The Fitnah from Najd
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) said, “What I fear most from my ummah are misguiding leaders. If they obey them, they are a fitnah by them, and if they disobey them, they are killed by them.” This is recorded by Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ( r.a. ), in his Musnad ; by Imam Abu Muhammad ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahman ad-Darimi ( r.a. ); by Imam Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn Dawud ath-Thayalisi ( r.a. ); by Qadhi Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Salamah al-Qudha’i ( r.a. ); by Imam Abu al-Qasim Sulayman ibn Ayyub ath-Thabarani ( r.a. ), in his Mu’jam al-Kabir ; and Qadhi Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn ‘Amr adh-Dhahhak ibn Abu ‘Aaswim ash-Shaybani ( r.a. ). Similar versions were also recorded by Imam Abu ‘Isa Muhammad ibn ‘Isa as-Sulami at-Tirmidzi ( r.a. ), Imam Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn al-Ash’ats as-Sijistani ( r.a. ), Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Husayn al-Bayhaqi ( r.a. ), Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Yazid ibn Majah ( r.a. ), Qadhi Abu Ya’la Muhammad ibn al-...