Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 9441

Sayyiduna Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: We set out with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to take part in a military expedition. The narrator says: A man passed by a cave in which there was a little water. The man thought that he would settle in that cave; there Allah Almighty would keep providing him sustenance through that water, he would obtain the vegetation around it, and he would withdraw from the world. Then he thought: "I should go to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and mention this to him; if he gives me permission, I will do it, and if he does not give permission, I will not do it." He came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Prophet of Allah! I passed by a cave in which there was provision for my sustenance in water and vegetation, and I thought that I would settle in it and withdraw from the world." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I was not sent with Judaism or Christianity; rather, I was sent with the easy, upright religion (al-Hanifiyyah). By the One in whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), going out in the way of Allah in the morning or in the evening is better than the world and everything in it, and for one of you to stand in the battle line is better than his offering (voluntary) prayers for sixty years."
Ahmad and al-Tabarani recorded it. Its chain contains a narrator, Ali bin Yazid al-Alhani, who is da'if (weak).