It was
narrated from ‘Asim bin Sufyan Thaqafi that they went on the
campaign of Salasil, but no battle took place; they only took up
their
positions. Then they came back to Mu’awiyah, and Abu Ayyub
and ‘Uqbah
bin ‘Amir were with him. ‘Asim said:
“O Abu Ayyub,
we have missed out
on Jihad this year, and we were told that whoever
prays in the four
mosques will be forgiven his sins.” He said: “O
son of my brother,
shall I not tell you of something easier than
that? I heard the
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘Whoever performs
ablution as he has
been commanded, and prays as he has been
commanded, will be forgiven
his previous (bad) deeds.’” He said:
“(Did he not say it) like that, O
‘Uqbah?” He said: “Yes.”