832 — Isa ibn Ali ibn Isa informed us: Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Aziz informed us: Hudbah ibn Khalid narrated to us: Hammad ibn Salamah narrated to us, from Ali ibn Zayd, from Umarah al-Qurashi, from Abu Barzah al-Aslami, who said:

I came as part of a delegation to al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik, and Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz was the one attending to my affairs. When my needs had been taken care of, I came to bid him farewell and greeted him with peace. Then I recalled a hadith which my father had related to me after hearing it from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Since he had so kindly attended to my affairs, I wished to relate it to him. So I returned to him, and when he saw me ⦗531⦘ he said, “Some need has brought the old man back.”

When I drew near, he said, “What has brought you back? Have your needs not been taken care of?”

I said, “Indeed they have, but I heard a hadith from my father, who heard it from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and I wished to relate it to you in return for the kindness you have shown me.”

He said, “What is it?”

He said: My father related to me that he heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say:

“When the Day of Resurrection comes, what each people used to worship in the world will be made to appear before them, while the people of tawhid (monotheism) will remain. It will be said to them, ‘What are you waiting for, when the people have gone away?’ They will say, ‘We have a Lord whom we worshipped in the world, though we never saw Him.’ It will be said, ‘Will you recognize Him when you see Him?’ They will say, ‘Yes.’ It will be said to them, ‘How will you recognize Him when you have not seen Him?’ They will say, ‘There is nothing like Him.’ Then the veil will be lifted for them, and they will look upon Allah, exalted is He, and fall prostrate before Him. Yet there will remain some people whose backs will be like the horns of cattle; they will wish to prostrate but will be unable to do so. Allah, exalted is He, will say, ‘My servants, raise your heads. For I have placed, in exchange for every one of you, one man from among the Jews and Christians in the Fire.’”

Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz said, “By Allah, besides Whom there is no god, did your father truly relate this hadith after hearing it from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him?” ⦗532⦘

So he swore three solemn oaths to him that this was so. Umar said, “I have not heard any hadith concerning the people of tawhid more beloved to me than this hadith.”