I came to Ubayy bin Kaab and said to him, "Something concerning divine decree has troubled my heart, so tell me something that perhaps Allah will use to remove it from my heart."He said, "If Allah were to punish the inhabitants of His heavens and the inhabitants of His earth, He would punish them without being unjust to them. And if He were to show them mercy, His mercy would be better for them than their own deeds. If you were to spend the equivalent of Mount Uhud in gold in the path of Allah, Allah would not accept it from you until you believe in the divine decree and know that what has befallen you was never going to miss you, and what has missed you was never going to befall you. If you were to die holding any other belief, you would enter the Fire."He said, "Then I came to Abdullah bin Masud, and he said the same. Then I came to Huzaifa bin Yaman, and he said the same. Then I came to Zayd bin Thabit, and he narrated the same to me from the Prophet ﷺ."
أتيت أبي بن كعب فقلت له: وقع في نفسي شيء من القدر، فحدثني بشيء لعل الله أن يذهبه من قلبي، قال: لو أن الله عذب أهل سماواته، وأهل أرضه عذبهم وهو غير ظالم لهم، ولو رحمهم كانت رحمته خيرا لهم من أعمالهم، ولو أنفقت مثل أحد ذهبا في سبيل الله ما قبله الله منك حتى تؤمن بالقدر، وتعلم أن ما أصابك لم يكن ليخطئك وأن ما أخطأك لم يكن ليصيبك، ولو مت على غير ذلك لدخلت النار. قال: ثم أتيت عبد الله بن مسعود، فقال مثل ذلك، ثم أتيت حذيفة بن اليمان فقال مثل ذلك، قال: ثم أتيت زيد بن ثابت، فحدثني عن النبي ﷺ مثل ذلك.
It was narrated by Abu Dawud (4699) and Ibn Majah (77), both through the route of Abu Sinan, from Wahb bin Khalid Himsi, from Ibn Daylami, who related something similar. Ibn Hibban (727) graded it sahih after narrating it through this same route.I say, the hadith from its beginning is stopped at Ubayy bin Kaab, Ibn Masud, and Huzaifa bin Yaman. It is raised to the Prophet through the hadith of Zayd bin Thabit. Its chain of transmission is hasan because of Abu Sinan, who is Saeed bin Sinan Burjumi, one of the men found in Muslim's collection. Imam Ahmad and others criticized him. Abu Hatim said, "Truthful and trustworthy." Nasai said, "There is no harm in him." Ibn Hibban mentioned him in Al-Thiqat.However, the hadith has also come through another route, from Muawiya bin Salih, that Abu Zahiriyya told him, from Kathir bin Mura, from Ibn Daylami, that he met Zayd bin Thabit and said to him, "I have had doubts about some matters of divine decree, so tell me something, perhaps Allah will grant me relief through you." Zayd said, "Yes, nephew, I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say..." and he related the hadith in similar fashion.This was recorded by Ajurri in Al-Shariah (373), from Firyabi, who said, "Maymun bin Asbagh Nusaybi told me, Abu Salih Abdullah bin Salih told us, who said, Muawiya bin Salih told me," with his chain of transmission. Muawiya bin Salih's hadith is hasan, and he has corroborating narrations, see Al-Sunnah by Ibn Abu Asim (245).As for what was narrated from Abu Ayub Ansari, that he said, "O Messenger of Allah, does Allah decree something upon me and then punish me for it?" He said, "Yes, and He is not being unjust to you, Abu Ayub. Even if you had gold equal to the mountain of Uhud and spent it in the way of Allah, but did not believe in divine decree, both its good and its evil, that would not benefit you at all."This was narrated by Bayhaqi in Al-Qadha wal-Qadar (2/614), but in its chain of transmission is Abu Hajjaj, who is Rushdin bin Saad Misri, and he is daif. Nasai said, "His hadith is abandoned."