(O ye who believe! When ye go forth (to fight) in the way of Allah, be careful to discriminate…) [4:94]. Abu Ibrahim Isma'il ibn Ibrahim al-Wa'iz informed me> Abu'l-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamid> Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn 'Abd al-Jabbar> Muhammad ibn 'Abbad> Sufyan> 'Amr>> 'Ata'> Ibn 'Abbas who said: “Some Muslims chased a man for his booty. When they got to him, he said: 'Peace be with you'. But they killed him and took his booty. The verse was then revealed (… and say not unto one who offereth you peace: “Thou art not a believer”, seeking the chance profits of this life), i.e. that booty”. This was narrated by Bukhari from 'Ali ibn 'Abd Allah and also by Muslim from Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah; and both transmitters related it from Sufyan. Isma'il informed us> Abu 'Amr ibn Nujayd> Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Khalil> Abu Kurayb> 'Ubayd Allah> Isra'il> Simak> 'Ikrimah> Ibn 'Abbas who said: “A man from Sulaym who had sheep with him passed by a group of Companions of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. He greeted them with the greeting of peace, but they said to each other: 'He greeted you with the greeting of peace only to seek refuge from you'. And so they killed him and took his sheep and went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, after which Allah, exalted is He, revealed (O ye who believe! When ye go forth (to fight) in the way of Allah, be careful to discriminate)”. Abu Bakr al-Asfahani informed us> Abu'l-Shaykh al-Hafiz> Abu Yahya al-Razi> Sahl ibn 'Uthman> Waki'> Sufyan> Habib ibn Abi 'Amrah> Sa'id ibn Jubayr who said: “Al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad went out one day at the head of a military expedition and they came across a man with some possession. They wanted to kill him, but the man said: 'There is no god but Allah!' Despite this, al-Miqdad went ahead and killed him. He was told: 'How can you kill a man who has said, there is no god but Allah? He would have rather fled with his family and property'. When they went back to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, they mentioned what had happened, and the verse (O ye who believe! When ye go forth (to fight) in the way of Allah, be careful to discriminate) was revealed”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
