Sīrīn—who said:
Hudhayfa said, “There is no one among the people whom the turmoil overtakes but that I fear for him, except Muhammad ibn Maslama(1), for I heard the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—say:
‘The turmoil will not harm you.’”(2)
Abū Dāwūd said:
Amr ibn Marzūq narrated to us: Shuba narrated to us, from al-Ashath ibn Sulaym, [from Abū Burda, from Thalaba ibn Dubaya, who said:
We visited(3) Hudhayfa, and he said, “I know a man whom no turmoil will harm in the least.”
He said:
We went out and came upon a pitched tent. We entered it(4) and found Muhammad ibn Maslama inside](5). We asked him about this, and he replied:
“I do not wish to reside in any of your cities(6) until the turmoil has lifted and its outcome become clear.”(7)
This hadith makes clear that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—stated that Muhammad ibn Maslama would not be harmed by the turmoil. He was among those who held themselves aloof during the fighting, and he fought neither alongside Alī