Turned Back for Being Too Young

So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) went out, and on his way he had to return some of the Companions because they were too young. He returned al-Barāʾ, and he returned ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with them both). So again, this can be contrasted with soldiers who are defecting from their armies — they do not want to go and fight, they just want to be members of the army to take advantage of all of the freebies they get, free education and free this and free that — while here the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was dealing with people who were so eager to join him that he had to turn them back. So al-Barāʾ was turned back, ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar was turned back, because they were too young.

A mushrik came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and said, "I want to join you." This was a disbeliever. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told him, "Are you Muslim?" He said, "No." He said, irjiʿ fa-lan astaʿīna bi-mushrik: "Go back, I am not going to seek assistance from a disbeliever." The man came back again; the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told him, "Go back." A third time the man said, "Now I am Muslim," so the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told him to join.

Financially, the Muslims were going through a hard time, so every three men were sharing one camel, and they would take turns. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was sharing, just like everybody else, his camel with two of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). So when their turn approached, they told the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), "How about you ride, and we will walk?" The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, mā antum bi-aqwā minnī, wa-lā anā bi-aghnā ʿan al-ajri minkum: "You are not stronger than I am, and I am not without need of the reward, just as you are." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was just like everybody else in his army; he did not treat himself with any preferential treatment. He was sharing his camel just like the others in the army were sharing their camel, and he would walk when it was his turn to walk.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) carried on towards the direction of Badr to pursue the caravan; however, Abū Sufyān was alerted, and he was able to divert the caravan and get away.