A man asked, "Messenger of Allah, what about a man who wishes to fight in the cause of Allah while seeking some worldly gain?"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, "He has no reward."The people found this hard to accept, and they said to the man, "Go back to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, for perhaps you did not make him understand."So he asked again, "Messenger of Allah, what about a man who wishes to fight in the cause of Allah while seeking some worldly gain?"He answered, "He has no reward."The people again said to the man, "Go back to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."He put the question to him a third time, and he said to him, "He has no reward."
حدثنا أبو توبة الربيع بن نافع عن ابن المبارك عن ابن أبي ذئب عن القاسم عن بكير بن عبد الله بن الأشج عن ابن مكرز رجل من أهل الشام
أن رجلا قال يا رسول الله رجل يريد الجهاد في سبيل الله وهو يبتغي عرضا من عرض الدنيا فقال رسول الله ﷺ لا أجر له فأعظم ذلك الناس وقالوا للرجل عد لرسول الله ﷺ فلعلك لم تفهمه فقال يا رسول الله رجل يريد الجهاد في سبيل الله وهو يبتغي عرضا من عرض الدنيا فقال لا أجر له فقالوا للرجل عد لرسول الله ﷺ فقال له الثالثة فقال له لا أجر له
Sourcing, its isnad is hasan. Ahmad narrated it, 2/290, from the hadith of Muhammad bin Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Dhib, through the same chain. It is also found in Kitab al-Jihad by Ibn Mubarak, no. 227, and Ibn Hibban graded it sahih, no. 1604, as did Hakim, 2/85, and Dhahabi agreed with him.