Abu al-Asbagh ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Yahya al-Harrani related: Ibn Salamah told us, from Ibn Ishaq, from al-Aʿmash, from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, from Abu al-Bukhtari, from Hudhayfah, who said:

“I was holding the bridle of the Messenger of Allah’s she-camel, leading her on, while ʿAmmar was driving her from behind—or, he said, ʿAmmar was leading her and I was driving—until, when we reached the mountain pass of al-ʿAqabah, I suddenly saw twelve mounted men barring his way. I alerted the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, whereupon he shouted at them and they fled, turning their backs.

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then asked us, ‘Did you recognize those men?’ We said, ‘No; their faces were covered.’ He said, ‘They are the hypocrites—until the Day of Resurrection. They meant to crowd me on the pass so that I would fall.’

“We said, ‘Messenger of Allah, will you not summon their clans so that every clan brings you the head of its offender?’ He replied, ‘No. I dislike that the Arabs should say: “Muhammad fought his own people; once Allah granted him victory through them, he turned on them and killed them.”’ Then he prayed, ‘O Allah, strike them with al-dubaylah.’

“We asked, ‘Messenger of Allah, what is al-dubaylah?’ He said, ‘A blazing brand of fire that lands on the arteries of a man’s heart and destroys him.’”

Qatadah narrated from Abu Nadrah, from Qays ibn ʿAbbād—in a report he quoted from ʿAmmar ibn Yasir—that Hudhayfah informed him that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Among my Companions are 12 hypocrites; 8 of them will never enter Paradise until a camel passes through the eye of a needle.” Recorded by Muslim.

ʿAbd Allah ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Miṣrī said: Muʿāwiyah ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated to us, from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, from Ibn ʿAbbās regarding the verse, “And [there are] those who have taken a mosque out of malice” (Quran 9:107). He said: “Some people built a mosque, and Abu ʿĀmir told them, ‘Build your mosque and muster whatever strength and weaponry you can, for I am going to Caesar; I will return with troops from Byzantium, and we shall expel Muhammad and his companions.’ When they had completed their mosque, they came to the Prophet…”