سنن ابودوٗد · Hadith 2647

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar: Ibn Umar was sent with a detachment of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The people wheeled round in flight. He said: I was one of those who wheeled round in flight. When we stopped, we said (i. e. thought): How should we do? We have run away from the battlefield and deserve Allah's wrath. Then we said (thought): Let us enter Madina, stay there, and go there while no one sees us. So we entered (Madina) and thought: If we present ourselves before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and if there is a change of repentance for us, we shall stay; if there is something else, we shall go away. So we sat down (waiting) for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ before the dawn prayer. When he came out, we stood up to him and said: We are the ones who have fled. He turned to us and said: No, you are the ones who return to fight after wheeling away. We then approached and kissed his hand, and he said; I am the main body of the Muslims.

Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020