It is reported that ‘Imrān b. Husayn – Allāh be pleased with him – was once relating hadīth amongst a group of people, when a man said:
Leave this and give us something from the Book of Allāh. ‘Imrān said, “You are a dunce (stupid). Do you find in the Book of Allāh details of prayer. Do you find in the Book of Allāh details of fasting!? This Qur`ān prescribes those matters, and the Sunnah explains them.”
Al-Harawī, Dham Al-Kalām article 244, et al with various wordings.
It is reported that ‘Abdullāh b. Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
I asked my father, “Who are the [real] people?” He replied, “The [real] people are none but those who say ḥaddathanā and akhbaranā (those who report ḥadīth).”
Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-‘Ilm article 3438.
It is reported that Abū ‘Ubaydah b. Al-Jarrāḥ – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
O people! Yes, I am a man from Quraysh, but there is not a white man (literally: red), nor a black man amongst you who exceeds me in righteousness (taqwā) except that I wish I was in his skin.
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 1:18.
It is reported that Mufaddal b. Muhalhal – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
If the heretic started mentioning his bid’ah right at the beginning of the sitting, you would be on your guard and flee from him, but what he does is begin by mentioning ḥadīth from the Sunnah. Then, he slips his bid’ah in on you. It might then stick to your heart; but when will it leave your heart?
Ibn Battah, Al-Ibānah Al-Kubrā, 2:444.
Imām Sa’īd b. Al-Musayyib – Allāh have mercy on him – once saw a man praying more than two rak’ah after sunrise the beginning of Fajr, making many bows and prostrations, and so he forbade him. The man said, “O Abu Muḥammad, is Allāh going to punish me for praying?” Sa’īd said, “No, but He will punish you for contradicting the Sunnah.”
Al-Bayhaqī, As-Sunan Al-Kubraa 2:466. graded ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Al-Albānī. See Irwā Al-Ghalīl 2:236.
Shaykh Al-Albānī writes:
This is one of the superb answers given by Sa’īd b. Al-Musayyib – Allāh have mercy on him. It is a strong weapon against heretics (mubtadi’ah) who recommend many different types of religious innovation in the name of them being dhikr and prayer. They then criticize the followers of the Sunnah for criticizing them, and accuse them of censuring dhikr and prayer, when in fact [Ahl Al-Sunnah] are only criticizing the contravention of the Sunnah in matters such as dhikr and prayer.
It is reported that Khālid b. Ma’dan – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Whoever seeks praise by going against the truth, Allāh will throw it back upon him as blame, and whoever faces blame in order to conform to the truth, Allāh will return it as praise for him.
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 4:540.
It is reported that Al-A’mash – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
They (the Salaf) never used to ask about [the religious condition of ] a man after knowing three things about him: where and upon whom he entered, where and with whom he walked, and the close company he kept.
Meaning: Knowing these things about a man is more than sufficient for knowing whether he is following the right path on the Sunnah or not.
Ibn Battah, Al-Ibānah article 419.
It is reported that Al-Dahhāk said:
How surprising it is that the companions of ʿAbdulāh (ibn Mas’ūd) are looking now to see where the sun rises from. Do they not know that when Fajr comes from a direction, the sun rises from the same?
It is reported that Jundub b. ʿAbdillāh Al-Bajalī said:
I once sought permission to see Ḥudhayfah three times without being given permission. So I left, but his messenger caught up with me. [When I spoke to Ḥudhayfah] he asked, “What made you leave?” I replied, “I thought you were sleeping (after Fajr).” He said, “I do not sleep until I see where the sun rises from.” [The narrator] said, “I related this to Muḥammad (another narrator), to which he said, ‘More than one of the Companions of Muḥammad – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him – did this.’”
Ibn Abī Shaybah, Kitāb Al-Adab articles 156 and 157.
Ḥudhayfah b. Al-Yamān – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
The munāfiqūn (hypocrites) amongst you today are worse than those in the time of Allāh’s Messenger – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him.
He was asked, “How is that o Abū ʿAbdillāh”?
He replied:
Because those [in the time of the Prophet] used to hide their nifāq (hypocrisy), whereas the hypocrites of today commit [hypocrisy] openly.
Al-Bukhārī, Al-Ṣaḥīḥ hadith 7113.
It is reported that ‘Umar b. Al-Khattāb came out one Eid. Passing by a group of women, he could smell the scent of perfume from one of them. He asked, “Who is the one wearing this scent? By Allāh, if I knew who she was, I would do such-and-such (punish her). A woman is only to wear perfume for her husband, and if she goes out, she wears her older (scruffier) clothes or the older clothes of her servant.” And so it was rumoured amongst the women that the woman [who was wearing perfume in public] got up from that gathering having soiled herself (out of fear).
Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf article 6387.