his enemy, so he sent word to the Messenger of God ﷺ asking for reinforcements. The Messenger of God ﷺ called upon the earliest Emigrants, and Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, together with a number of the leading Muhājirūn—may God be pleased with them all—volunteered. The Prophet ﷺ placed Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jar­rāḥ in command of them.

Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah relates: When they reached ʿAmr, he said, “I am your commander, for I am the one who wrote to the Messenger of God ﷺ requesting that he strengthen me with you.” The Muhājirūn replied, “You are the commander of your own men, while Abū ʿUbaydah is the commander of the Emigrants.” ʿAmr answered, “You are but reinforcements that have been sent to me.” When Abū ʿUbaydah—who was a man of fine character and gentle disposition—saw how matters stood, he said, “Know, O ʿAmr, that the last thing the Messenger of God ﷺ entrusted to me was: ‘When you meet your companion, cooperate with one another.’ Therefore, if you disobey me, I will obey you.” Abū ʿUbaydah then ceded the command to ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ.

Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq reports: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥuṣayn al-Tamīmī told me that the Messenger of God ﷺ dispatched ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ to summon the Arabs to Islam. This was because al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil’s mother belonged to the Banū Balī tribe, so the Prophet ﷺ sent him to win their allegiance. When ʿAmr reached a watering place in the land of Judhām called al-Salāsil—whence the expedition took its name—he became fearful and wrote to the Messenger of God ﷺ for support. The Prophet then sent Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jar­rāḥ with the earliest Muhājirūn, among them Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, and said to Abū ʿUbaydah as he dispatched him, “Do not differ.”

Abū ʿUbaydah set out, and when he arrived, ʿAmr said to him, “You have come only as reinforcements for me.” Abū ʿUbaydah replied, “No. I remain as I was, and you remain as you were.” Abū ʿUbaydah was mild and easy-going, little concerned with worldly affairs. ʿAmr insisted, “You are my reinforcement.” Abū ʿUbaydah answered, “O ʿAmr, the Messenger of God ﷺ told me, ‘Do not differ.’ So if you disobey me, I will obey you.” ʿAmr responded, “Then I am over you; you are but support for me.” “Very well,” said Abū ʿUbaydah, whereupon ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ led the people in prayer.

Al-Wāqidī relates: Rabiʿah ibn ʿUthmān told me, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Rumān, that when Abū ʿUbaydah rejoined ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ their number reached five hundred. They marched day and night until they entered the territory of Balī and subdued it. Whenever they came to a place where they had been told a force had gathered, those people, on hearing of their approach, would disperse. They continued on until they reached the furthest borders of Balī, ʿUdhrah, and Balqayn. At the end of this advance they encountered a small band, fought with them for a short while, and exchanged arrows. On that day ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿah was struck and his arm injured. The Muslims charged, the enemy fled and scattered throughout the land, and ʿAmr overran the entire region. He remained there for several days, during which no hostile force could be heard of nor any place where they might have regrouped. He would send out detachments of cavalry who brought back sheep and camels, which the troops slaughtered and ate. Beyond that there was nothing more, and no spoils were distributed.