The hadith of Rafiʿ ibn ʿAmr al-Ansari (1) together with the report of Abu Dharr—may Allah be pleased with him. The fifth hadith is from Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas.

Yaʿqub ibn Sufyan (2) said: Al-Humaydi (3) narrated to us, Sufyan—meaning Ibn ʿUyaynah—narrated to us; al-ʿAlaʾ ibn Abi al-ʿAbbas told me that he heard Abu al-Tufayl relate from Bakr ibn Qirwash, on the authority of Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ mentioned Dhū al-Thudayya (4) and said: ‘The devil of al-Radha is like a shepherd who drives his flock down a mountain; he will be driven down (5) by a man from Bajila called al-Ashhab—or the son of al-Ashhab—an unmistakable sign among an unjust people.’ ”

Sufyan added: ʿAmmar al-Duhni informed me that the one who brought him (6) was a man named al-Ashhab [or ibn al-Ashhab].

Imam Ahmad (7) likewise transmitted this hadith from Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah in an abridged form, wording it: “The devil of al-Radha will be driven down”—that is, by a man from Bajila. Ahmad alone recorded it.

Al-Bukhari (8) cited ʿAli ibn al-Madini as saying: “I have heard no mention of Bakr ibn Qirwash except in this hadith.” (9)

Yaʿqub ibn Sufyan also narrated—through ʿAbd Allah ibn Muʿadh, from his father, from Shuʿbah, from Abu Ishaq, from Hamid al-Hamdani—who said: I heard Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas declare, “ʿAli killed the devil of al-Radha.”

Al-Hafiz Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi (10) commented: He means—and Allah knows best—that ʿAli’s followers killed him on ʿAli’s orders.

Al-Haytham ibn ʿAdi (11) said: Israel ibn Yunus narrated to us, from his grandfather Abu Ishaq al-Sabiʿi, from a man who said: When news reached Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas that ʿAli ibn Abi Talib had slain the Khawarij, he remarked, “ʿAli ibn Abi Talib has killed the devil of al-Radha.”