the pronouncements concerning them, such as these words of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Any one of you would consider his prayer insignificant compared with theirs, his fasting insignificant compared with theirs, and his recitation insignificant compared with theirs. They recite the Quran, but it does not pass beyond their throats. They pass out of Islam as an arrow passes through its quarry. Wherever you encounter them, kill them, for whoever kills them will have a reward with Allah on the Day of Resurrection.”

The first of them had already appeared during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. When he saw the Prophet’s distribution, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“He said, ‘O Muhammad, be just, for you have not been just!’ The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, replied, ‘You would indeed be ruined and lost if I were not just.’ One of his Companions said to him, ‘Let me strike off this hypocrite’s head, O Messenger of Allah.’ He replied, ‘From this man’s stock will emerge people whose prayer any one of you would consider his own insignificant beside, whose fasting he would consider his own insignificant beside, and whose recitation he would consider his own insignificant beside.’”

The hadith continues.

Thus, religious innovation began with casting aspersions on the Sunnah on the basis of conjecture and desire, just as Iblīs challenged his Lord’s command on the basis of his own opinion and desire.

As for identifying the sects destined for perdition, the earliest person known to us to have spoken of their being astray was Yūsuf ibn Asbāt, followed by ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak. Both were eminent imams, among the most distinguished leaders of the Muslims. They said:

“The four foundational groups of religious innovation are the Rāfidites, the Khārijites, the Qadariyyah, and the Murjiʾah.”

Ibn al-Mubārak was asked, “And the Jahmiyyah?”

He answered that those people were not part of Muhammad’s Ummah. He used to say:

“We can recount the statements of the Jews and Christians, but we cannot recount the statements of the Jahmiyyah.”

A group of scholars among Ahmad’s followers and others followed him in this view. They said: