced Islam only on that day, having not killed him.’

“So I said, ‘I pledge to Allah that I shall never again kill a man who says, “There is no god but Allah.”’ He asked, ‘Even after I am gone, Usāmah?’ I answered, ‘After you as well.’

Imām Aḥmad said (2): Hushaym ibn Bashīr narrated to us; Ḥuṣayn informed us; from Abū Ẓabyān, who said: I heard Usāmah ibn Zayd relate:

‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent us against the clan of al-Ḥurqah of Juhaynah. We attacked them at dawn. Among them was a man who, whenever his people advanced, was the fiercest of them against us, and when they retreated he covered their rear. I and an Anṣārī man closed in on him; when we seized him he said, “There is no god but Allah.” The Anṣārī held back, but I killed him. When this reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ he said, “Usāmah, did you kill him after he said, ‘There is no god but Allah’?” I replied, “Messenger of Allah, he said it only to shield himself [from death].” He kept repeating that to me until I wished that I had not embraced Islam except on that very day.’

Al-Bukhārī and Muslim have also recorded it (3) through Hushaym with similar wording.

And Ibn Isḥāq said (4): Yaʿqūb ibn ʿUtbah narrated to me, from Muslim ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Juhanī, from Jundub ibn Makīth al-Juhanī, who said:

‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ dispatched Ghālib ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Kalbī—of Kalb Layth—against Banū al-Malluḥ at al-Kadīd (5), instructing him to raid them. I was part of that detachment. We continued until, when we came to al-Qudayd (6), we encountered al-Ḥārith ibn Mālik ibn…’