for Aslam Abu ‘Imran said:

“We set out from Madinah heading for Constantinople. The contingent from Egypt was under the command of ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir, and the overall commander was ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Khalid ibn al-Walid. The Byzantines were standing with their backs pressed against the city wall. A man from among us charged at the enemy, and the people cried out, ‘Stop! Stop! There is no god but Allah—he is casting himself into destruction!’

Abu Ayyub al-Ansari replied, ‘You are interpreting this verse as though it refers to a man who rushes forward seeking martyrdom or exposing himself to peril. In fact, the verse was revealed about us—the Ansar. When Allah granted victory to His Prophet and made Islam manifest, we said to one another, away from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: “Come, let us stay behind with our wealth and set it right.” Then Allah Most High revealed, “Spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves with your own hands into destruction.” Casting oneself into destruction means staying with our property to look after it and abandoning jihad.’ ”

Abu ‘Imran added, “Abu Ayyub continued striving in the path of Allah until he was buried in Constantinople.”

13 – (The same report through another route) –

“We set out from Madinah heading for Constantinople. The contingent from Egypt was under the command of ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir, and the overall commander was ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Khalid ibn al-Walid. The Byzantines were standing with their backs pressed against the city wall. A man from among us charged at the enemy, and the people cried out, ‘Stop! Stop! There is no god but Allah—he is casting himself into destruction!’

Abu Ayyub al-Ansari replied, ‘You are interpreting this verse as though it refers to a man who rushes forward seeking martyrdom or exposes himself to peril. The verse was actually revealed about us—the Ansar. When Allah granted victory to His Prophet and made Islam manifest, we said to one another, away from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: “Come, let us stay behind with our wealth and set it right.” Then Allah Most High revealed, “Spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves with your own hands into destruction.” Casting oneself into destruction means staying with our property to tend to it and abandoning jihad.’ ”

Abu ‘Imran said, “Abu Ayyub went on striving in the path of Allah until he was buried in Constantinople.”

This was narrated by Abu Dawud (1/393), Ibn Abi Hatim in his Tafsir (1/10/2), and al-Hakim (2/275). Al-Hakim declared, “It is sound according to the criteria of the Two Shaykhs,” and al-Dhahabi concurred. They were both mistaken, however, for the Two Shaykhs did not transmit from this Aslam; therefore, the hadith is merely ṣaḥīḥ.