Muhammad had appointed Adi to collect "sadaqa" (tribute) from the Tayy and Banu Asad. After Muhammad's death and the resulting chaos among the Muslims and the belief that Islam would imminently collapse, those among the Tayy who had paid their "sadaqa" (in this case, 300 camels) to Adi demanded the return of their camels or they would rebel. Adi either advised them to abandon this demand because Islam would survive Muhammad's death and they would be viewed as traitors or threatened to fight against them if they revolted. After this encounter, the accounts of contemporary and early Muslim historians vary. It is clear, that Adi played an integral role in preventing much of the rebellious clans of Tayy from actually fighting the Muslims and preventing the Muslims from attacking the Tayy. When he heard news of Abu Bakr's dispatch of a Muslim army against the Tayy in Syria, he sought to stop their march by smuggling the contested 300 camels to Abu Bakr, making the Tayy the first tribe to pay the "sadaqa", an action that was widely lauded by Muhammad's companions.