For this reason, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, campaigned against the Christians in Byzantine territory during the expedition to Tabūk in the ninth year, before sending Abū Bakr to lead the pilgrimage. He was only able to campaign against the Christians once he was secure against the Arab polytheists and knew that they posed no threat to Islam. Hence, he permitted no one fit for combat to remain behind. Only hypocrites, the three whose repentance was accepted, and those with a valid excuse stayed behind. Thus:

“When he appointed Alī to take charge of Medina during the expedition to Tabūk, the hypocrites disparaged him because this appointment carried little weight. They said, ‘He only left him behind because he dislikes him.’ Alī followed him, weeping, and said, ‘Are you leaving me behind with the women and children?’ He replied, ‘Are you not content to be to me as Aaron was to Moses, except that there is no prophet after me?’”

Previously, he had appointed others to take charge of Medina while men fit for combat remained there. The reason was that, by the time of Tabūk, there was no one in Arabia—whether in Mecca, Najd, or similar regions—who would fight or intimidate the inhabitants of the lands of Islam: Mecca, Medina, and elsewhere.

Then, upon returning from Tabūk, he confirmed Abū Bakr’s appointment to lead the pilgrimage, conducting its rites and leading the prayers, and proclaiming that after that year no polytheist was to perform the pilgrimage and no one was to circumambulate the House naked. He sent Alī after him to annul the treaties, since the Arabs customarily accepted such a declaration only from a chief whose authority they recognized or from a man of his household.

(The point is that this demonstrates that the delegation of Abd al-Qays arrived before then. As for the “hadith of Dimām,” Muslim narrated it in his Sahīh on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik:

“We were forbidden to ask the Messenger of Allah about anything, so we were pleased when an intelligent man from the desert came and questioned him while we listened. A man from the desert came and said, ‘O Muhammad, your messenger came to us and stated that you say Allah has sent you.’ He replied, ‘He spoke the truth.’