"we have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad, jihad un nafs jihad ul akbar"

When the Prohet (saw) returned from the wells of badr he said:

"we have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad, jihad un nafs jihad ul akbar"

Related by al-Bayhaqi with a da’eef isnaad according to al-Iraaqee.

Ibn Hajr said that this was a saying of Ibraaheem bin Abee Ablah, a Taabi’ee, and not a hadeeth of the Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). [’Kashf al-Khafaa’ (no.1362)]

Regarding this hadith it is said to be fabricated due to one 'Khalaf bin Muhammad bin Ismael al-Khiyam'.

ibn Adi says "his hadith are false" [Tahzeeb ut-Tahzeeb 11/261]

Abu ya'la al-Kahlili says: "he often adulterates, is very weak and narrates unknown hadith" [Mashari ul-Aswaq 1/31]

ibn taymiyyah says: "this hadith has no source and nobody in the field of islamic knowledge has narrated it" [al-Furqan p44-45].