The Expedition of Dhat al-Salasil

Ibn Ishaq places the expedition "in the land of Banu Udhra". He says the Prophet sent Amr ibn al-As to rouse the Arabs toward al-Sham, because the mother of al-As ibn Wa'il was a woman of Bali, so he sent him to win them through that tie ¹. When Amr was at a water in the land of Judham called al-Salsal, from which the expedition takes its name, he became afraid and sent to the Prophet asking for reinforcements. The Prophet sent Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah with the earliest Muhajirun, among them Abu Bakr and Umar. As he sent him off, he told Abu Ubayda: "Do not disagree" ¹.

When Abu Ubayda arrived, Amr said to him: "You came only as reinforcements for me." Abu Ubayda said: "No. I remain upon what I am, and you upon what you are." Ibn Ishaq describes him as a gentle, easy-going man, who was not concerned with worldly affairs. When Amr insisted, Abu Ubayda said: "The Messenger of God told me, 'Do not disagree,' and if you disobey me, I will obey you." Amr said: "Then I am the commander over you, and you are my reinforcement." Abu Ubayda said: "So be it," and Amr led the people in prayer ¹. This is Ibn Ishaq's version of what al-Bukhari reports in another form. It contains no mention of the prohibition on lighting fires or on chasing the enemy, which appear in later campaign books ¹.

Among the accounts of this expedition in Ibn Ishaq is the story of Rafi' ibn Abi Rafi' al-Ta'i, that is, Rafi' ibn Umayra, speaking of himself "as it has reached me". He had been a Christian named Sarjis, a guide who was expert in the sands. He buried water in ostrich eggs, then raided camels and drove them into the sand, where they could not be tracked. When he became Muslim, he went out on this expedition and chose Abu Bakr as his companion ¹. He describes Abu Bakr's cloak of Fadak, which he spread out when they halted, wore when they rode, and fastened with a skewer. When the people of Najd apostatised, they said: "We pledge allegiance to the man of the cloak" ².

When they neared Medina, Rafi' asked Abu Bakr for counsel. Abu Bakr advised him to affirm God's oneness, establish the prayer, pay zakat, fast Ramadan, perform the pilgrimage to the House, perform the ritual bath after impurity, and never to take command over two men of the Muslims ². Rafi' was surprised at the prohibition on command, since he saw that people gained honour near the Prophet only through command. Abu Bakr explained that when people entered the religion, they became God's protected ones and His neighbours, under His covenant. He warned him that if he broke God's protection over His neighbours, God would pursue him for breaking it, "for one of you grows angry for his neighbour when a sheep or a camel of his is harmed, and God is more angry for His neighbour" ². Rafi' then recounts that after the Prophet's death and Abu Bakr's appointment, he came to him and reminded him of the prohibition. Abu Bakr said: "Yes, and now I forbid you to do that. But I find no alternative. I feared division among the community of Muhammad" ³.

Ibn Ishaq narrates, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, from someone who told him, the account of Awf ibn Malik al-Ashja'i and the camel he divided among a group of people, giving each a share. He fed Abu Bakr and Umar from it, and they objected and vomited what they had eaten. Then the Prophet said to him: "Are you the owner of the camel?" and he did not say more ³.

• Rafi's account is related "as it has reached me" in Ibn Ishaq. Awf's account comes through an unnamed intermediary from Yazid ibn Abi Habib ³.
• Ibn Ishaq names the expedition after the water of al-Salsal, and other sources explain the name differently (needs_source).
• In some copies, at the end of Awf's report, there is an addition: "and he did not say to me more than 'peace'" ³.
• Ibn Ishaq does not date the expedition. The date of Jumada al-Akhira 8 AH is from The Sealed Nectar.