(Spend your wealth for the cause of Allah, and be not cast by your own hands to ruin…) [2:195].
Said ibn Muhammad al-Zahid informed us> Abu ‘Ali ibn Abi Bakr al-Faqih> Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn al-Junayd> ‘Abd Allah ibn Ayyub> Hushaym> Dawud> al-Sha‘bi who said: “This verse was revealed about the Helpers who stopped spending for the cause of Allah, exalted is He”.
And via the same chain of transmitters> Hushaym> Isma‘il ibn Abi Khalid> ‘Ikrimah who said: “This was revealed about spending for the sake of Allah”.
Abu Bakr al-Mahrajani informed us> Abu ‘Abd Allah ibn Battah> Abu’l-Qasim al-Baghawi> Hudbah ibn Khalid> Hammad ibn Salamah> Dawud> al-Sha‘bi> al-Dahhak> Ibn Abi Jubayrah who said: “The Helpers used to give to charity and feed others as much as Allah willed, but they stopped this when they were hit by a drought. And so Allah, glorious and majestic is He, revealed this verse”.
Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi informed us> Abu’l-Hasan al-Sarraj> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Hadrami> Hudbah> Hammad ibn Salamah> Simak ibn Harb> al-Nu‘man ibn Bashir who said concerning the saying of Allah, glorious and majestic is He, (and be not cast by your own hands to ruin): “Allah revealed this verse because one used to commit a sin and then say: ‘I will not be forgiven’ ”.
Abu’l-Qasim ibn ‘Abdan informed us> Muhammad ibn Hamdawayh> Muhammad ibn Salih ibn Hani’> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Anas al-Qurashi> ‘Abd Allah ibn Yazid al-Muqri’> Hayawah ibn Sharih> Yazid ibn Abi Habib> Aslam Abu ‘Imran who said: “We were in Constantinople at the time when ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir al-Juhani, the Companion of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, was the governor of Egypt and Fudalah ibn ‘Ubayd, the Companion of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, was the governor of Syria. A huge Byzantine army emerged from this city and we aligned for them a huge Muslim army. A man from the Muslim army charged on the Byzantine army, infiltrating their ranks, and then emerged from amongst them and came toward us. People shouted saying: ‘Glory be to Allah, he has intentionally thrown himself in ruin’. But Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, the Companion of Allah’s Messenger, Allah bless him and give him peace, stood up and said: ‘O people! Your interpretation of this verse is not sound. This verse was revealed about us, the Helpers. When Allah, exalted is He, made His religion strong and its supporters plenteous, we said to each other, in secret from the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace: ‘All our properties have been lost. Why do we try to restore what we have lost of them? Allah, exalted is He, then revealed in His book as an answer to what we were about to do, saying: (Spend your wealth for the cause of Allah, and be not cast by your own hands to ruin...) addressing our decision to stay behind to look after our properties and commanding us to take part in military conquest’. Abu Ayyub al-Ansari continued to take part in military conquests for the cause of Allah until Allah, glorious and majestic is He, took his soul away”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou