2979 — “Indeed, Satan lies in wait for the son of Adam along his paths. He lies in wait for him on the path of Islam and says: ‘Will you submit to Islam and abandon your religion and the religion of your forefathers?’ But he disobeys him and embraces Islam. Then he lies in wait for him on the path of migration and says: ‘Will you migrate and leave behind your land and your sky? The emigrant is like a horse tethered to a rope.’ But he disobeys him and migrates. Then he lies in wait for him on the path of jihad and says: ‘Will you strive in jihad, when it entails the exertion of your life and wealth? You will fight and be killed; your wife will remarry, and your wealth will be divided.’ But he disobeys him and undertakes jihad.”

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, then said: “Whoever does that, it is incumbent upon Allah to admit him into Paradise. Whoever is killed, it is incumbent upon Allah to admit him into Paradise. If he drowns, it is incumbent upon Allah to admit him into Paradise; or if his mount breaks his neck, it is incumbent upon Allah to admit him into Paradise.”

It was recorded by al-Bukhari in al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr (2/2/187–188), al-Nasāʾī (2/58), Ibn Ḥibbān (385/1601, al-Mawārid), al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-Īmān (4/21/4246), Ibn Abī Shaybah in al-Muṣannaf (5/293)—and through his route, al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr (7/138)—and Aḥmad (3/483), through Abū ʿAqīl ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAqīl, who said: Mūsā ibn al-Musayyab narrated to us from Sālim ibn Abī al-Jaʿd, from Sabrah ibn Abī Fākih, who said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say,” and he then related it.

I say: This is a sound chain of transmission. All of its narrators are trustworthy, and the criticism concerning some of them is not harmful. For this reason, al-Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī said in Takhrīj al-Iḥyāʾ (3/29): “Al-Nasāʾī recorded it from the hadith of Sabrah ibn Abī Fākih through an authentic chain of transmission.”