Medina on more than one occasion with Alī accompanying him; thus neither he nor Alī was in Medina.

How, then, could he have said, “Medina cannot function properly without either me or you”? On the day of Badr, Alī was with him (1), and Badr was several stages’ journey from Medina, so neither of them (2) was in Medina. It is established by mass-transmitted reports that Alī was (3) with him on the day of Badr, and scholars unanimously agree that he was with him on the day of the conquest of Mecca (4). “His sister Umm Hāni had granted protection (5) to two of her male relatives by marriage, but Alī intended to kill them both. She said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, my brother Alī claims that he will kill a man to whom I have granted protection—so-and-so ibn Hubayra.’ The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said, ‘We grant protection to whomever you have granted protection, Umm Hāni.’” This hadith is in the Sahih (6), and neither he nor Alī was in Medina.