Thus the detachment set out; they did not pass by any Arab clan without filling it with dread. People would remark, “A force like this would never have left its people unless those people possessed formidable strength.” They remained afield for forty days—some say seventy—then returned safe and laden with spoils. Abu Bakr subsequently re-equipped them and merged them with the other contingents he was sending against the apostates and the zakah-withholders, as will be detailed later.

Saif ibn ʿUmar (1) related—through Hisham ibn ʿUrwah, from his father—that when allegiance was sworn to Abu Bakr and the Ansar had gathered over the matter in which they had differed, he proclaimed, “The expedition of Usamah must go forth.” By then the Arabs had apostatised, whether in whole or in part, tribe after tribe; the weed of hypocrisy (2) had sprouted, Judaism and Christianity had raised their heads, and the Muslims were like rain-soaked sheep (3) on a bitterly cold night—grieving for their Prophet ﷺ, few in number, confronted by many enemies. The people therefore said to him, “These men are the bulk of the Muslims, and—as you can see—the Arabs have rebelled against you; it is not fitting that you disperse the ranks of the Muslims.” He replied, “By Him in whose hand is the soul of Abu Bakr, even if I were certain that the wild beasts would snatch me away, I would still dispatch Usamah’s force exactly as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered; and if no one remained in all the settlements but myself, I would still send it.”

This report is also transmitted from Hisham ibn ʿUrwah, from his father, from ʿAʾishah, and in the narration of al-Qasim and ʿAmrah from ʿAʾishah, who said: “When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away, the Arabs in their entirety apostatised and hypocrisy permeated the hearts. By Allah, the burden that descended upon my father was such that, had it fallen upon the lofty mountains, it would have crushed them (4). The Companions of Muhammad ﷺ were like drenched goats (5) huddled in a thorn-bush (6) on a rainy night in a land stalked by predators (7). By Allah, whenever they disagreed over even the tiniest matter, my father would swoop down upon its rightful share, its booty, and its full benefit (8).” She then mentioned ʿUmar and said, “Whoever saw ʿUmar knew that he had been created as a treasure for Islam; by Allah, he was keen-witted (9), peerless in his generation, and for every affair he had prepared its equal (10).”

The ḥāfiẓ Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqī said: Abū ʿAbdillah al-Ḥāfiẓ narrated to us; Abū al-ʿAbbās Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb narrated to us…