It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Shaddad bin al-Had; he said: I came to the Mother of the Believers, Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), while she was staying, on her return from Iraq, during the days when Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) fought (the Khawarij). She asked: "O Abdullah bin Shaddad, will you tell me the truth about what I ask you? Tell me about these people whom Ali killed." I said: "Why would I not tell you the truth?" She said: "Then narrate their story." I said: "When Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) and appointed the two arbiters (for reconciliation), eight thousand of the Qur'an reciters rose against him and camped in a village on one side of Kufah called 'Harura'. They objected to him, saying: 'You have come out of the shirt (of the caliphate) which Allah clothed you with, and the name (Commander of the Believers) with which He honored you; then you made people judges in the religion of Allah, whereas La hukma illa lillah (judgment belongs to Allah alone).' When news of their objections and their separation reached Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), he had it announced that no one should come to the Commander of the Believers except one who had memorized the Qur'an. When the house was filled with reciters, he called for a large copy of the Qur'an, placed it in front of him and began striking it with his hand, calling out: 'O Mushaf, speak to the people!' The people said: 'O Commander of the Believers, what are you asking it? It is only paper and ink; we speak from it what we have seen in it. What do you want?' He said: 'Your companions who have rebelled against me, between me and them is the Book of Allah (to decide). Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says concerning a man and a woman (in dispute): "And if you fear a breach between the two (then appoint arbiters)" [Surah Al-Nisa: 35] . The Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is far more sacred than one man and one woman. They also objected that in my letter to Mu'awiyah I wrote my name as "Ali bin Abi Talib" (and not Commander of the Believers). Yet when Suhayl bin Amr came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) at Hudaybiyah to make peace, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) dictated: "Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)." Suhayl said: "Do not write Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim." He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Then how should I write?" He said: "Write: Bismika Allahumma (In Your name, O Allah)." So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Write that." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Write: This is from Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah." He said: "Had we known that you are the Messenger of Allah, we would not have opposed you." So he (peace and blessings be upon him) dictated: "This is the peace which Muhammad bin Abdullah has made with Quraysh." Allah says in His Book: "Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example, for whoever hopes in Allah and the Last Day" [Surah Al-Ahzab: 21] .' Then Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) sent Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) to them, and I went with them. When we reached the middle of their camp, Ibn al-Kawwa stood up and said to the people: 'O bearers of the Qur'an, this is Abdullah bin Abbas. Whoever does not know him, I will tell him in the light of the Book of Allah: he is among those about whom Allah said: "Rather, they are a quarrelsome people" [Surah Al-Zukhruf: 58] . So send him back to his companion and do not put the Book of Allah before him.' But their preachers stood up and said: 'By Allah, we will certainly put the Book of Allah before him; if he brings the truth, we will recognize it, and if he brings falsehood, we will silence him with his falsehood and send him back.' So for three days the Book of Allah was put before them, as a result of which four thousand people repented, among them Ibn al-Kawwa, and they came to Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). Then Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) sent word to the rest of them: 'You have seen what happened between us and the people. Now stay wherever you wish until the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) agrees upon something. Between us and you is this covenant: as long as you do not block the roads, shed blood or kill anyone, we will not raise weapons against you; but if you do that, we will declare open war against you. Indeed, Allah does not love the treacherous.'" Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked: "O Ibn Shaddad, did Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) (eventually) kill them?" I said: "By Allah, he did not attack them until they had blocked the roads, shed blood unjustly, martyred Ibn Khabbab, and regarded the ahl al-dhimmah (non-Muslim citizens) as fair game." She asked: "By Allah, truly?" I said: "By Allah, besides whom there is no god!" She asked: "What is this that has reached me from the people of Iraq, that they talk about Dhu al-Thudayyah, 'the man with the small breast'?" I said: "I saw him, and I stood with Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) by his body among the slain. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) called the people and asked: 'Do you know him?' Most people said: 'I saw him praying in such-and-such mosque.' Apart from that, no firm identification came forward." She asked: "What did Ali say when he stood over him (his body), as the people of Iraq claim?" I said: "I heard him say: 'Sadaqa Allahu wa rasuluhu' (Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth)." She asked: "Did you hear anything besides that?" I said: "No." She said: "True, Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth. May Allah have mercy on Ali; it was his habit that whenever he saw something that pleased him, he would say: Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it, except for the mention of Dhu al-Thudayyah, which Imam Muslim recorded with many chains.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Malik bin al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with him); he said: I was present with Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) on the day of the Battle of Nahrawan. He searched for "al-Mukhdaj" (the deformed Khariji) but could not find him; his forehead began to sweat (from intense worry) and he became very distressed. Then, when he finally found him, he fell down in prostration and said: "By Allah, I have not lied, nor have I been told a lie (that is, the news given by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) proved true)." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it with the mention of the prostration of gratitude; and it is a gharib (singular) and sahih report on the subject of the prostration of gratitude.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that some wealth came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) began distributing it with his blessed hand to the right and to the left. Among those present was a man wearing garments raised high, bearing distinctive marks, and between his eyes (on his forehead) was the mark of prostration. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kept extending his hand right and left, giving out the wealth until it was finished. When the wealth was finished, that man turned his back and walked away, saying: By Allah, you have not acted justly today. The narrator said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) began turning his palms over and said: "If I do not act justly, then who will act justly after me? Listen! Soon a group will emerge who will pass out of the religion as an arrow passes right through the game; then they will not return (to the religion) until the arrow returns to its notch. They will recite the Qur'an, but it will not go beyond their throats; they will speak very well, but their deeds will be bad. Whoever meets them should fight them, for whoever kills them has the best reward, and whoever is killed by them has the best martyrdom. They are the worst of all creation; Allah is free of them. They will be killed by that one of the two groups which is closer to the truth." This hadith is sahih (authentic), but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it with this context. Abd al-Malik bin Abi Nadrah is one of the rare narrators among the Basrans, and to my knowledge I have no other hadith through him that reached me with so high (short) a chain as this one.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him): I was present at the Battle of Siffin. (The way of the people of truth was that) they would not strike a wounded man again (to finish him off), nor kill one who turned his back and fled, nor strip the belongings of anyone slain. This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain of narration on this subject.

It is narrated from Yazid bin Dubay'ah al-Absi; he said: On the day of the Battle of the Camel, when the people had retreated (in defeat), the announcer of Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) called out: Beware! No wounded person is to be killed, nor is anyone fleeing to be struck down, and whoever lays down his weapons is safe. The narrator said: This (leniency) was hard on us. It also has a sahih (authentic) supporting report (shahid).