and grant him peace—or like a group of Turkmen who believe that Hamza undertook great military campaigns, accounts of which they transmit among themselves, although the scholars unanimously agree that he participated only in Badr and Uhud and was killed on the day of Uhud. Likewise, many people believe that Umm Salama and other wives of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—are buried in the cemeteries of Damascus, as are such Companions as Ubayy ibn Ka'b, and Uways al-Qaranī and others.
Yet people of knowledge know that none of the Prophet’s wives—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—ever came to Damascus. Rather, Asmā bint Yazīd ibn al-Sakan al-Ansārī lived in Syria, and the people of Syria called her Umm Salama. The ignorant therefore assumed that she was Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Ubayy ibn Ka'b died in Medina, while Uways was one of the Successors and never came to Syria. \ 507 Similarly, some ignorant people believe that Alī’s grave lies within Najaf. People of knowledge in Kufa and elsewhere know this to be false. They know that Alī, Muāwiya, and Amr ibn al-Ās were each buried in the governor’s palace in his own city, out of fear for him (1), lest the Khārijites exhume his body. The Khārijites had sworn together to kill all three; they killed Alī and wounded Muāwiya.
Amr ibn al-Ās had appointed a man named (2) Khārija to act in his stead. The assassin struck and killed him, thinking that he was Amr. When it became clear that he was Khārija, he said:
“I intended Amr, but Allah intended Khārija.”
It thus became a proverb.
There are many such things that large numbers of ignorant people believe, while those knowledgeable about transmitted reports know otherwise.