Abu Bakr's Sortie to Naq' and Khalid's Command

خروج أبي بكر إلى نقع وإمرار خالد

Abu Bakr rode out with the Muhajirun and Ansar to Naq' facing Najd as the a'rab fled with their children; the people pressed him — 'return to Medina, to children and women, and set a man over the army' — till he returned and made Khalid ibn al-Walid commander, 'when they submit and give the sadaqa, whoever will may return'. Ibn Umar: as he sat his mount, Ali took its halter — 'where to, caliph of God's messenger? I tell you what he told you at Uhud: sheathe your sword, do not bereave us of yourself — by God, bereft of you, Islam has no order ever'. And his commission to Khalid: fight the people on the five — the testimony, the prayer, the zakah, the fast — one left out like all five; Khalid marched in Jumada II.