Hadithcore
Sahih Muslim, 1064 a
sahih

Abu Said Khudri reported that 'Ali (Allah be pleased with him) sent some gold alloyed with dust to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) distributed that among four men, al-Aqra b. Habis Hanzali and Uyaina b. Badr al-Fazari and 'Alqama b. 'Ulatha al-'Amiri, then to one person of the tribe of Kilab and to Zaid al-Khair al-Ta'l, and then to one person of the tribe of Nabhan. Upon this the people of Quraish felt angry and said:

He (the Prophet) gave to the chiefs of Najd and ignored us. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: I have done it with a view to conciliating between them. Then there came a person with thick beard, prominent cheeks, deep sunken eyes and protruding forehead and shaven head. He said: Muhammad, fear Allah. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "If I disobey Allah, who would then obey Him? Have I not been (sent as the) most trustworthy among the people of the world? But you do not repose trust in me." That person then went back. A person among the people then sought permission (from the Prophet) for his murder. According to some, it was Khalid b. Walid who sought the permission. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), said: From this very person's posterity there would arise people who would recite the Qur'an, but it would not go beyond their throat; they would kill the followers of Islam and would spare the idol-worshippers. They would glance through the teachings of Islam so hurriedly just as the arrow passes through the pray. If I were to ever find them I would kill them like 'Ad.

حَدَّثَنَا هَنَّادُ بْنُ السَّرِيِّ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الأَحْوَصِ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ مَسْرُوقٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، بْنِ أَبِي نُعْمٍ عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، قَالَ بَعَثَ عَلِيٌّ - رضى الله عنه - وَهُوَ بِالْيَمَنِ بِذَهَبَةٍ فِي تُرْبَتِهَا إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَسَمَهَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بَيْنَ أَرْبَعَةِ نَفَرٍ الأَقْرَعُ بْنُ حَابِسٍ الْحَنْظَلِيُّ وَعُيَيْنَةُ بْنُ بَدْرٍ الْفَزَارِيُّ وَعَلْقَمَةُ بْنُ عُلاَثَةَ الْعَامِرِيُّ ثُمَّ أَحَدُ بَنِي كِلاَبٍ وَزَيْدُ الْخَيْرِ الطَّائِيُّ ثُمَّ أَحَدُ بَنِي نَبْهَانَ - قَالَ - فَغَضِبَتْ قُرَيْشٌ فَقَالُوا أَتُعْطِي صَنَادِيدَ نَجْدٍ وَتَدَعُنَا فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏"‏ إِنِّي إِنَّمَا فَعَلْتُ ذَلِكَ لأَتَأَلَّفَهُمْ ‏"‏ فَجَاءَ رَجُلٌ كَثُّ اللِّحْيَةِ مُشْرِفُ الْوَجْنَتَيْنِ غَائِرُ الْعَيْنَيْنِ نَاتِئُ الْجَبِينِ مَحْلُوقُ الرَّأْسِ فَقَالَ اتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَا مُحَمَّدُ ‏.‏ - قَالَ - فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏"‏ فَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللَّهَ إِنْ عَصَيْتُهُ أَيَأْمَنُنِي عَلَى أَهْلِ الأَرْضِ وَلاَ تَأْمَنُونِي ‏"‏ قَالَ ثُمَّ أَدْبَرَ الرَّجُلُ فَاسْتَأْذَنَ رَجُلٌ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ فِي قَتْلِهِ - يُرَوْنَ أَنَّهُ خَالِدُ بْنُ الْوَلِيدِ - فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏"‏ إِنَّ مِنْ ضِئْضِئِ هَذَا قَوْمًا يَقْرَءُونَ الْقُرْآنَ لاَ يُجَاوِزُ حَنَاجِرَهُمْ يَقْتُلُونَ أَهْلَ الإِسْلاَمِ وَيَدَعُونَ أَهْلَ الأَوْثَانِ يَمْرُقُونَ مِنَ الإِسْلاَمِ كَمَا يَمْرُقُ السَّهْمُ مِنَ الرَّمِيَّةِ لَئِنْ أَدْرَكْتُهُمْ لأَقْتُلَنَّهُمْ قَتْلَ عَادٍ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 12, Hadith 188
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Book 5, Hadith 2318 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) warned us against religious innovations and extremism, for it leads to the corruption of societies. Extremism, along with the lack of proper understanding of the religion, may result in considering the Muslim communities as people of religious innovations and Kufr (disbelief) and lead to revolt against the rulers unjustly. In this Hadīth, Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) relates that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned a group who would be among his Ummah, meaning the Ummah of those who became Muslims. They are Muslims and would emerge at a time of dissension and discord arising among the Muslims. "Their distinctive mark would be shaven heads", i.e., one of their distinguishing signs is that they shave their heads and remove their hair, or the hair of their heads in particular. This indicates their renouncement of worldly embellishments. They are the most evil creatures, or he said: "among the worst creatures". This is because they are the people who cause evil and corruption among the people in the land. When fighting between them and the people broke out, the closer group to the truth among the two conflicting groups would kill them. Their first emergence occurred during the caliphate of ‘Ali ibn Abi Tālib (may Allah be pleased with him), and he, along with those with him, fought against them. "The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) gave an example of them, or he said, "meaning that he (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) likened them, with regard to their departure from the religion, to a man who shoots an arrow at the prey. "Or he said: at the target", i.e., the object shot at, which includes prey and other things. When he throws an arrow at the prey and examines the arrowhead - which is the sharpened, pointed, solid tip of the arrow - he finds no trace of blood on it. Then, the archer examines it more carefully so that he may find what he seeks. So, he looks at the body and finds no trace of blood. And he looks at "the grip", in which the bowstring is placed, and does not find any trace of blood. So, they come out of the religion like a fast arrow that hits the prey, enters it, and comes out so fast that no trace from the prey can stick to it, given its incredible speed. Likewise, they quickly enter the religion and adopt an approach of strictness in it, and they do not take anything from it; instead, they are quick to depart from it. Abu Sa‘īd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "And you killed them, O people of Iraq", referring to the battle of Nahrawān, 38 A.H., in which ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) fought and defeated them. The Hadīth contains one of the signs of the Prophet's prophethood, as he informed us about the trials that would take place after his death, which happened as he told. It warns against following the misguided group(s) that is out of the fold of Islam. It also demonstrates the distinguishing signs and marks of the Kharijites..
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