It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): We used to narrate hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) at a time when lies were not being attributed to him (peace and blessings be upon him), but when people began saying all kinds of things, we stopped narrating hadith from him (peace and blessings be upon him) (out of caution). Likewise, it has another supporting narration (shahid).

It is narrated from Abu Musa al-Ghafiqi that the last instruction the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave us was this: "Hold fast to the Book of Allah. Soon you will go to people who will love to hear hadith from me. So whoever has memorised (something of my words), let him narrate it, and whoever attributes to me what I did not say, let him take his seat in Hell." All the narrators of this hadith are acceptable as evidence. Abu Musa Malik bin Ubadah al-Ghafiqi is a Companion who settled in Egypt. This hadith is among the narrations we have recorded from the Companions with an authentic chain. Two rare phrases are combined in it: one is "You will go to people who will love to hear hadith from me", and the other is "Whoever has memorised, let him narrate". A group of imams hold that a muhaddith should narrate only what he has memorised. The two Shaykhs did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him): People used to ask the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about good, and I used to ask him (peace and blessings be upon him) about evil, for fear that it might overtake me. I said: "O Messenger of Allah, we were in ignorance (jahiliyyah) and evil, and then Allah brought us this good (Islam). Will there be any evil after this good?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, and there will be dakhan (smoke, impurity) in it." I asked: "What is its impurity?" He said: "People who follow a way other than my guidance; some of their ways will be good and some bad." I asked: "Will there be any evil after that good?" He said: "Yes, callers standing at the gates of Hell; whoever responds to their call, they will throw him into it." I said: "O Messenger of Allah, describe them to us." He said: "They will be from our own people and will speak our own language." I said: "What do you command me if I live to see that time?" He said: "Hold fast to the community (jama'ah) of the Muslims and their imam." I said: "And if they have neither a community nor an imam?" He said: "Then separate yourself from all those sects, even if you have to bite on the root of a tree, until death comes to you while you are in that state." This hadith is found in this way in the "Sahihayn" (Bukhari and Muslim), and it is also narrated in abridged form through the narration of Imam al-Zuhri. I have mentioned it here in the Book of Knowledge because I did not find with the two Shaykhs a better proof than this that consensus (ijma') is a binding proof.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) addressed us at al-Jabiyah and said: I stand among you just as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood among us, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I enjoin you (to treat well) my Companions, then those who come after them, then those who come after them. Then lying will spread, until a man will swear an oath without being asked to, and give testimony without being asked to. So whoever among you wants the best and middle part of Paradise (buhbuhah), let him hold fast to the jama'ah (community), for Satan is with the one who is alone, and he is further from two. Beware! No man should be alone with a woman, otherwise Satan is the third of them" (he said this three times) "and hold fast to the jama'ah, for Satan is with the one and is further from two. Know that whoever is pleased by his good deed and grieved by his bad deed, he is the believer." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs, because there is no disagreement among the students of Abdullah bin al-Mubarak in narrating this chain from him, but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), while delivering a sermon at al-Jabiyah, said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood among us just as I stand among you and said: "Accept my advice to treat my Companions well," (and then he mentioned the whole hadith in the same way). This is the first supporting narration (shahid) from Muhammad bin Suqah.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) delivered a sermon at "al-Jabiyah" and said: I have stood among you in the place where the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood (then he mentioned the whole hadith). This is the second supporting narration, from Muhammad bin Suqah. As for the disagreement reported from Abd al-Malik bin Umayr in this hadith, I have compiled it in a separate part (juz'). In my view, the two Shaykhs left it because of that disagreement; yet those chains are not rendered defective by these other chains that lie outside them, and we have narrated it with a sahih chain from Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas from Umar.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) stood at "al-Jabiyah" and said: May Allah have mercy on a man who heard my words and retained them. I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) standing among us just as I am standing, then he said: "Safeguard me with regard to my Companions (their honour), then those who come after them, then those who come after them (he said it three times). Then turmoil will increase and lying will appear; a man will give testimony though his testimony was not sought, and he will swear an oath though no oath was asked of him. Whoever of you wants the very centre of Paradise, let him hold to the Jama'ah (the united body of Muslims), for Satan is with the one who is alone, and he is further from two. Let no man be alone with a woman, for Satan is the third of them. Whoever is pleased by his good deed and grieved by his bad deed, he is a believer." The second hadith by which the scholars argued that consensus (ijma') is a proof is a hadith narrated with disagreement from al-Mu'tamir bin Sulayman in seven ways; the first of them is as follows.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah will never gather this Ummah upon misguidance," and he said: "The Hand of Allah is over the Jama'ah, so follow "al-Sawad al-A'zam" (the great majority), for whoever separates from the Jama'ah goes off alone into Hell." Khalid bin Yazid al-Qarni is an early Shaykh of the people of Baghdad; had he preserved this hadith accurately, we would have judged it sahih.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah will never gather this Ummah upon misguidance, and the Hand of Allah is over the Jama'ah; so whoever separates (from the Jama'ah) falls into Hell." This is the second variation narrated from al-Mu'tamir bin Sulayman.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah will never gather my Ummah upon misguidance." This is the third variation narrated from al-Mu'tamir bin Sulayman.