AbdurRahman ibn Amr as-Sulami and Hujr ibn Hujr said: We came to Irbad ibn Sariyah who was among those about whom the following verse was revealed: "Nor (is there blame) on those who come to thee to be provided with mounts, and when thou saidst: "I can find no mounts for you." We greeted him and said: We have come to see you to give healing and obtain benefit from you. Al-Irbad said: One day the Messenger of Allah ﷺ led us in prayer, then faced us and gave us a lengthy exhortation at which the eyes shed tears and the hearts were afraid. A man said: Messenger of Allah! It seems as if it were a farewell exhortation, so what injunction do you give us? He then said: I enjoin you to fear Allah, and to hear and obey even if it be an Abyssinian slave, for those of you who live after me will see great disagreement. You must then follow my sunnah and that of the rightly-guided caliphs. Hold to it and stick fast to it. Avoid novelties, for every novelty is an innovation, and every innovation is an error. (Using translation from Abū Dāʾūd 4607)   

صَلَّى لَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ صَلَاةَ الْفَجْرِ ثُمَّ وَعَظَنَا مَوْعِظَةً بَلِيغَةً ذَرَفَتْ مِنْهَا الْعُيُونُ وَوَجِلَتْ مِنْهَا الْقُلُوبُ فَقَالَ قَائِلٌ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ كَأَنَّهَا مَوْعِظَةُ مُوَدِّعٍ؟ فَأَوْصِنَا فَقَالَ «أُوصِيكُمْ بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ وَالسَّمْعِ وَالطَّاعَةِ وَإِنْ كَانَ عَبْدًا حَبَشِيًّا فَإِنَّهُ مَنْ يَعِشْ مِنْكُمْ بَعْدِي فَسَيَرَى اخْتِلَافًا كَثِيرًا فَعَلَيْكُمْ بِسُنَّتِي وَسَنَّةِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ الْمَهْدِيِّينَ عَضُّوا عَلَيْهَا بِالنَّوَاجِذِ وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَالْمُحْدَثَاتِ فَإِنَّ كُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ» وقالَ أَبُو عَاصِمٍ مَرَّةً «وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَمُحْدَثَاتِ الْأُمُورِ فَإِنَّ كُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ»  

[Machine] "Those who came before us used to say that holding on firmly to the Sunnah is salvation, and knowledge is quickly taken away. So, the stability of religion and the world lies in sharing knowledge. And in the disappearance of knowledge goes the disappearance of all that."  

كَانَ مَنْ مَضَى مِنْ عُلَمَائِنَا يَقُولُونَ الِاعْتِصَامُ بِالسُّنَّةِ نَجَاةٌ وَالْعِلْمُ يُقْبَضُ قَبْضًا سَرِيعًا فَنَعْشُ الْعِلْمِ ثَبَاتُ الدِّينِ وَالدُّنْيَا وَفِي ذَهَابِ الْعِلْمِ ذَهَابُ ذَلِكَ كُلِّهِ  

[Machine] "That the first thing to go when religion is gone is the Sunnah, and the religion goes bit by bit, just as a rope loses its strength gradually."  

أَنَّ «أَوَّلَ ذَهَابِ الدِّينِ تَرْكُ السُّنَّةِ يَذْهَبُ الدِّينُ سُنَّةً سُنَّةً كَمَا يَذْهَبُ الْحَبْلُ قُوَّةً قُوَّةً»  

[Machine] Translation: "No people invent an innovation in their religion except that Allah will remove from their Sunnah something similar to it, then He will not return it to them until the Day of Resurrection."  

مَا ابْتَدَعَ قَوْمٌ بِدْعَةً فِي دِينِهِمْ إِلَّا نَزَعَ اللَّهُ مِنْ سُنَّتِهِمْ مِثْلَهَا ثُمَّ لَا يُعِيدُهَا إِلَيْهِمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ  

[Machine] "A man who introduces an innovation has only allowed the sword."  

«مَا ابْتَدَعَ رَجُلٌ بِدْعَةً إِلَّا اسْتَحَلَّ السَّيْفَ»  

[Machine] Indeed, the people of desires are the people of misguidance, and I do not see their destination except to the Fire. So test them, for none of them adopts a statement or speaks a hadith except that the matter disagrees with the sword. And indeed, hypocrisy is of different types. Then recite, "And among them are those who made a covenant with Allah, [saying], 'If He should give us from His bounty, we will surely spend in charity, and we will surely be among the righteous.' " [Surah At-Tawbah, verse 75] "And among them are those who ridicule you in [the matter of] charities. But if they are given from them, they approve, but if they are not given from them, at once they become angry." [Surah At-Tawbah, verse 58] "And among them are those who harm the Prophet and say, 'He is an ear.' Say, 'He is an ear of goodness for you; believe in Allah and His Messenger and the light which We have sent down.' " [Surah At-Tawbah, verse 61] So their statements differed and they gathered in doubt and denial, and indeed, these people differed in their statements and gathered around the sword. And I do not see their destination except to the Fire. Hammad said, and then Ayub said, in the presence of this narration or in the presence of the first one, and he, by Allah, was one of the scholars possessing understanding, meaning Abu Qilabah.  

إِنَّ أَهْلَ الْأَهْوَاءِ أَهْلُ الضَّلَالَةِ وَلَا أَرَى مَصِيرَهُمْ إِلَّا إِلَى النَّارَ فَجَرِّبْهُمْ فَلَيْسَ أَحَدٌ مِنْهُمْ يَنْتَحِلُ قَوْلًا أَوْ قَالَ حَدِيثًا فَيَتَنَاهَى بِهِ الْأَمْرُ دُونَ السَّيْفِ وَإِنَّ النِّفَاقَ كَانَ ضُرُوبًا ثُمَّ تَلَا {وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ عَاهَدَ اللَّهَ لَئِنْ آتَانَا مِنْ فَضْلِهِ لَنَصَّدَّقَنَّ وَلَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ} [التوبة 75] {وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَلْمِزُكَ فِي الصَّدَقَاتِ فَإِنْ أُعْطُوا مِنْهَا رَضُوا وَإِنْ لَمْ يُعْطَوْا مِنْهَا إِذَا هُمْ يَسْخَطُونَ} [التوبة 58] {وَمِنْهُمُ الَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ النَّبِيَّ وَيَقُولُونَ هُوَ أُذُنٌ قُلْ أُذُنُ خَيْرٍ لَكُمْ} [التوبة 61] فَاخْتَلَفَ قَوْلُهُمْ وَاجْتَمَعُوا فِي الشَّكِّ وَالتَّكْذِيبِ وإنَّ هَؤُلَاءِ اخْتَلَفَ قَوْلُهُمْ وَاجْتَمَعُوا فِي السَّيْفِ وَلَا أَرَى مَصِيرَهُمْ إِلَّا إِلَى النَّارِ قَالَ حَمَّادٌ ثُمَّ قَالَ أَيُّوبُ عِنْدَ ذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَوْ عِنْدَ الْأَوَّلِ وَكَانَ وَاللَّهِ مِنَ الْفُقَهَاءِ ذَوِي الْأَلْبَابِ يَعْنِي أَبَا قِلَابَةَ