On the authority of Abū Saʿīd, who said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Let none of you belittle himself when he sees a matter about which Allah deserves that something be said, yet he says nothing. He will be asked, ‘What kept you from speaking?’ He will reply, ‘Fear of the people.’ It will be said to him, ‘It was I whom you were more entitled to fear.’ (1)”
This was narrated by al-Firyābī, Abū Nuʿaym, and Khallād on his authority.
Hammād ibn Zayd—on the authority of Ayyūb, from Abū Qilābah, from Abū Asmāʾ, from Thawbān—reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “What I fear most for my community are leaders who lead them astray. When the sword is set upon them, it will not be lifted from them until the Day of Resurrection. A group from my community will continue to stand manifest upon the truth; those who oppose or forsake them will not harm them until Allah’s decree comes to pass. (2)”
Al-Ḥusayn ibn Mūsā related to us: al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faḍl al-Bajalī narrated to us; ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Yaḥyā al-Makkī narrated to us; Sulaim ibn Muslim (3), from Ibn Jurayj, from
(1) The chain of transmission is sound; the hadith was already documented above (p. 233, note 1) and is judged authentic.
(2) Its isnad is reliable. The narration is also found in Ahmad, Musnad, 5/278, 283, 284; Abu Dawud, 4252; and Ibn Majah, 3952, through Abu Qilabah → Abu Asmaʾ → Thawban. Thawban relates that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“Allah folded the earth for me— or, ‘My Lord folded the earth for me’—so that I saw its eastern and western horizons, and the dominion of my community will reach everything that was folded up for me. I was given the two treasures, the red and the white. I asked my Lord on behalf of my community that He not destroy them by a general famine and not place over them an enemy from outside themselves who would annihilate them, even if all peoples were to unite against them—or, ‘from every quarter of the earth’—until some of them kill others and some of them capture others. What I fear most for my community are the misguiding leaders. Once the sword is unsheathed among my community, it will not be lifted from them until the Day of Resurrection. The Hour will not come until tribes from my community join the polytheists and tribes from my community worship idols. Thirty great impostors will arise in my community, each claiming to be a prophet, but I am the Seal of the Prophets; there is no prophet after me. A party of my community will always remain upon the truth.”
Ibn ʿIsa adds the word “manifest,” and both versions conclude: “Those who oppose them will not harm them until the command of Allah arrives.”
(3) Ibn Maʿin said: “A vile Jahmi.” Al-Nasaʾi ruled: “His hadith is to be abandoned.” Ahmad declared: “His narrations are worthless.” The author records all of this in his work al-Mizan.