It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was returning from the Battle of Tabuk and approached near Madinah Munawwarah, he said: There are some people in Madinah Munawwarah such that wherever you traveled and whichever valley you crossed, even though they did not go with you, they shared equally with you in reward and merit. The noble Companions asked: O Messenger of Allah! While they remained in Madinah Munawwarah and did not set out for the journey? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: Yes, they remained in Madinah; in fact, the matter is that an excuse prevented them.

It is narrated from Sa'id bin Musayyib, he says: I said to Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him): I want to ask you something, but I am also afraid to ask you. He said: Nephew! Do not do that, when you know that I have knowledge of something, there is no need to fear me, ask. I said: On the occasion of the Battle of Tabuk, when the Messenger of Allah left Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) behind in Madinah, what did he say? Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) said that on the occasion of the Battle of Tabuk, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) expressed his intention to leave Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) behind in Madinah, he said: Are you leaving me here among the women and children who are staying behind from the battle? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Are you not pleased that your relation to me is like that of Harun (Aaron) to Musa (Moses)? He said: O Messenger of Allah! Yes, indeed. Then Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) returned so quickly that it is as if I can still see the dust rising from his feet. In another narration, it is stated: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) returned quickly.

It is narrated from Amr bin Maymoon, he says: I was sitting in the company of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) when nine men came to him. They said: O Abu al-Abbas! Either you get up and come with us, or let these people leave so we may have privacy. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I will get up and go with you. Amr bin Maymoon says: In those days, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) was healthy; this was before he became blind. Amr says that those people began to speak, but we do not know what they said. After a while, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) came back, dusting off his clothes, and he was saying: Alas! These people criticize the man who possesses ten distinctions. They object to the personality about whom the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I will now send a man whom Allah will never let fail; he loves Allah and His Messenger. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: Upon hearing this, many people raised their necks in anticipation, but the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Where is Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)? The informant said that he is in his tent grinding flour. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: Now none of you does this work. Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) came, and his eyes were hurting, and he could not see. The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) put his saliva in his eyes, then waved the flag three times and handed it to him. He returned victorious, and among the captives was Safiyyah bint Huyayy. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent such-and-such a man with Surah al-Tawbah, then sent Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) after him. He went and took Surah al-Tawbah from him, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had said that this Surah should be taken by a man who is from me and I am from him. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to his clan: Who among you will support me in this world and the Hereafter and remain with me? Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was also sitting there. The people refused, so Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I will remain with you in this world and the Hereafter. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You are with me in this world and the Hereafter. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned away from him and addressed another man, saying: Who among you will support me in this world and the Hereafter? The people refused, so Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I will remain with you in this world and the Hereafter. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You are my companion in this world and the Hereafter. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: After Sayyidah Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her), he (Ali) was the first to accept Islam, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took his cloak and covered Sayyiduna Ali, Sayyidah Fatimah, Sayyiduna Hasan, and Sayyiduna Husayn, and said: {اِنَّمَایُرِیْدُ اللّٰہَ لِیُذْھِبَ عَنْکُمُ الِّرجْسَ اَھْلَ الْبَیِتَ وَیُطَھِّرَکُمْ تَطْھِیْرًا} … Allah only wishes to remove impurity from you, O People of the House, and to purify you thoroughly. And Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) offered his life for the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) by wearing the Prophet’s clothes and sleeping in his place, while the polytheists were throwing stones at the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) came; Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was sleeping, and he thought it was the Prophet of Allah. He said: O Prophet of Allah! But Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet of Allah has gone towards Bir Maymoon (the name of a well); you may join him there. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) also reached there, and he accompanied the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and entered the cave with him. Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was also stoned in the same way as the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was stoned, and he kept turning under the blanket, hiding his head well inside the cloth, not bringing it out, until morning came. After that, he removed the cloth from his head, and the polytheists said: You are very humiliated; when we used to stone your companion, he did not turn like this, but you kept turning when hit by stones, and this seemed strange to us. And when the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) set out with the Companions towards Tabuk, Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I will also go with you. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) refused, he began to weep. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: Are you not pleased that your relation to me is like that of Harun to Musa, except that there is no prophet after me? When I go, you remain here as my caliph and deputy. And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) further said to him: After me, you are the friend of every believer. He also said: Except for Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), all of you should close your doors to the mosque. Thus, Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) would enter the mosque even in a state of major ritual impurity, because he had no other way. Also, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whomever I am a friend to, Ali is also his friend. Allah Almighty has informed us in the Noble Qur’an that He is pleased with the Companions of the Tree, i.e., those who pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) under the tree at Hudaybiyyah, and Allah knows what was in their hearts. Did Allah ever say after that He is now displeased with them? Also, when Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said about a man, Sayyiduna Hatib bin Abi Balta’ah (may Allah be pleased with him): O Messenger of Allah! Allow me to strike off his head. The Prophet of Allah said: Will you do so? Do you not know that Allah looked upon the people of Badr and said: Do as you wish, for I have forgiven you.

Sayyiduna Abu Rahm Ghafari (may Allah be pleased with him), who was among those companions who pledged allegiance to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) under the tree, narrates: He says, I participated in the Battle of Tabuk in the company of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When you set out, you continued traveling at night, and I kept walking close to you. I became drowsy and tried to stay awake. My mount was close to the mount of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). I was afraid that I might bump into the foot of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) which was in the stirrup, so I kept my mount a little behind. When half the night had passed, sleep overcame me and my mount moved ahead and collided with your mount. Your (peace and blessings be upon him) foot was in the stirrup, and my mount struck your foot, and I woke up when I heard the words "Hass" from you (which you said upon feeling pain). So I raised my head and said: O Messenger of Allah! Pray for forgiveness for me (for this disrespect). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You also ask (for what you wish). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began to ask me about those people of Banu Ghifar who had stayed behind, and I started informing him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked me: What did those tall, red-complexioned, tightly-curled-haired people do? Or did you say: What did those with short hair do? (This doubt is from Abdur Razzaq.) Those people who have goats on the mountain tops at the place of Sharakh in Hijaz. I remembered that they are from Banu Ghifar. I could not remember well, then I thought of Banu Aslam. I said: O Messenger of Allah! They themselves stayed behind, but what prevented them from sending, in the way of Allah, some active man in their place on one of their camels? I call out to find out who among the Quraysh, Ansar, Banu Aslam, and Banu Ghifar have stayed behind from the emigrants.

(Second chain) It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Rahm Ghafari (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: I began trying to keep my mount behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), until sleep overcame me, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: What have those black-skinned, short-statured, tightly-curled-haired people done? I said: By Allah! I do not know such people among my people. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Those people whose goats are at the place of Shabkah Sharakh. Then I remembered that such people are among Banu Ghifar, then I remembered that such people are among Banu Aslam, and they were our allies, so I said: O Messenger of Allah! Those people are from Banu Aslam and they were our allies.