the Messenger of Allah ﷺ began wiping the dust from his face and saying:

“Woe to you, son of Sumayyah! People are carrying one stone at a time and one brick at a time, whereas you are carrying two stones at a time and two bricks at a time, seeking thereby greater reward—though you already have it. Woe to you! The rebellious faction will kill you.”

‘Amr then reined his horse back to its chest, pulled Mu‘awiyah toward him and said, “Mu‘awiyah, do you not hear what ‘Abd Allah is saying?”

He asked, “And what is he saying?”

‘Amr replied, “He is saying—” and he informed him (1) of the report. Mu‘awiyah said, “You are a doddering old man; you never stop relating hadith while you are still wetting your clothes with urine! Did we kill ‘Ammar? The ones who killed ‘Ammar were those who brought him out.”

The people then came out of their tents and pavilions repeating, “The ones who killed ‘Ammar are those who brought him out.” I do not know which was more astonishing—Mu‘awiyah or they.

Imam Ahmad (2) said: Abu Mu‘awiyah narrated to us; al-A‘mash narrated to us, from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Ziyad, who said: I was walking with Mu‘awiyah on his return from Siffin, with ‘Amr ibn al-‘As between him and me. ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr said, “Father, have you not heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say to ‘Ammar, ‘Woe to you, son of Sumayyah! The rebellious faction will kill you’?” ‘Amr then said to Mu‘awiyah, “Do you not hear what this ‘Abd Allah is saying?” Mu‘awiyah replied, “He keeps bringing us one annoyance after another. Did we kill him? He was killed by those who brought him.”

Ahmad (3) also narrated it from Abu Nu‘aym, from Sufyan al-Thawri, from al-A‘mash with similar wording. Only Ahmad transmits it in this form through this chain. The interpretation adopted by Mu‘awiyah—may Allah be pleased with him—is far-fetched, and ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr was not alone in reporting this hadith; it has been transmitted through other lines as well.

Imam Ahmad (4) said: Muhammad ibn Ja‘far narrated to us; Shu‘bah narrated to us, from Khalid, from ‘Ikrimah, from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to ‘Ammar, “The rebellious faction will kill you.”

Al-Bukhari recorded in his Sahih (5), through the narrations of ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn al-Mukhtar and ‘Abd al-Wahhab al-Thaqafi, from Khalid al-Hadhdha’, from ‘Ikrimah, from Abu Sa‘id—concerning the story of building the mosque—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to ‘Ammar: “Alas for ‘Ammar! He calls them to Paradise while they call him to the Fire.” ‘Ammar would then say, “I seek refuge in Allah from trials.”

In some copies of al-Bukhari the wording is: “Alas for ‘Ammar! He will be killed by the rebellious faction; he calls them to Paradise while they call him to the Fire.”

Ahmad (6) said: Sulayman ibn Dawud narrated to us; Shu‘bah narrated to us; (7) ‘Amr ibn Dinar narrated to us, from