A man would commit a sin and then say, "Allah will never forgive me." So Allah revealed, "And spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves into destruction" [Baqarah 2:195].
كان الرجل يذنب فيقول: لا يغفر الله لي، فأنزل الله: {وأنفقوا في سبيل الله ولا تلقوا بأيديكم إلى التهلكة}
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Wahidi related it in Asbab al-Nuzul (p. 51), Bayhaqi in Sunan (9/45), and Tabarani in al-Awsat (5672), all of them through the hadith of Hammad bin Salama, from Simak bin Harb, from Numan bin Bashir, who related it. Its chain is hasan because of Simak bin Harb, for there is disagreement about him, though his narration is hasan except when it comes through Ikrima. This is the second view regarding the revelation of this verse.Some scholars of knowledge explained "destruction" as encompassing any form of ruin whatsoever, given the general nature of the wording, and this is the third view.