132 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD"'At last we all consulted together and asked ourselves how long we were
going to leave the Messenger of God (SAAS) doing his rounds and being
harassed in the Meccan mountains in a state of fear.
"'So 70 of us men went to see him during the pilgrimage season. We made a
rendezvous with him at the defile at al-'Aqaba, going there in ones and twos until
all were present. Then we asked him, "0 Messenger of God what do you wish
us to pledge to you?"
"'He replied, "You must pledge to hear and obey at times of both action and
inaction, to give whether times are hard or easy, and to advocate goodness and
prohibit evil. You must speak out for God and not fear any blame for support-
ing God. You must help and defend me if I come to you in the same ways you
help and defend yourselves, your wives and your children. You will then attain
paradise." And so we stood up before him and pledged allegiance. As'ad b.
Zurara took hi by the hand, he being one of the youngest there.'"
In the account of al-Bayhaqi, the text reads, "He was the youngest of the 70
except for myself. He (As'ad) said, 'Slowly now, people of Yathrib! We only
hurried here because we know that he is the Messenger of God. Bringing him
out now, however, would be a provocation to all the Arabs that would cause you
to lose your 6lite and would box you in with swords raised against you. If you are
able to withstand that, then adopt him and it will be up to God to reward you.
But if you are a people who have great fear for yourselves, then leave him and
make that fact plain; that course would he more forgivable in God's sight.'
"'Keep away from us, As'ad,' (they replied). 'We won't renege on this pledge.
We will never deny it."'
He continued, "So we all stood and pledged to him. He made us make promises
and assured us paradise in return."
Im%n Ahmad related this also, as did al-Bayhaqi through Da'ad b. 'Abd
al-Ralpuan al-'At~%.
Al-Bayhaqi's account adds to the chain of authorities al-Hakim back to Yya
b. Salim; both of them include 'Abd Allah b. 'Uthmm b. Khuthaym, from Abii
Idris, with much the same content.
This chain of authorities is excellent and meets the criteria for ah~dith pre-
scribed by Muslim; the scholars, however, did not cite it.
Al-Bazzxr commented, "Several authorities quote it from Ihn Khuthaym, hut
we only know of Jabir being a link in this one account."
Ima Ahad stated, "Sulayman h. Da'iid related to us, from 'Abd al-Rahman
b. Aba al-Zinad, from Masa b. 'Abd All, from Aba al-Zuhayr, from Jabir, who
said, "AlL'Abbas was holding the hand of the Messenger of God (SAAS), while
the latter was verifying our pledges. When he had finished, the Messenger of
God (SAAS) said, 'I have taken, and I have given."'
A1-Bazza stated, "Muhammad h. Macmar related to us, quoting Qubaysa,
quoting Sufym - he being al-Thawri - from Jahir - meaning al-Ju'fi - from
Da'iid - he being the son of Aba Hind - from al-Sha'bi, from JZbk - meaning