"My paternal uncle Anas bin An-Nadr - after whom I was named - did not participate in the battle of Badr with the Messenger of Allah (SAW). This distressed him and he said: 'I was absent from the first battle which the Messenger of Allah (SAW) attended. By Allah! If Allah gives me the opportunity to participate in another battle along with the Messenger of Allah (SAW), then Allah will see what I will do!'" He said: "He did not want to say more than that. A year later, he attended the battle of Uhud, where he saw Sa'd bin Mu'adh and said: 'O Abu 'Amr where are you going?' He said: 'I long for the fragrance of Paradise and I have found it near the mountains of Uhud.' He fought them until he was killed. They found more than eighty wounds on his body, be they from blows of a sword, puncture wounds, or arrows. My paternal aunt Ar-Ruba'i bin An-Nadr said: 'I could not recognize my brother except by his finger tips.' And this Ayah was revealed: 'Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah; of them some have fulfilled their vow, and some of them are still waiting, but they have never changed in the least (33:23).'"

My uncle Anas bin An- Nadr (May Allah be pleased with him) was absent from the battle of Badr. He said: "O Messenger of Allah! I was absent from the first battle you fought against the pagans. (By Allah!) if Allah gives me a chance to fight against the pagans, no doubt, Allah will see how (bravely) I will fight." On the Day of Uhud, when the Muslims turned their backs and fled, he said, "O Allah! I apologize to You for what these (i.e., his companions) have done, and I denounce what these (i.e., the pagans) have done." Then he advanced and Sa'd bin Mu'adh met him. He said: "O Sa'd bin Mu'adh! By the Rubb of An-Nadr, Jannah! I am smelling its aroma coming from before (the mountain of) Uhud," Later on, Sa'd said: "O Messenger of Allah! I cannot achieve or do what he (i.e., Anas bin An-Nadr) did. We found more than eighty wounds by swords, spears and arrows on his body. We found him dead and his body was mutilated so badly that none except his sister could recognise him by his finger." We used to think that the following Ayah was revealed concerning him and other men of his sort: "Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah (i.e., they have gone out for Jihad, and showed not their backs to the disbelievers), of them some have fulfilled their obligations (i.e., have been martyred)." (33:23).

I was with my master `Ali bin Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) when the people of an-Nahrawan were killed, and it was as if the people were upset about their being killed. `Ali (رضي الله عنه) said: O people, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) told us about people who would pass out of the faith like the arrow passes through the prey, then they will never come back to it until the arrow comes back to the string of the bow. And the sign of that is that there would be a black man among them who had a deformed arm: one of his arms would be like the breast of a woman, with a nipple like the nipple on a woman`s breast, around which are seven coarse hairs. Look for him, for I think he must be among them. So they looked for him and they found him on the bank of the river, lying beneath the slain. They brought him out and ’Ali (رضي الله عنه) said: Allahu Akbar! Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth. He was holding an Arabian bow of his; he took it in his hand and started poking the man`s deformity with it and said: Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth. The people said Allahu Akbar when they saw that and they rejoiced and no longer felt upset.

When the Khawarij rebelled and fought in An-Nahrawan, ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) stood before his companions and said: These people have shed blood that it is forbidden to shed and have raided the flocks of the people. They are the closest of the enemy to you, but if you go to your enemy, I am afraid that these people may attack what you leave behind. I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: `Some rebels will emerge from my ummah, your prayer will be as nothing compared to their prayer, and your fasting will be as nothing compared to their fasting, and your recitation will be as nothing compared to their recitation. They will recite the Qur`an, thinking that it is in their favour, but it will be against them; it will go no further than their throats. They will pass out of Islam as the arrow passes out of the prey. The sign of that is that among them will be a man who has an upper arm but no forearm, and on it will be something like the nipple of a breast, on which will be some white hairs.` If the army that fights them knew what reward they will have, as spoken on the lips of their Prophet (ﷺ), they would cease striving and rely on that. March forth in the Name of Allah. And he narrated the hadeeth at length.

I wanted to meet one of the Prophet’s companions to ask him about the Kharijites. Meeting Abu Barza al-Aslami along with some of his companions on a festival day, I asked him whether he had heard God’s Messenger mentioning the Kharijites, and he replied that he had both heard him with his ears and seen him with his eyes. He told that God’s Messenger was brought some property and divided it, giving something to those on his right and those on his left, but giving nothing to those who were behind him. One of those behind him, a black man whose hair was completely cut off and who was wearing two white garments, then said, "You have not divided justly, Muhammad.” God's Messenger became very angry and said, “I swear by God that after my death you will not find a man more just than I am,” adding, “At the end of time people looking like this man will come forth, reciting the Qur'an, but it will not pass their throats. They will swerve from Islam as an arrow passes through the game at which is it shot, and their distinguishing mark will be shaving. They will continue to come forth till the last of them comes forth with the antichrist. When you meet them they will be the worst of men and beasts.” Nasa’i transmitted it.