It is narrated from Tawus; he said: Hujr bin Qays al-Madari was among those especially devoted to the service of the Commander of the Believers, Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him). One day Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: "O Hujr! After me you will be made to stand up and ordered to curse me; then curse me, but do not declare disassociation from me." Tawus said: Then I saw that Ahmad bin Ibrahim, the representative of the caliph of the Umayyads, made Hujr al-Madari stand in the congregational mosque and set a guard over him, that he would either curse Ali or be killed. So Hujr said: "Listen! The Amir Ahmad bin Ibrahim has ordered me to curse Ali, so curse him (the one who gave the order); may Allah curse him." Tawus said: "Allah had blinded their (the oppressors') hearts, so that none of them could understand what Hujr had actually said."

It is narrated from Masruq; he said: I recited this verse in the presence of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him): "Indeed, Ibrahim was an ummah (a nation), devoutly obedient." [Surah al-Nahl: 120] Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Indeed, Mu'adh (bin Jabal) was an ummah, devoutly obedient." The narrator said: The people repeated the verse to him, and he repeated his statement. Then he said: "Do you know what an ummah is? The ummah is the one who teaches people good, and the qanit (devoutly obedient) is the one who obeys Allah and His Messenger." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), and they did not record it.