It was transmitted from him by several narrators—among them Abu al-Yaman, Baqiyyah, and Abu al-Mughira—and it was recorded by Ahmad and by Abu Dawud in his Sunan.
Ibn Majah likewise reported the same purport through the chain of Safwan ibn ʿAmr, from Rashid ibn Saʿd, from ʿAwf ibn Malik al-Ashjaʿi, and it is also related through other lines of transmission. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that his community would divide into seventy-three sects, of which seventy-two will surely follow the same course of contention taken by the nations before them.
[The divergence about which the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, spoke]
This divergence foreseen by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) concerns either religious matters alone, or both religion and
(1) Al-Hakam ibn Nafiʿ al-Bahrani al-Himsi: trustworthy and firmly reliable, classed as tenth tier; d. 122 AH / 740 CE. All six canonical collections narrate from him. See: Taqrib al-Tahdhib 1:193, no. 505.
(2) Baqiyya ibn al-Walid ibn Saʾid al-Himyari: reliable (ṣaduq) but notorious for frequent tadlis from weak transmitters; d. 197 AH / 812 CE. See: Taqrib al-Tahdhib 1:105, no. 108.
(3) Abd al-Quddus ibn al-Hajjaj al-Khawlani al-Himsi: trustworthy, ninth tier; d. 212 AH / 827 CE. Narrated by all six canonical compilers. See: Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 1:515, no. 1274.
(4) See Sunan Ibn Majah, Book of Trials, chapter “The Splitting of Nations,” hadith no. 3992 (2:1322).
(5) Rashid ibn Saʿd al-Muqarrali al-Himyari al-Himsi: trustworthy but frequently transmits mursal reports; third tier; d. 108 AH / 726 CE. See: Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 1:240, no. 3.
(6) The Companion Awf ibn Malik ibn Abi Awf al-Ashjaʿi al-Ghatafani: embraced Islam before Hunayn, fought there and at the Conquest carrying his clan’s banner, took part in Khaybar and the Syrian campaigns, settled in Hims, and died in 73 AH / 692 CE. See: al-Bidaya wa-l-Nihaya 8:446; Usd al-Ghabah 4:156.
(7) The manuscript marked (At) reads: “and the two.”