2081 – ʿAbdullāh narrated to us; Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm related to me; Muḥammad ibn Faḍl narrated to us, from ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, from Abū al-Bakhtarī, who said:

A man informed ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd—may Allah have mercy on him—that some people sit in the mosque after Maghrib, and in their midst is a man who says, “Pronounce takbīr (declare ‘Allāhu akbar’) so many times for Allah; pronounce tasbīḥ (say ‘Subḥān Allāh’) so many times for Allah; and pronounce taḥmīd (say ‘al-ḥamdu li-llāh’) so many times for Allah.”

ʿAbd Allāh asked, “And they actually repeat what he says?” The man replied, “Yes.” He said, “When you see them doing that, come to me and inform me where they are sitting.”

So the man went to them, wearing a burnus (hooded cloak), and sat with them. When he heard what they were saying, he stood up—and he was a forceful man—⦗290⦘ and declared, “I am ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd. By Him besides Whom there is no deity, you have introduced a pitch-black innovation! Or do you suppose that you possess more knowledge than the Companions of Muhammad ﷺ?”

Miʿḍad replied, “By Allah, we have not introduced any pitch-black innovation, nor have we surpassed the Companions of Muhammad ﷺ in knowledge.”

ʿAmr ibn ʿUtbah then said, “O Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, we seek Allah’s forgiveness.”

He answered, “Hold fast to the straight path and remain upon it. For by Allah, if you persevere in that you will have attained a great lead; but if you veer to the right or to the left you will stray—stray far indeed.”