The man who slaughtered the camels for them was Qays ibn Saʿd ibn ʿUbādah—may God be pleased with him.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī (1) reports—through Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥāfiẓ, Abū Bakr ibn Isḥāq, Ismāʿīl ibn Qutaybah, Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā, and Abū Khaythamah (Zuhayr ibn Muʿāwiyah)—from Abū’z-Zubayr, on the authority of Jābir, who said:

“The Messenger of God ﷺ dispatched us and placed Abū ʿUbaydah in command, to intercept a Quraysh caravan. He provided us with only one bag (2) of dates—nothing else could be found—so Abū ʿUbaydah would hand us a single date apiece.

I asked, ‘How did you manage with one date?’ He said, ‘We would suck on it the way a child does, then drink water, and it would suffice us until nightfall. We also beat leaves off the trees with our sticks, moistened them with water, and ate them.’

“We then proceeded to the seashore. There, on the coast, a huge mound appeared. When we reached it we discovered a creature called al-ʿAnbar.

“Abū ʿUbaydah said, ‘It is carrion.’ Then he added, ‘No—rather, we are emissaries of the Messenger of God ﷺ, striving in God’s cause, and necessity has compelled you; so eat.’

“We remained with it a month—three hundred men—until we grew stout. From the hollow of its eye we ladled buckets of fat, and we cut chunks from it as large as a bull, or nearly so. Abū ʿUbaydah seated thirteen of us inside its eye socket; then he took one of its ribs, set it upright, saddled our largest camel, and the camel passed beneath it. We packed slices of its meat for the journey. When we reached Madinah we reported the matter to the Messenger of God ﷺ.

“He said, ‘It is provision God has brought forth for you. Do you have any of its meat that you can feed us?’ We sent some to the Messenger of God ﷺ and he ate from it.”

Muslim transmits the same report—through Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā and Aḥmad ibn Yūnus—and Abū Dāwūd through al-Nufaylī; all of them convey it from Abū Khaythamah Zuhayr ibn Muʿāwiyah al-Juʿfī of Kūfah, from Abū’z-Zubayr Muḥammad ibn Muslim ibn Tadrus al-Makkī, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī, with this wording.

I say: Most of these chains indicate that the expedition took place before the Treaty of al-Ḥudaybiyyah. Nevertheless, we have inserted it here following al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī—may God have mercy on him—for he places it after the campaign of Muʾtah and before the Conquest of Mecca. God knows best.

Al-Bukhārī (3) likewise, after the Expedition of Muʾtah, records the detachment of Usāmah ibn Zayd against the Huraqāt (4) of Juhaynah, stating:

“ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad narrated to us; Hushaym narrated to us; Ḥuṣayn ibn Jundub informed us; Abū Ḍabiyān narrated: I heard Usāmah ibn Zayd say:

‘The Messenger of God ﷺ dispatched us to the Huraqah. We descended on the people at dawn and routed them. I and a man from the Anṣār pursued one of their men. When we overtook him he said, “There is no god but God.” The Anṣārī held back, but I thrust my spear into him and killed him.

‘When we returned, word of this reached the Prophet ﷺ. He said, “O Usāmah, did you kill him after he had said, ‘There is no god but God’?” I replied, “He said it only to seek protection.” He kept repeating the question until I wished I had not embraced Islam before that day.’”

This ḥadith and its discussion have already been presented earlier.