A Banner the Prophet ﷺ Tied

Before his illness the Prophet ﷺ had put Usamah ibn Zayd, still a young man, in command of an army bound for the Byzantine frontier, near the land where Usamah's father had fallen at Mu'tah. Some objected to his youth, and the Prophet ﷺ answered that they had objected to his father's command before, and that Usamah, like his father, was fit for it (Sahih al-Bukhari 3730). The army camped at al-Jurf, but the Prophet's ﷺ illness held it back.

Now tribes across Arabia were wavering, and some were openly turning away. Many urged the new caliph to keep the army at home to guard Madinah, and some of the Ansar asked, through 'Umar, for an older commander. The historians report Abu Bakr's answer: he would not untie a banner the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had tied, even if wild beasts were to carry off the people of Madinah.

He went out on foot beside the army. Usamah, mounted, asked him either to ride or to let him dismount; Abu Bakr refused both, saying there was no harm in his feet being dusty for an hour in the path of Allah. He asked Usamah's permission to keep 'Umar with him in Madinah, and Usamah gave it. The army returned safely after some weeks, and tribes that had seen Madinah send out an army at such a moment thought twice before attacking it.