…the Messenger of Allah. You are the best of us and our master.’ They therefore remained firm upon their Islam and left the rest of the people to the condition they had chosen (1).
Abu Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him), as we have already mentioned, dispatched al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Ḥaḍramī to them. When he drew near Bahrain, Thumāmah ibn Uthāl came to meet him with a large gathering, and all the commanders of those districts also arrived and attached themselves to the army of al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Ḥaḍramī. Al-ʿAlāʾ honored them, welcomed (2) them, and treated them kindly. Al-ʿAlāʾ was counted among the eminent Companions—learned, devout, and one whose supplications were answered.
During this expedition he halted at a campsite; the people had scarcely dismounted when the camels bolted with everything they carried of the army’s provisions, tents, and water-skins. The men were left on the ground with nothing but the clothes on their backs—it was night—and they could not recapture a single camel. An indescribable grief and anxiety seized them, and some began to dictate their wills to one another. Then the herald of al-ʿAlāʾ called out and the people gathered around him.
He said, ‘O people, are you not Muslims? Are you not on Allah’s path? Are you not the helpers of Allah?’ They replied, ‘Indeed.’ He said, ‘Then rejoice, for by Allah, He will never forsake anyone in a situation like yours.’ When the dawn broke, the call for prayer was given and he led the congregation. After finishing, he knelt upon his knees, and the people did likewise. He devoted himself to supplication, raising his hands, and the people followed his example until the sun rose. They kept staring at the shimmering haze of the rising sun, which flashed again and again, while he persisted earnestly in prayer. At the third flash Allah created beside them a great pool filled with fresh, clear water. He walked to it, and the people followed; they drank and bathed. Before the morning was far advanced, the camels came back from every direction with all their loads; not a single item of the army’s belongings was missing, not even a thread (3). They watered the camels, letting them drink to their fill and then again. This was one of the signs of Allah witnessed by the men of this detachment.
When al-ʿAlāʾ came close to the apostate forces—who had mustered a vast multitude—both sides encamped near each other for the night. During the night al-ʿAlāʾ heard loud voices in the apostates’ camp and said, ‘Who will go and bring us news of these people?’ ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥadhaf volunteered, entered their camp, and found them drunk, their minds gone because of wine. He returned and informed al-ʿAlāʾ. Without delay al-ʿAlāʾ mounted with the army and burst upon them, killing them in large numbers; very few escaped. All their wealth, stores, and baggage fell into Muslim hands—an immense and weighty booty.
Among them was al-Ḥuṭam ibn Ḍubayʿah of the Banū Qays ibn Thaʿlabah, one of their chiefs, who had been asleep. He rose in alarm when the Muslims stormed the camp, mounted his steed, and his stirrup strap snapped. He began shouting, ‘Who will fix my stirrup for me?’ A Muslim approached in the darkness and said, ‘I will fix it for you; lift your leg.’ When he did, the man struck him with his sword, cutting off the leg together with the foot. Al-Ḥuṭam said, ‘Finish me off!’ The man replied, ‘I will not.’ Al-Ḥuṭam fell to the ground; everyone who passed by he begged to kill him, but they refused—until Qays ibn ʿĀṣim came by. He said, ‘I am al-Ḥuṭam; kill me,’ so Qays slew him. When Qays saw that the man’s leg had been severed he regretted having killed him and exclaimed, ‘What a wretched deed! Had I known his state, I would not have raised my hand against him.’