The Counsel at Madīnah

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) made shūrā with the Companions, and said, ashīrū ʿalayya ayyuhā al-nās: "Give me counsel, O people." So Abū Bakr spoke, and then ʿUmar spoke, but it was as if the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was not really interested in what they had to say. Saʿd ibn Muʿādh said, "It seems that you want us to speak, O Anṣār." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "Yes." Saʿd said, "O Messenger of Allah, if you want us to lead our horses into the sea, we will do so, and if you want us to lead our horses towards Bark al-Ghamād, which is at the tip of Arabia, we will do so — go towards what Allah has instructed you to do," and that made the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) happy.

The reason the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was not interested in what Abū Bakr had to say, and what ʿUmar had to say, is that he wanted to hear what the Anṣār had to say. Because the pledge of allegiance given by the Anṣār to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was to protect him, and this protection could imply — it could imply, it does not necessarily imply, but it could imply — that the protection was only within the boundaries of Madīnah. But now the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was leading an army and going out of Madīnah to raid a caravan belonging to Quraysh. So what did the Anṣār think about that? Because they could interpret the agreement they had with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) as saying that this was not included in their agreement. So when Saʿd ibn Muʿādh stood up and said, "You can lead us wherever you want; if you want us to lead our horses into the ocean, we will go after you" — that made the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) happy and satisfied, because it shows the protection, the understanding that the Anṣār had of what it means to protect the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): "We are your soldiers, lead us wherever you want, we will follow you."