Page:William Muir, Thomas Hunter Weir - The Caliphate; Its Rise, Decline, and Fall (1915).djvu/44

632] Such as refused would be attacked, their fighting men cut to pieces and their women and children taken captive. This summons was sent by the hand of Envoys to every province and rebellious tribe. The Azān, or Call to Prayer, was to be the test of faith: if that were heard and responded to, good and well; if not, the people were to be held as apostate and punished to the bitter end.

Abu Bekr never again left Medīna to lead his troops. Some say that he regretted this; but it is not likely that he did. Medīna, the Capital, was his proper place. From it, as a central point, he was able to direct the movement of his Commanders all over the Peninsula; and with operations in so many different quarters to control, he could not have been better placed.

It is not quite so clear why he appointed none of the more distinguished Companions to any chief command. The same was afterwards the policy of ʿOmar, who used to say that he refrained from doing so, partly because the liability to render an account would have implied subjection inconsistent with their dignity, but chiefly to strengthen his own hands by having them about him to advise. This latter reason no doubt also weighed with Abu Bekr, who used to take council on all important matters with the leading Companions. Still, it is singular that men like ʿAlī and Az-Zubeir, so prominent in the battles of Moḥammad, should now for the moment disappear from operations in the field.