Jihad (Kitab Al-Jihad)

Dawud :: Book 14 : Hadith 2641

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar:

Ibn Umar was sent with a detachment of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). 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 Medina, stay there, and go there while no one sees us. So we entered (Medina) and thought: If we present ourselves before the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him), 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 Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) 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.