Salamah bin al-Akwa reported that Hajjaj came in and said, "Son of al-Akwa, have you turned back on your heels? Have you reverted to bedouin life?"He replied, "No, but the Messenger of Allah ﷺ permitted me to live in the desert."
أنه دخل الحجاج فقال: يا ابن الأكوع: ارتددت على عقبيك؟ تعربت؟ قال: لا، ولكن رسول الله ﷺ أذن في البدو.
Reported by Bukhari in the Book of Tribulations (7087) and Muslim in the Book of Leadership (1862), both from Qutayba bin Saeed, who said, Hatim bin Ismail narrated to us, from Yazid bin Abu Ubayd, from Salama bin Akwa, who said, and he mentioned it. Bukhari added after it, and from Yazid bin Abu Ubayd, who said, when Uthman bin Affan was killed, Salama bin Akwa withdrew to Rabaza, married a woman there, and had children with her. He remained there until, a few nights before his death, he came down to Madinah. This is connected by the chain mentioned (Fath al-Bari 13/41).The basic principle is that a migrant is forbidden from returning to the place he migrated from, unless he is safe from tribulation regarding himself, his honor, and his property, in which case there is no objection to it. This is because there is no explicit and sahih text that prohibits returning to the place one migrated from after the conquest of Makkah. The Prophet ﷺ permitted Ibn Akwa to return to the desert after he had migrated from it to the settled land.