When the Prophet ﷺ set out for Uhud, Some men among his companions turned back. One group said, "Let us kill them," while another group said, "Let us not kill them." Then the verse was revealed, "What is the matter with you that you are divided into two parties regarding the hypocrites?" [Nisa 4:88].The Prophet ﷺ said, "It is Madinah, it expels Some men just as fire expels the impurities of iron."
لما خرج النبي ﷺ إلى أحد رجع ناس من أصحابه فقالت فرقة: نقتلهم، وقالت فرقة: لا نقتلهم، فنزلت: {فما لكم في المنفقين فئتين} [النساء: ٨٨] وقال النبي ﷺ: إنها تنفي الرجال كما تنفي النار خبث الحديد.
Bukhari narrated it in Fadail Madinah (1884) and Muslim in Sifat Munafiqin wa Ahkamihim (6:2776), both through the route of Shuba, from Adi bin Thabit, from Abdullah bin Yazid, who said, "I heard Zayd bin Thabit say," then he narrated it.Ibn Ishaq said, after mentioning the Prophet's ﷺ consultation, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out with a thousand of his companions.Ibn Hisham said, He appointed Ibn Umm Maktum to lead the people in prayer.Muhammad bin Ishaq said, When they reached the stretch between Madinah and Uhud, Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul withdrew from him with a third of the people, saying, "He obeyed them and disobeyed me. We do not know why we should get ourselves killed here, O people." So he turned back with those of his people who followed him, the hypocrites and the doubters. Abdullah bin Haram, brother of Banu Salama, followed after them, saying, "O people, I remind you by Allah, do not abandon your people and your prophet when the enemy has come upon them." They replied, "If we knew that you would actually fight, we would not abandon you, but we do not think there will be any fighting." He said, So when they persisted in refusing him and insisted on turning away from them, he said, "May Allah keep you far away, enemies of Allah. Allah will surely make His Prophet self-sufficient without you."Muhammad bin Ishaq narrated it, saying, Muhammad bin Shihab Zuhri, Muhammad bin Yahya bin Habban, Asim bin Umar bin Qatada, Husayn bin Abdul-Rahman bin Amr bin Saad bin Muaz, and others among our scholars told me this, each of them having narrated part of the hadith about the day of Uhud. I have brought together all of what they narrated in what I have presented of this hadith about the day of Uhud, they said, or whichever of them said it. He then narrated it at length, and this is the part specific to the hypocrites.Ibn Hisham said, Someone other than Ziyad mentioned, from Muhammad bin Ishaq, from Zuhri, that the Ansar on the day of Uhud said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, "O Messenger of Allah, shall we not seek help from our allies among the Jews?" He said, "We have no need of them."Sirat bin Hisham (2/60-64)