16. Book of Religious Battles
١٦۔ كِتَابُ الْجِهَادِ
I heard ʿUthman ؓ say on the minbar: O people, I concealed from you a hadeeth that I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for fear that you would scatter away from me, then I thought that I should tell it to you, and let each one choose for himself what he thinks is best. I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ʿGuarding the border for one day for the sake of Allah is better than a thousand other days doing other deeds.ʿ (Using translation from Aḥmad 470)
سَمِعْتُ عُثْمَانَ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ وَهُوَ يَقُولُ إِنِّي كُنْتُ كَتَمْتُكُمْ حَدِيثًا سَمِعْتُهُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ كَرَاهِيَةَ تَفَرُّقِكُمْ عَنِّي ثُمَّ بَدَا لِي أَنْ أُحَدِّثَكُمُوهُ لِيَخْتَارَ امْرُؤٌ لِنَفْسِهِ مَا بَدَا لَهُ إِنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ «رِبَاطُ يَوْمٍ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ يَوْمٍ فِيمَا سِوَاهُ مِنَ الْمَنَازِلِ»