Sayyiduna Abu Rafi' (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was sleeping, or perhaps revelation was coming down to him. There was a snake in a corner of the house. I did not like to kill it and so wake him, so I lay down between the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the snake, so that if anything happened, it would happen to me and not to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) woke up, he was reciting this verse: "Your ally is none but Allah and His Messenger and those who believe." The narrator says: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Alhamdulillah (All praise is for Allah)." Then, when he saw me at his side, he said: "Why are you lying here?" I said: "Because of this snake." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Get up, go to it and kill it." I killed the snake, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) praised Allah Almighty. Then he took my hand and said: "O Abu Rafi', after me there will be people who will fight Ali. It is binding (upon people) from Allah Almighty that they wage jihad against them. Whoever is unable to wage jihad against them with his hand, let him do so with his tongue; and whoever is unable to do so with his tongue, let him do so with his heart. Beyond that there is nothing."
Al-Tabarani recorded this narration. Its chain contains a narrator, Muhammad bin Ubaydullah bin Abi Rafi', whom the majority declared da'if (weak) and Ibn Hibban declared thiqah (trustworthy), and a narrator, Yahya bin al-Husayn bin al-Furat, whom I do not know. The rest of its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).
Hadith Referenceمجمع الزوائد ومنبع الفوائد / كتاب المناقب / 14764
Hadith Gradingمحدثین:إسنادہ ضعیف
Hadith Takhrij«اخرجه الطبراني فى المعجم الكبير (955) ، أخرجه المعجم الكبير للطبراني برقم: 955»