Abu Ayyub told that he heard the Prophet say, “Capitals will be conquered at your hands and you will have to raise companies in large armies. A man will be unwilling to join a company, so he will escape from his people and go round the tribes offering himself to them, seeking someone whose place he may take in such and such an expedition.* That man is a hireling to the last drop of his blood.”
* This is the type of person who dislikes being sent on a warlike expedition, but who is quite willing to take someone else’s place if he is paid for it.
God’s Messenger announced an expedition, and as I was a very old man who had no servant I sought a hireling who would serve instead of me. I found a man to whom I offered three dinars, and when some booty arrived I wanted to give him his portion, so I went to the Prophet and mentioned the matter to him, but he said, “All I can find for him regarding this expedition of his in this world and the next is the three dinars which were offered him."
‘Abdallah b. ‘Amr reported God’s Messenger as saying, “Returning home is like going on an expedition.”*
* This is interpreted as referring to rewards. Returning after an expedition means that an opportunity is given for rest and refreshment before beginning another, so it merits reward similar to that for setting out.
