The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent Abban bin Saeed bin al-Aas in command of a military expedition from Madinah toward Najd. Abban and his companions came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Khaybar after he had conquered it, and the girths of their horses were made of palm fiber.Abban said, "Allot us a share of the spoils, Messenger of Allah."Abu Hurairah said, "I responded, 'Do not allot them a share, Messenger of Allah.'"Abban said, "You say this, you little rock badger, tumbling down to us from the top of a thorn tree?"The Prophet ﷺ said, "Sit down, Abban," and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not allot them any share.
أن رسول الله ﷺ بعث أبان بن سعيد بن العاص على سرية من المدينة قبل نجد، فقدم أبان بن سعيد وأصحابه على رسول الله ﷺ بخيبر بعد أن فتحها، وإن حزم خيلهم ليف، فقال أبان: أقسم لنا يا رسول الله قال أبو هريرة: فقلت: لا تقسم لهم يا رسول الله، فقال أبان: أنت بها يا وبر تحدر علينا من رأس ضال، فقال النبي ﷺ: اجلس يا أبان ولم يقسم لهم رسول الله ﷺ.
Abu Dawud narrated it in "Jihad" (2723) from Saeed bin Mansur, and it is also found in his Sunan (2/285). He said, Ismail bin Ayyash told us, from Muhammad bin Walid Zubaydi, from Zuhri, that Anbasah bin Saeed informed him that he heard Abu Hurairah narrating to Saeed bin Aas that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent out an expedition, then he related the account.Bayhaqi narrated it through Abu Dawud's route in his Sunan al-Kubra (6/334). Bukhari narrated it in "Maghazi" (4238) as a suspended narration from Zubaydi, from Zuhri, with the same wording.Its isnad is hasan because of Ismail bin Ayyash, for he is hasan in hadith when narrating from the people of his own region, and this narration is one of those.This is how it appears in Zubaydi's narration, that Abu Hurairah was not given a share, without any doubt. But what is established in the books of sirah and maghazi is that the Prophet ﷺ did not give Abu Hurairah and some of the Dawsis from the spoils with the consent of those who had taken the spoils. Also, in this narration, it is Abu Hurairah who asked to be given a share, and it was Aban who indicated that he should be refused, whereas in Zubaydi's narration it is Aban who asked, and it is Abu Hurairah who indicated that he should be refused. Dhuhli preferred Zubaydi's narration, and this is supported by the fact that his narration explicitly records the Prophet's words, ﷺ, "Aban, sit down," after which he did not give them a share. It is possible to reconcile the two accounts by saying that both Aban and Abu Hurairah each indicated that the other should not be given a share. This is supported by the fact that Abu Hurairah argued against Aban on the grounds that he had fought against Ibn Qawqal, while Aban argued against Abu Hurairah on the grounds that he was not among those who had taken part in the fighting in a way that would entitle him to a share of the spoils. So there is no real contradiction in this. Fath al-Bari (7/492–493).I say, it is permissible for the leader to give something to some of those who did not take part in the fighting, in order to please them and win over their hearts, just as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did with the people of the ship, Jafar and his companions, and just as he gave Abu Hurairah .