and captured the caravan, while Abū al-ʿĀṣ fled to Madinah and sought protection with his wife, Zaynab. She granted him refuge, the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—approved her guarantee, and returned to him the Quraysh wealth that had been taken. Abū al-ʿĀṣ then carried the goods back to Makkah and handed every sum to its rightful owner. After that, he pronounced the testimony of faith, emigrated to Madinah, and the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—restored Zaynab to him on the basis of their first marriage. Six years had elapsed between their separation and their reunion (1). This occurred two years after, during the ʿUmrah of al-Ḥudaybiyah, Muslim women had been forbidden to remain with idolaters. Some maintain that she was returned to him only by means of a new marriage contract; Allah knows best.

Zaynab bore him ʿAlī ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ [and Umāmah bint Abī al-ʿĀṣ].

He accompanied ʿAlī to Yemen when the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—dispatched him there. The Prophet used to praise him as a son-in-law and say, “He spoke to me and told the truth; he promised me and fulfilled.” (2) He died during the caliphate of al-Ṣiddīq in 12 AH.

In that same year ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib married his daughter, Umāmah bint Abī al-ʿĀṣ, after the death of her aunt Fāṭimah. I do not know whether this took place before or after Abū al-ʿĀṣ’s own death; Allah knows best. (3)

[Year 13 AH]

The year opened with al-Ṣiddīq determined to assemble the troops and dispatch them to Syria after his return from the pilgrimage, acting on the divine command: “O you who have believed, fight those of the disbelievers who are nearest to you and let them find in you sternness; and know that Allah is with the righteous.” (Quran 9:123) and on His words: “Fight those who do not believe in Allah or the Last Day…” (Quran 9:29). He was also following the example of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—for the Prophet had gathered the Muslims to campaign against Syria in the year of Tabūk, reaching its frontiers in intense heat and hardship before returning that same year, and shortly before his death he had dispatched his freedman Usāmah ibn Zayd to raid the borderlands of Syria, as mentioned earlier.

When al-Ṣiddīq (4) had finished dealing with the affairs of the Arabian Peninsula, he extended his hand toward Iraq, sending Khālid ibn al-Walīd there, and he wished to send forces to Syria just as he had done to Iraq. He therefore began gathering commanders from various parts of the Peninsula.

He had appointed ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ over the collection of sadaqah (alms) from the tribes of Quḍāʿah, with al-Walīd ibn ʿUqbah working alongside him, and he wrote to him, summoning him for the Syrian expedition (5): “I once reinstated you in the office to which the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—had appointed you, and which he later named for you again. But, Abū ʿAbd Allah, I now wish to free you for that which is better for you in this world and the next—unless the position you presently hold is dearer to you.”