The Ghazwa of Dhat as-Salasil: the accord of Abou Oubayda and the tayammum of Amr

The Bayhaqi mentions here the Ghazwa of Dhat as-Salasil before the Ghazwa of the conquest, relating it through Moussa ibn Oqba and Urwa ibn az-Zoubayr, who said: the Messenger of Allah sent Amr ibn al-As to Dhat as-Salasil, on the confines of Syria, among Bali, among Abdallah and the Qouda’a: the Banu Bali were the maternal uncles of al-As ibn Wa’il. When he arrived there he feared the multitude of his enemy and wrote to the Messenger of Allah asking reinforcements. The Messenger of Allah called the first emigrants: Abou Bakr and Oumar volunteered among the elite of the emigrants, and the Messenger of Allah appointed Abou Oubayda ibn al-Jarrah over them. Moussa ibn Oqba says: when they came to Amr he said: I am your commander, and I wrote to the Messenger of Allah asking you as reinforcement.

The emigrants said: rather you are commander of your companions, and Abou Oubayda is commander of the emigrants. Amr said: you are but a reinforcement sent to me. When Abou Oubayda saw that, and he was a man of fine character, gentle of disposition, he said: know, O Amr, that the last counsel the Messenger of Allah gave me was: when you come to your companion, comply with him; and you, if you disobey me, I shall obey you.

So Abou Oubayda ceded command to Amr ibn al-As. Mohamed ibn Ishaq reports, from Mohamed ibn Abd ar-Rahman at-Tamimi, that the Messenger of Allah sent Amr ibn al-As to summon the Arabs to Islam: the mother of al-As ibn Wa’il was of the Banu Bali, and the Messenger of Allah sent him to them to win them by that tie, until he was at a water in the land of Jouzam called as-Salasil, after which the campaign was named. When he was there and feared, he wrote to the Messenger of Allah asking reinforcement, and he sent him Abou Oubayda ibn al-Jarrah with the first emigrants, among them Abou Bakr and Oumar, saying to Abou Oubayda when he dispatched him: "Do not differ." Abou Oubayda went out, and when he came to him Amr said to him: you have come only as reinforcement to me.

Abou Oubayda said to him: no; rather I am upon what I am upon, and you are upon what you are upon. Abou Oubayda was a gentle, easy man, to whom the world was light. Amr said to him: you are my reinforcement. He said: O Amr, the Messenger of Allah has said to me: "Do not differ"; and you, if you disobey me, I obey you.

Amr said: then I am commander over you, and you are only reinforcement to me. He said: to you the command! And Amr ibn al-As prayed with the people.

The Waqidi reports, through Rabi’a ibn Outhman, from Yazid ibn Rouman, that when Abou Oubayda acceded to Amr ibn al-As they became five hundred, marching night and day until they trod the land of Bali and scoured it; and each place they reached, news of a gathering had been there before them: when the people heard of them they scattered, until he reached the farthest parts of the land of Bali, Oudhra and Balqayn, and at the last met a gathering not numerous: they fought an hour, exchanging arrows; that day Amir ibn Rabi’a was shot and his arm struck. The Muslims charged them and they fled, scattering through the lands in flight. Amr ranged the region for days, hearing of no gathering nor place they had resorted to; he used to send the horsemen, who brought sheep and flocks, which were slaughtered and sacrificed, and nothing more than that occurred, and no spoils were divided.

Abou Dawoud reports, through Yahya ibn Ayyoub, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, from Imran ibn Abi Anas, from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Joubayr, from Amr ibn al-As: I had a wet dream on a cold night in the Ghazwa of Dhat as-Salasil, and feared that if I washed I should die. So I performed tayammum, then prayed the dawn with my companions. They mentioned that to the Messenger of Allah, and he said: "O Amr, you prayed with your companions while in major impurity?" I informed him of what had kept me from washing, and said: I heard Allah say: kill not yourselves; Allah is ever Merciful to you (an-Nisa, 29). And the Prophet of Allah laughed and said nothing. Mohamed ibn Salama reports it, through Ibn Lahi’a and Amr ibn al-Harith, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, from Imran ibn Abi Anas, from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Joubayr, from Abou Qays, freedman of Amr ibn al-As, who was over an expedition: the hadith is similar, except that he washed his armpits, performed his ablution for prayer, and prayed with them, without mentioning tayammum.

Abou Dawoud relates this story from al-Awza’i, from Hassan ibn Atiyya, saying therein: he performed tayammum. The Waqidi reports, from Aflah ibn Sa’id, from Ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rouqaych, from Abou Bakr ibn Hazm: Amr ibn al-As, as they turned back, had a wet dream on a night of the most intense cold, and said to his companions: what do you think? By Allah I have had a pollution, and if I wash I shall die! He called for water, performed ablution, washed his member, performed tayammum, then rose and prayed with them. Awf ibn Malik was the first to send a courier: I came upon the Messenger of Allah in the small hours while he prayed in his house, and I greeted him. The Messenger of Allah said: "Awf ibn Malik?" I said: Awf ibn Malik, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "The owner of the camels?" I said: yes. He added nothing beyond that, then said: "Inform me." I informed him of our march, and of Abou Oubayda and Amr, and the compliance of Abou Oubayda, and the Messenger of Allah said: "May Allah have mercy upon Abou Oubayda ibn al-Jarrah."

Then I informed him that Amr had prayed with the people in major impurity, water at his side, doing no more than wash his member and perform ablution: the Messenger of Allah was silent. When Amr came to the Messenger of Allah he asked him of his prayer; he informed him and said: by Him who sent you with the truth, had I washed I would have died: never did I know cold like it! And I said: I heard Allah say: kill not yourselves; Allah is ever Merciful to you. And the Messenger of Allah laughed, and we never heard that he said anything.

Ibn Ishaq reports, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, from Awf ibn Malik al-Achja’i: I was in the campaign the Messenger of Allah sent Amr ibn al-As upon, the Ghazwa of Dhat as-Salasil, and I accompanied Abou Bakr and Oumar. I passed by people over camels they had slaughtered, unable to bite into them, and I was a man of strength with the knife: I said to them: will you give me a portion if I divide it among you? They said: yes. I took the knife and carved it where I stood, took a piece and carried it to my companions; we cooked it and ate it.

Abou Bakr and Oumar said:

whence is this meat to you, O Awf? I informed them, and they said: by Allah, you did well in feeding us this! Then the two rose voiding from their bellies what they had eaten. When the people returned from that journey I was the first comer upon the Messenger of Allah, who was praying in his house. I said: peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. He said: "Awf ibn Malik?" I said: yes, may my father and mother be your ransom! He said: "The owner of the camels?" And he added nothing to me beyond that. Thus Mohamed ibn Ishaq reports it, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, from Awf ibn Malik: it is discontinuous, nay difficult. The Bayhaqi says Ibn Lahi’a and Sa’id ibn Abi Ayyoub report it, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, from Rabi’a ibn Laqit, from Malik ibn Hidm, I think from Awf ibn Malik, relating the like of it, except that he said: I presented it to Oumar, who questioned me about it; I informed him, and he said: you have hastened your reward! And he did not eat of it. Then he relates the like from Abou Oubayda, without mentioning Abou Bakr.

The Bayhaqi reports, through Khalid al-Hadhdha, from Abou Outhman an-Nahdi, that Amr ibn al-As said: the Messenger of Allah sent me over the army of Dhat as-Salasil, and among the people were Abou Bakr and Oumar. I said to myself: he sent me not over Abou Bakr and Oumar except for a station I have with him. I came to him until I sat before him and said: O Messenger of Allah, who is the most beloved of people to you? He said: "Aïcha." I said: I am not asking you about your household. He said: "Her father." I said: then who? He said: "Oumar." I said: then who? Until he counted a number of men. I said to myself: I shall not return to ask of this. This hadith is related in the two Sahihs through that route, Amr adding: I fell silent, fearing he would place me last of them.