What is meant by "destruction" in the verse: "And spend in the cause of Allah and do not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction. And do good; indeed, Allah loves the doers of good," and does it refer to not spending or to committing suicide?

Scholars agree that the verse (And spend in the way of Allah and do not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction) was revealed in the context of an order to spend and not abandon jihad, as some companions wanted to focus on their wealth and abandon jihad, but Allah forbade them from doing so. Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman narrated that it was revealed concerning spending, and Abu Ayyub al-Ansari narrated that destruction referred to staying with one's wealth and abandoning raiding. Nevertheless, scholars use the generality of the wording of the verse to infer the prohibition of harming oneself and throwing oneself into destruction by any means, based on the rule: "The lesson is in the generality of the wording, not the specificity of the cause." Some of the Salaf interpreted destruction as the despair of the sinner from Allah's mercy.