I say: This is one of his sound hadiths, for he was not alone in narrating it, and the hadith master Ibn Hibban concurred in declaring it authentic. It has other chains from Aishah and others, as will come under (3156).

Muslim narrated it (8/168) through Yunus ibn Muhammad: al-Qasim ibn al-Fadl al-Haddani narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ziyad, from Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, that Aishah said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, moved about in his sleep—or, in another narration, laughed. We said, “Messenger of Allah, you did something in your sleep that you do not usually do.” He said: “How astonishing! Some people from my community will march upon this House because of a man from Quraysh who has sought refuge in the House. When they reach the desert plain, the earth will swallow them.”

We said, “Messenger of Allah, a road may bring different people together.” He said: “Yes. Among them will be the one who knowingly follows them, the one compelled to do so, and the wayfarer. They will perish in one and the same destruction, yet depart to different destinations; Allah will resurrect them according to their intentions.”

Ahmad also narrated it (6/105): Abu Said narrated to us, saying: al-Qasim ibn al-Fadl al-Haddani narrated to us, with wording similar to it. The other version is his, though there are differences in some of the wording. Muslim’s version is more sound, since Yunus ibn Muhammad—Abu Muhammad al-Muaddib—was trustworthy and precise. The narrator who differs from him, Abu Said—whose name was Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah ibn Ubayd, a client of Banu Hashim—was truthful, though he sometimes erred.

Al-Bukhari also narrated it in the Book of Sales, through another chain from Aishah, in abbreviated form. It is further supported by the hadith of Ibn Umar in al-Bukhari (7108), Muslim (8/165), and Ibn Hibban (7/210/7271), likewise in abbreviated form. It contains the additional wording, but not the words: “according to their intentions.”