Sunan Abi Dawud 2636
سنن أبي داود#2636Sahihحَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ عَمْرٍو، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ جَابِرًا، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " الْحَرْبُ خُدْعَةٌ " .
Jabir reported the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) as saying “War is deception.”
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
Al-AlbaniSahih
Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul HamidSahih
Shuaib Al ArnautSahih
Zubair Ali ZaiSahih Bukhari (3030) Sahih Muslim (1739)
In-book reference: 15:160