that we reside in our wealth and set it in order until Allah, the Exalted, grants victory to His Messenger. Should we reside among our wealth and set it in order?" So Allah sent down the news from heaven: "And spend in the cause of Allah and do not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction." And throwing [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction means: that we reside among our wealth and set it in order and abandon Jihad. Abu ‘Imran said: Abu Ayyub continued to fight in the cause of Allah until he was buried in Constantinople (1).
The second view:
1744 - Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sabah narrated to us, Abu Mu‘awiyah narrated to us, from al-A‘mash, from Abu Wa’il (2), from Hudhayfah, regarding the saying of Allah: "And do not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction," he said: Meaning: in abandoning spending in the cause of Allah.
It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas, ‘Ikrimah, al-Hasan, Mujahid, ‘Ata’, Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, Abu Salih, al-Dahhak, al-Suddi, Muqatil ibn Hayyan, and Qatadah, similar to that.
The third view:
1745 - Yunus ibn ‘Abd al-A‘la narrated to us by reading, Ibn Wahb reported to me, ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Ayyash informed me, from Zayd ibn Aslam, regarding the saying of Allah: "And spend in the cause of Allah and do not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction," that men would go out on military expeditions sent by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) without provisions, so either they would be cut off or they would have dependents. So Allah commanded them to spend from what Allah had provided them, and not to throw themselves with their hands into destruction. And destruction (tahluka): is for men to perish from hunger, thirst, or from walking. He said to those who possess surplus: "And do good; indeed, Allah loves the doers of good." It was narrated from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, similar to that.
The fourth view:
1746 - Yunus ibn ‘Abd al-A‘la narrated to us, Ibn Wahb reported to us, Abu Sakhr informed me, from al-Qurazi, that he used to say regarding this verse: "And do not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction," he said: People were in the cause of Allah, and a man would take provisions, and one had better provisions than the other. The destitute would spend until
(1). Al-Tirmidhi 5/196, no. 2972, a hasan sahih gharib hadith with the wording (until he was buried in the land of the Byzantines). (2). See Tafsir Sufyan al-Thawri, p. 58.
