Discouraging of counting dhikr on tasbihs / sabbahas
[Machine] We were sitting at the door of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud before the morning prayer. When he came out, we walked with him to the mosque. Abu Musa al-Ash'ari came to us and said, "Has Abu Abdur-Rahman come out to you?" We said, "No, not yet." So he sat with us until he came out. When he came out, we all stood up to go with him. Abu Musa said to him, "O Abu Abdur-Rahman, I have just seen something in the mosque that I rejected, but thanks to Allah, I saw only good." Abdullah ibn Mas'ud asked, "What is it?" Abu Musa replied, "If you live, you will see it." Then he said, "In the mosque, I saw some people sitting in circles waiting for prayer. In each circle, there was a man and in their hands were pebbles. He would say, 'Say Allahu Akbar (Takbir) a hundred times,' so they would say it a hundred times. Then he would say, 'Say La ilaha illallah (Tahlil) a hundred times,' so they would say it a hundred times. And he would say, 'Say Subhanallah (Tasbih) a hundred times,' so they would say it a hundred times." Abdullah ibn Mas'ud asked, "What did you say to them?" He replied, "I didn't say anything to them, waiting for your opinion or your order." Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said, "You should have ordered them to count their evil deeds and assured them that their good deeds would not be lost."
Then he proceeded, and we accompanied him until he came to one of those circles. He stood over them and said, "What is this I see you doing?" They said, "O Abu Abdur-Rahman, these are pebbles we are using to count the Takbir, Tahlil, and Tasbih." He said, "Count your bad deeds, and I assure you nothing will be lost from your good deeds. Woe to you, O nation of Muhammad! How quickly you have perished! These are the Companions of your Prophet ﷺ, abundant still. His garments have not worn out and his vessels are not broken. By the One in Whose Hand my soul is, you are either following a way more guided than the way of Muhammad ﷺ or you are opening a door of misguidance." They said, "By Allah, O Abu Abdur-Rahman, we only intended good." He said, "How many intend good but do not achieve it. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ told us that there would be people who recite the Quran, and it does not go past their throats. By Allah, I do not know, perhaps most of them are from you." Then he turned away from them. Amr ibn Salamah commented, "We saw most of those circles fighting against us on the day of Nahrawan with the Khawarij."
كُنَّا نَجْلِسُ عَلَى بَابِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ قَبْلَ صَلَاةِ الْغَدَاةِ فَإِذَا خَرَجَ مَشَيْنَا مَعَهُ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ فَجَاءَنَا أَبُو مُوسَى الْأَشْعَرِيُّ فَقَالَ أَخَرَجَ إِلَيْكُمْ أَبُو عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ قُلْنَا لَا بَعْدُ فَجَلَسَ مَعَنَا حَتَّى خَرَجَ فَلَمَّا خَرَجَ قُمْنَا إِلَيْهِ جَمِيعًا فَقَالَ لَهُ أَبُو مُوسَى يَا أَبَا عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ آنِفًا أَمْرًا أَنْكَرْتُهُ وَلَمْ أَرَ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ إِلَّا خَيْرًا قَالَ فَمَا هُوَ؟ فَقَالَ إِنْ عِشْتَ فَسَتَرَاهُ قَالَ رَأَيْتُ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ قَوْمًا حِلَقًا جُلُوسًا يَنْتَظِرُونَ الصَّلَاةَ فِي كُلِّ حَلْقَةٍ رَجُلٌ وَفِي أَيْدِيهِمْ حصًا فَيَقُولُ كَبِّرُوا مِائَةً فَيُكَبِّرُونَ مِائَةً فَيَقُولُ هَلِّلُوا مِائَةً فَيُهَلِّلُونَ مِائَةً وَيَقُولُ سَبِّحُوا مِائَةً فَيُسَبِّحُونَ مِائَةً قَالَ فَمَاذَا قُلْتَ لَهُمْ؟ قَالَ مَا قُلْتُ لَهُمْ شَيْئًا انْتِظَارَ رَأْيِكَ أَوِ انْتظارَ أَمْرِكَ قَالَ «أَفَلَا أَمَرْتَهُمْ أَنْ يَعُدُّوا سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ وَضَمِنْتَ لَهُمْ أَنْ لَا يَضِيعَ مِنْ حَسَنَاتِهِمْ»
ثُمَّ مَضَى وَمَضَيْنَا مَعَهُ حَتَّى أَتَى حَلْقَةً مِنْ تِلْكَ الْحِلَقِ فَوَقَفَ عَلَيْهِمْ فَقَالَ «مَا هَذَا الَّذِي أَرَاكُمْ تَصْنَعُونَ؟» قَالُوا يَا أَبَا عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ حصًا نَعُدُّ بِهِ التَّكْبِيرَ وَالتَّهْلِيلَ وَالتَّسْبِيحَ قَالَ «فَعُدُّوا سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ فَأَنَا ضَامِنٌ أَنْ لَا يَضِيعَ مِنْ حَسَنَاتِكُمْ شَيْءٌ وَيْحَكُمْ يَا أُمَّةَ مُحَمَّدٍ مَا أَسْرَعَ هَلَكَتَكُمْ هَؤُلَاءِ صَحَابَةُ نَبِيِّكُمْ ﷺ مُتَوَافِرُونَ وَهَذِهِ ثِيَابُهُ لَمْ تَبْلَ وَآنِيَتُهُ لَمْ تُكْسَرْ وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ إِنَّكُمْ لَعَلَى مِلَّةٍ هِيَ أَهْدَى مِنْ مِلَّةِ مُحَمَّدٍ ﷺ أوْ مُفْتَتِحُو بَابِ ضَلَالَةٍ» قَالُوا وَاللَّهِ يَا أَبَا عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ مَا أَرَدْنَا إِلَّا الْخَيْرَ قَالَ «وَكَمْ مِنْ مُرِيدٍ لِلْخَيْرِ لَنْ يُصِيبَهُ إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ حَدَّثَنَا أَنَّ» قَوْمًا يَقْرَءُونَ الْقُرْآنَ لَا يُجَاوِزُ تَرَاقِيَهُمْ وَايْمُ اللَّهِ مَا أَدْرِي لَعَلَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ مِنْكُمْ ثُمَّ تَوَلَّى عَنْهُمْ فَقَالَ عَمْرُو بْنُ سَلَمَةَ رَأَيْنَا عَامَّةَ أُولَئِكَ الْحِلَقِ يُطَاعِنُونَا يَوْمَ النَّهْرَوَانِ مَعَ الْخَوَارِجِ
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