al-Walīd—but the Prophet restrained him. When the man turned away he added:
“From the offshoot⦗1⦘ of this man there will arise a people who recite the Qur’an yet it will not pass beyond their collar-bones. They will dart out of Islam just as an arrow shoots clean through its prey; they will kill the people of Islam and leave alone the idol-worshippers. If I live to meet them, I shall kill them with the slaughter of ʿĀd.”
Al-Bukhārī⦗2⦘ recorded it through the transmission of ʿAbd al-Razzāq; Imām Aḥmad⦗3⦘ likewise narrated it from Muḥammad ibn Faḍl, from ʿUmārah ibn al-Qaʿqāʿ, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Nuʿm⦗4⦘, from Abū Saʿīd. In that wording it is stated unequivocally that Khālid asked permission to kill the man, which does not conflict with the report that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb did so as well.
It is also found in the two Ṣaḥīḥs⦗5⦘ through the narration of ʿUmārah ibn al-Qaʿqāʿ ibn Shibrimah⦗6⦘, where it says: “From the offshoot of this man there will emerge people who recite the Qur’an yet it will not pass beyond their collar-bones.” He did not intend thereby that they would descend from the man’s own loins, for the Khārijites we have mentioned⦗7⦘ were not his progeny, and I know of no one among them who traced his lineage back to him. Rather, “from his offshoot” means: from his type, his likeness, and his description, in deed and in word. Allah knows best. [Indeed, these traits are found in a great many people, in every age and every land, among Qur’an-reciters and others, for whoever reflects. Allah knows best.]
That man [just mentioned] was Dhū al-Khuwayṣirah al-Tamīmī; some called him Ḥarqūṣ. Allah knows best.
[Fifth chain]
Imām Aḥmad⦗8⦘ said: ʿAffān narrated to us; Mahdī ibn Maymūn narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn narrated to us, from Maʿbad ibn Sīrīn, from Abū Saʿīd, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said:
“People will emerge from the direction of the East; they will recite the Qur’an, yet it will not pass beyond their collar-bones. They will dart out of the religion just as an arrow passes clean through its prey, and they will never return to it until the arrow returns to its shaft.”
It was asked, “What is their distinguishing mark?” He replied:
“Their mark is shaved—or very closely cropped—heads.”⦗9⦘
Al-Bukhārī⦗10⦘ also recorded it through Abū al-Nuʿmān Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl⦗11⦘ from Mahdī ibn Maymūn, with this same chain.