It is narrated from Zaid bin Wahb, he says: When the emergence of the Khawarij occurred at Nahrawan, Sayyiduna Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, stood among his companions and said: These people have shed innocent blood and have plundered the livestock of the people, and they are also the closest among your enemies. There is a fear that if you go towards your other enemy, these people will attack the remaining individuals and wealth after you. I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: A group will arise in my Ummah such that your prayers and fasts will be nothing compared to their prayers and fasts, and your recitation will not be able to match their recitation. They will recite the Qur’an and think that it is in their favor, whereas in reality it will be against them, and it will not go below their throats. They will exit from Islam just as an arrow passes through its prey without leaving any mark. Their sign is that one man among them will have only the upper part of his arm, and the part below the elbow will not be there, and that too will be like a breast, and there will be some white hairs on it. If those who kill them knew, from the statement of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, about their action and its reward, they would suffice with this action and leave off other deeds. So set out in the name of Allah. After this, the rest of the hadith was mentioned.

It is narrated from Tariq bin Ziyad, he says: We set out in the company of Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) to confront the Khawarij. Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) killed them and then said: Look, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had said that soon a people will emerge who will speak words of truth, but it will not go beyond their throats. They will exit from the truth just as an arrow passes through its prey. Their sign is that among them there will be a man who is dark-skinned and has a defective hand, and on his hand there will be black hair. Now see, if any of the slain is such a person, then you have killed the worst of people, and if none of the slain is such, then you have killed the best of people. Then we actually found a slain man with a defective hand like that, so we all fell in prostration before Allah Almighty, and Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) also fell in prostration with us.

Abu Wadi’i ‘Abad says: We were traveling towards Kufa in the company of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). When we had gone two or three nights’ distance beyond Harura, many of our people separated from us. We mentioned this to Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: Do not let this action of theirs worry you; these people will soon return. After that, he narrated the whole hadith. Then Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) praised and glorified Allah and said: My beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed me that the leader of these people will be a man with an incomplete hand, and on his nipple there will be some hair, like the tail of a certain kind of small mouse. Now you people search for him. They did not find any such man among them. We came to him and said: We did not find any such man. He said: Search again. By Allah, neither have I spoken falsely nor was I told anything false. He repeated this three times. We said: We did not find any such man. Then Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) himself came and said: Turn him over and look, turn him over. Until a man from Kufa came and said: Here is that man. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said Allahu Akbar and then said: No man will be able to tell you who his father is. People began to say: This is Malik, this is Malik. He said: Then tell me, whose son is he?

(Second chain) Abu Wadi'i says: We were going towards Kufa in the company of Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him. Then he mentioned the hadith related to the man with the defective hand. Sayyiduna Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said three times: By Allah! Neither have I lied nor has a lie been narrated to me. Then he said: My beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed me that among the jinn there are three brothers: this one is the eldest, the second has a very large group, and the third is weak and feeble.

It is narrated from Ubaidah, he says: When Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) killed the people of Nahrawan, he said: Search for the slain man of this description. The people found him fallen in a pit beneath the slain. They took him out, and Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) turned to his companions and said: If I did not fear that you would fall into pride and arrogance, I would tell you what Allah Almighty has promised, through the words of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), for the killers of these people. I said: O Ali! Did you yourself hear this from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? He said: Yes, by the Lord of the Ka'bah.

It is narrated from Saeed bin Jumhan, he says: We were fighting against the Khawarij, and with us was Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him). One of his slaves went and joined the Khawarij. They were on one side and we were on the other. We called out to him, "Abu Fairoz! Abu Fairoz, your master Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him) is here." He said: "If he comes for migration, then very good." Sayyiduna Ibn Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "What is that enemy of Allah saying?" We said: "He is saying that he is a good man if he migrates." Upon hearing this, Ibn Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Is there any migration after the migration with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?" Then he said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: Glad tidings for the one who kills them or whom they kill."

It is narrated from Abu Kathir, the slave of the Ansar, who says: I was with my master, Sayyiduna Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), when he killed the people of Nahrawan. It seemed that after killing them, the people felt regret and sorrow. Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), perceiving this situation, said: O people! The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us about such people who would leave the religion just as an arrow passes through its prey; they will never return to the religion until the arrow returns to the bow. One of their signs is that among them there will be a man who is black-skinned and has a defective hand; that hand will be like a woman’s breast, and on it there will be a nipple-like protrusion as is on a breast, and around it there will be seven hairs. You should search for him; I think he is among them. The people searched for him and found him under a pile of the slain by the riverbank. When they brought him out, Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) loudly proclaimed“Allahu Akbar”and said: The word of Allah and His Messenger is true. At that time, Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was carrying his Arab bow; he would place it on the flesh of the slain man’s defective hand and kept saying: The word of Allah and His Messenger is true. When the people saw this, they also began to say“Allahu Akbar”and expressed happiness, and their state of sorrow disappeared.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Sa’d that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The leader of the Khawarij will be struck down, that is, killed, by a man from Banu Bajilah. Someone asked Sufyan: Is this narration reported from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? He replied: Yes.