Al-Bayhaqī, through the channel of al-Wāqidī, narrated that the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Bashir b. Saʿd with about thirty cavalrymen against the tribe of Banū Murra in the land of Fadak. Bashir drove their livestock before them. The Banū Murra fought against Bashir b. Saʿd and killed many of the men with him. That day, Bashir displayed great sabr (patient endurance) and fought fiercely. Afterwards, he took refuge in the land of Fadak, where he spent the night with a Jewish man. Then he returned to Medina.
Al-Wāqidī said: Afterwards, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Ghalib b. ʿAbd Allāh with a group of the leading Companions (ṣaḥāba) against them. In this expedition were also Usāma b. Zayd, Abū Masʿūd al-Badrī, and Kaʿb b. ʿUjra.
Later, al-Wāqidī recounts how Usāma b. Zayd killed Mirdās b. Nuḥayk—an ally of Banū Murra—and how, while standing over him with his sword, Mirdās declared “Lā ilāha illā Allāh.” The Companions (ṣaḥāba) reproached Usāma for this action, and he regretted what he had done.
This story was also transmitted by Yūnus b. Bukayr through an elder of the Banū Salama, who related what some of the descendants of Salama had recounted: According to this, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Ghalib b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Kalbī to the land of Banū Murra, where he encountered Mirdās b. Nuḥayk, and Usāma killed Mirdās.
Ibn Isḥāq, through Muḥammad b. Usāma, narrated that Usāma b. Zayd said: "An Ansārī and I captured Mirdās b. Nuḥayk. When we drew our swords, the man said: 'Ashhadu an lā ilāha illā Allāh' (I bear witness that there is no god but Allah). We did not desist and eventually killed him. When we reported the matter to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), he said:
- O Usāma! What did you do to the man who said 'Lā ilāha illā Allāh'?
- O Messenger of God, he said it only to save himself from death. - O Usāma! What did you do to the man who said 'Lā ilāha illā Allāh'?
By Allah, Who sent him as a true prophet, the Messenger of God repeated this statement many times. Eventually, I thought to myself: 'If only I had not been Muslim until that day, and had become Muslim only on that day, and had not killed that man.' And I said:
- I promise Allah that I will never again kill a man who says 'Lā ilāha illā Allāh.'
The Messenger of God said:
- Even after me, O Usāma? I replied:
- Even after you, I said."
Imam Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, through Hushaym b. Bashīr, narrated that Usāma b. Zayd said:
The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) sent us to Harakay from (the tribe of) Juhayna. We attacked them in the morning. Among them was a man who fought most fiercely against us when his people came upon us. When the people turned their backs and fled, he protected them. An Ansārī and I captured him. When we reached him, he said: 'Lā ilāha illā Allāh.' The Ansārī withdrew from him, but I killed him. When this news reached the Messenger of God, he said to me:
- O Usāma! Did you kill him after he said 'Lā ilāha illā Allāh'?
- O Messenger of God, he said it only to save himself from death. The Messenger of God repeated this statement many times, until I thought to myself: 'If only I had not been Muslim until that day, and had become Muslim only on that day.'
This ḥadith was also narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.
Ibn Isḥāq, through Yaʿqūb b. ʿUtba, narrated that Jundub b. Makīs al-Juhanī said: "The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Ghalib b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Kalbī to the Banū Mulawwih in the region of Kudayd and ordered him to attack them. I was present in his expedition. We set out, and when we reached Kudayd, we encountered Ḥārith b. Mālik b. Barsa al-Laythī. We captured him. He said to us: 'I have come to become Muslim.'
Ghalib b. ʿAbd Allāh said to him:
- If you have come to become Muslim, it will not harm you to be detained for a day and a night. But if you have come with another intention, by detaining you we will be safe from your harm.
Ghalib b. ʿAbd Allāh bound him, assigned a black man from among us to guard him, and instructed him:
- Stay with him until we return. If he struggles with you, cut off his head.
We continued on our way until we reached Batn Kudayd. The time for ʿaṣr (afternoon) had passed and evening was approaching. My companions sent me ahead. I climbed a hill to observe the area. I crawled up the hill on my face. It was before sunset. One of their men appeared, looked around, and saw me crawling up the hill. He said to his wife:
- I see a shadow on that hill. There was nothing there this morning. Maybe the dogs have taken some of our containers.
His wife checked the containers and said: "By Allah, none of our containers are missing." The man said to his wife: "Give me my bow and two of my arrows." She gave him his bow and arrows. The man shot an arrow at me, hitting my forehead or side. I pulled out the arrow and kept still. Then he shot another arrow, hitting my shoulder. I pulled it out and remained motionless. The man said to his wife: "By Allah, both my arrows struck him. If he were a scout, he would have moved. In the morning, bring back my arrows so the dogs do not chew them."
We waited until they were calm and asleep. At dawn, our cavalry attacked them from all sides; we fought, drove their camels before us, and set out on the road to Medina. The horn of their tribe sounded near us. We hurried on and passed by Ḥārith b. Mālik b. Barsa and his companion, taking them with us. The horn sounded again, and they came after us. We were not able to resist them. Only the valley of Kudayd separated us. Allah sent water to the valley from wherever He willed, though we had seen no rain or clouds before. No one could cross the water to reach us. They stopped, watching us, while we drove their camels away. None of them could reach us, and we drove the camels quickly. Eventually, we escaped from them, and they were unable to pursue us."
Al-Wāqidī narrated this story through another chain and said: "The commander of the expedition, Ghalib b. ʿAbd Allāh, had 130 Companions (ṣaḥāba) with him."
Al-Bayhaqī, again through al-Wāqidī, also recounted the expedition of Bashir b. Saʿd to Khaybar, saying: "They encountered a group of Arabs and seized a large number of livestock as spoils. The dispatching of Bashir b. Saʿd on this expedition was upon the recommendation of Abū Bakr and ʿUmar. In this expedition, there were 300 Muslims with Bashir. Their guide was Husayl b. Nuwayra, who had also guided the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) to Khaybar."