The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent him along with a group of companions on a mission to a man from the tribe of Udhrah, saying, "If you are able to capture so-and-so, burn him with fire."They set out, but once they had moved out of his sight, he called them back, or sent someone after them to bring them back. Then he said, "If you are able to capture him, kill him, but do not burn him with fire, for none punishes with fire except the Lord of fire."
أن رسول الله ﷺ بعثه ورهطا معه إلى رجل من عذرة فقال: إن قدرتم على فلان فأحرقوه بالنار فانطلقوا حتى إذا تواروا منه ناداهم أو أرسل في أثرهم، فردوهم، ثم قال: إن أنتم قدرتم عليه فاقتلوه، ولا تحرقوه بالنار، فإنما يعذب بالنار رب النار.
Ahmad narrated it (16035, 16036) through several routes from Ibn Jurayj, who said, "Ziyad bin Saad informed me that Abu Zinad said, 'Hanzala bin Ali informed me, from Hamza bin Amr Aslami,'" and he related it. Its isnad is sahih.Bukhari said, "The hadith of Hamza bin Amr Aslami in this narration is the more sahih one" [Ilal Tirmidhi Kabir, 2/675].Abu Dawud narrated it (2673), and Ahmad (16034), through the route of Mughira bin Abdul-Rahman, from Abu Zinad, who said, "Muhammad bin Hamza Aslami narrated to me, from his father," and he mentioned something similar.So Mughira named Abu Zinad's teacher as Muhammad bin Hamza Aslami, while Ziyad bin Saad named him as Hanzala bin Ali, and Ziyad is far more reliable than Mughira.Furthermore, a group of narrators transmitted from Muhammad bin Hamza Aslami, but no one explicitly declared him trustworthy except that Ibn Hibban mentioned him among his reliable narrators. That is why Ibn Hajar said in Taqrib, "Acceptable," meaning when corroborated.He does have a corroborating narration, but that corroboration itself arises from the disagreement over Abu Zinad's teacher, as noted above. Nevertheless, Ibn Hajar said in Fath al-Bari (6/149), "Abu Dawud narrated it with a sahih isnad."Perhaps what he means is that Abu Zinad had two teachers, and neither can be preferred over the other. And Allah knows best.