Ussama farewelled the Prophet [^1] Refer to Ibn Sa’d’s Tabaqat...

Ussama farewelled the Prophet [^1] Refer to Ibn Sa’d’s Tabaqat, al-Halabi’s Seera, ad-Dahlani’s Seera and all the books that talked about the army of Ussama. (110) (s) and left to his camp and then he returned with Umar and Abu Ubayda. They came to the Prophet (s) while he was about to die. He died on that same day. The army came back to Medina. They determined to cancel sending the army this time.

They talked with Abu Bakr about that and insisted on him too much in spite of that they had seen the Prophet (s) caring much for this army and insisting on sending it. They decided to cancel sending the army but the Caliph Abu Bakr was determined and he insisted on sending the army. Then Umar came to Abu Bakr requesting him to depose Ussama and to appoint another one instead of him.

It was not a long time after the anger of the Prophet (s) when they rejected his appointing Ussama as the emir and his going out of his house angrily while he was too ill and his legs were about to fail him and it was not a long time after he had confirmed his orders by swearing, when they decided to turn over everything but the caliph Abu Bakr refused to respond to them to depose Ussama and he refused to cancel sending the army.

He got up, caught the beard of Umar[^1] and said: “Your mother may lose you O you ibn al-Khattab! The Prophet (s) has appointed him and you want me to depose him!” When they sent the army-and they were about not to do-Ussama moved with three thousand warriors, among whom there were one thousand knights.[^2] Some people, whom the Prophet (s) had ordered to join the army, did not join the army. The Prophet (s) had said: “Prepare the army of Ussama!

Allah may curse whoever does not join this army!”[^3] They lagged behind the army at the first and refused to join it finally in order to firm the bases of their policy and to establish its pillars preferring their benefits to obeying the clear orders of the Prophet (s).

They thought that their doing would be better to be carried out and worthier to be cared for because the army would not stop if they [^1] Al-Halabi in his Seera, ad-Dahlani in his Seera, ibn Jareer at-Tabari in his Tareekh, the events of the eleventh year of hijra and other historians. [^2] He attacked the people of Ubna, burnt their houses, cut their palm-trees, made the horses tread on their properties, killed many of them and captured the rest. On that day he killed his father’s killer.

No one of the Muslims was killed on that day.