Another Chain

Imam Ahmad (1) said: “Abu al-Mughira narrated to us; al-Awzaʿi narrated to us; Qatadah narrated to me, from Anas ibn Malik and Abu Saʿid.”

Ahmad added: “Abu al-Mughira also narrated to us, from Anas, from Abu Saʿid—then he went back and said that the Prophet ﷺ declared:

‘There will arise within my community disagreement and division. A people will speak eloquently yet behave wickedly. They will recite the Qur’an, but it will not pass beyond their collarbones. One of you will deem his own prayer paltry beside their prayer, and his fasting beside their fasting. They will bolt out of the religion just as an arrow speeds through its prey; they will not return until the arrow comes back to its nock (2). They are the worst of all creatures. Blessed is the one who kills them or is killed by them (3). They claim to call to the Book of Allah, but they have nothing to do with it. Whoever fights them is nearer to Allah than they are.’ ”

They asked, “O Messenger of Allah, what will mark them out?” He replied, “Shaving the head.”

Abu Dawud recorded it in his Sunan (4) from Nasr ibn ʿAsim al-Antaki, through al-Walid ibn Muslim and Mubashshir ibn Ismaʿil al-Halabi, both from al-Awzaʿi, from Qatadah, from Abu Saʿid and Anas with this wording. Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah (5) also brought it out through ʿAbd al-Razzaq (6), from Maʿmar, from Qatadah, from Anas alone. Al-Bazzar (7), via the chain of Abu Sufyan, and Abu Yaʿla (8), via the chain of Yazid al-Raqashi, each transmitted from Anas ibn Malik a narration about the Khawarij similar to that of Abu Saʿid, as will appear, Allah willing.

Hadith Four — from Jabir ibn ʿAbd Allah

Imam Ahmad (9) said: “Hasan ibn Musa narrated to us; Abu Shihab (10) narrated to us, from Yahya ibn Saʿid, from Abu al-Zubayr, from Jabir ibn ʿAbd Allah, who said:”