Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah

Aslam Abu Imran said: We set out from Madinah with the intention of jihad, aiming for Constantinople. At that time, Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) was the governor of Egypt, and Abdur Rahman bin Khalid bin Walid was the commander of the army. The Romans had reached very close to the city walls. One of our men attacked the enemy. The people said: Stop, stop, la ilaha illallah (how astonishing), he is throwing himself into destruction. Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A man fights in jihad desiring martyrdom, or he displays full bravery in the path of Allah, and you people are stopping him by making him the subject of this verse. This verse was revealed about us, the Ansar, and it was like this: When Allah helped His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and Islam became manifest, we said in a private gathering away from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): Come, now let us stay with our wealth and livestock and tend to their improvement. Allah revealed this verse: "And spend in the way of Allah and do not throw yourselves into destruction with your own hands" (Surah Al-Baqarah: 195). Throwing oneself into destruction with one's own hands means that we become engrossed in tending to our wealth and livestock and abandon jihad. Abu Imran says: After that, Abu Ayyub Ansari continued to fight in the path of Allah until he was buried in Constantinople.