Narrated to me 'Amr al-Naqid, Abu Bakr ibn al-Nadr, and 'Abd ibn Humayd — and the wording is that of 'Abd — they said: Narrated to us Ya'qub ibn Ibrahim ibn Sa'd, he said: Narrated to me my father, from Salih ibn Kaysan, from al-Harith, from Ja'far ibn 'Abdullah ibn al-Hakam, from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Miswar, from Abu Rafi', from 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "There was no prophet whom Allah sent to a nation before me but that he had from his nation disciples and companions who adhered to his Sunnah and followed his command. Then after them came successors who said what they did not do and did what they were not commanded. Whoever strives against them with his hand is a believer, whoever strives against them with his tongue is a believer, and whoever strives against them with his heart is a believer, and beyond that there is not even a mustard seed's worth of faith."

Abu Rafi' said: So I narrated it to 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, and he rejected it against me. Then Ibn Mas'ud arrived and lodged at Qanah, and 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar asked me to accompany him to visit him. So I went with him, and when we sat down, I asked Ibn Mas'ud about this hadith, and he narrated it to me just as I had narrated it to Ibn 'Umar. Salih said: And something similar to that had been narrated from Abu Rafi'.