• A banner for al-Muhājir ibn Abī Umayyah, placing him in command of the troops that had fought al-ʿAnsi and instructing him to support the Abnāʾ against Qays ibn Makshūḥ.
I (the author) say: This was because Qays had already broken his pledge of obedience, as will be mentioned.
He (Sīf) further said:
• A banner for Khālid ibn Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ, to advance toward the approaches of al-Shām.
• A banner for ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, directed against the collective forces of Quḍāʿah together with Wadiʿah and al-Ḥārith.
• A banner for Ḥudhayfah ibn Miḥṣan al-Ghaṭafānī, with orders concerning the people of Dabā, and with ʿArfajah, Harthamah, and others under him.
• A banner for Ṭarfah ibn Ḥājib, charged with the Banū Sulaym and those of Hawāzin who stood with them.
• A banner for Suwayd ibn Muqarrin, tasked with the Tihāmah of Yemen.
• A banner for al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Ḥaḍramī, whom he dispatched to Bahrain (may Allah be pleased with him).
Abū Bakr wrote a separate document of appointment for every commander, and each set off from Dhū al-Qaṣṣah with his contingent. Al-Ṣiddīq then returned to Madinah, having also sent with them a letter to the apostates (1); its text is as follows (2):
“In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate.
From Abū Bakr, the Successor to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, to all who receive this letter, whether of the common folk or the elite, whether they have remained upon Islam or turned away from it.
Peace be upon whoever follows the guidance and does not, after guidance, revert to error and caprice.
I praise Allah to you—there is no deity but He—and I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, without partner, and that Muḥammad is His servant and His Messenger. We affirm what he brought and disbelieve in, and fight against, whoever refuses it.
To proceed: Allah sent, in truth from Himself, a bearer of glad tidings and a warner, one who calls to Allah by His permission and as a radiant lamp, so that He might warn whoever is truly alive and that the word be fulfilled against the disbelievers. Allah guided, by the truth, those who answered His call, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ struck those who turned away until they entered Islam, willingly or unwillingly. Thereafter Allah took His Messenger ﷺ, after he had fulfilled Allah’s command, sincerely advised his community, and discharged what was upon him. Allah had already made this clear to him—and to the people of Islam—in the Book He revealed, saying:
‘Indeed, you are to die, and indeed they are to die.’ ⦗Az-Zumar 30⦘
And: ‘We have not granted immortality to any human before you; so if you die, will they live forever?’ ⦗Al-Anbiyāʾ 34⦘
And He said to the believers:
‘Muḥammad is but a messenger; messengers have passed on before him. If he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels? Whoever turns back on his heels will never harm Allah at all, and Allah will reward the grateful.’ ⦗Āl ʿImrān 144⦘
Whoever used to worship Muḥammad—Muḥammad is dead; and whoever worships Allah—Allah is Ever-Living and never dies. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him; He protects His command and exacts retribution from His enemy.
I counsel you to fear Allah, to attend to your own share of what your Prophet ﷺ brought, to be guided by his guidance, and to hold fast to the religion of Allah. Everyone whom Allah does not guide is astray; everyone whom Allah does not assist is forsaken; and whoever is guided by other than Allah is misguided. Allah the Exalted says:
‘Whomever Allah guides is the rightly guided, and whomever He leaves astray—you will never find for him a protecting guide.’ ⦗Al-Kahf 17⦘
No deed will be accepted from anyone in this life until he acknowledges this, nor will any ransom or compensation be accepted from him in the Hereafter. News has reached me that some of you have turned back from your religion after having acknowledged …"