Holding to the community, and the prohibition of breaking away from the Ummah and fighting it

Rib'i bin Hirash narrates: I came to Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) in al-Mada'in. This was in the days when the people were marching against Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Rib'i, what have your people done?" I said: "Which of them are you asking about?" He said: "Those of them who have gone out to this man." Rib'i says: I named some men who had gone out to him. Then Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Whoever separates from the Jama'ah and seeks to humiliate the authority of the ruler will come before Allah Almighty in such a state that he will have no face before Allah Almighty (or: he will have no reward)."
This narration has been recorded by Imam Ahmad, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyidah Asma' bint Yazid (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: Sayyiduna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) used to serve the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When he had finished serving the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he would come to the mosque and lie down there; the mosque was his home. Once the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came into the mosque at night and found Sayyiduna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) asleep in the mosque. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) nudged him with his foot, and he sat up straight. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do I not find you asleep?" He said: "O Messenger of Allah! Where else should I sleep? Do I have any home other than this?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sat down beside him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "What will be your state when people expel you from here?" He said: "In that case I will go to Syria, for Syria is the land of emigration, the land of the Gathering and the land of the prophets; I will become one of its people." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "What will become of you when they expel you from Syria too?" He said: "In that case I will come back; this will be my home and my dwelling." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What will become of you when they expel you from here a second time?" He said: "In that case I will take up my sword and start fighting until I die." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) looked at him with a smile, patted his hand and said: "Shall I not guide you to something better than that?" He said: "Yes, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of Allah!" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Wherever they send you, go there; wherever they drive you, go there, until you come to meet me while you are in that very state."
This narration has been recorded by Imam Ahmad. Its chain contains one narrator, Shahr bin Hawshab, and he is da'if (weak), although he has also been declared trustworthy.

Sayyiduna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited this verse: "Whoever fears Allah Almighty, Allah Almighty will make a way out for him, and will provide for him from where he does not even imagine; and whoever puts his trust in Allah Almighty, then Allah Almighty is sufficient for him." (Sayyiduna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates:) The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) kept repeating this verse before me until I began to doze. Then he said: "O Abu Dharr, what will you do when you are expelled from Madinah?" I said: "I will go towards ease and comfort; I will go and become one of the pigeons of the Haram" (that is, I will settle in Makkah). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What will you do when you are expelled from Makkah?" I said: "I will go towards ease and comfort, to Syria and the Holy Land." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What will you do when you are expelled from there?" Sayyiduna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "In that case, by the One who sent you with the truth, I will place my sword upon my neck." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Better than that is that you listen and obey, even if (the ruler giving the command) is an Abyssinian slave." (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: the last part of this narration is recorded in the Sahih, and its first part is recorded in Ibn Majah.
This narration has been recorded by Imam al-Tabarani, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except that Abu Salil Durayb bin Nufayr did not live in the time of Sayyiduna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him).

Sayyiduna Amir bin Rabi'ah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever dies in a state in which he owes obedience to no one dies the death of the Days of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah). And if he removes it (obedience) after having tied it around his neck, then when he comes before Allah Almighty he will have no argument. Beware, no man should be alone with a (non-mahram) woman, for the third with them will be Satan, unless (the woman's) mahram is present, in which case the ruling is different. Satan is with the one, and he is further away from two. Whoever is grieved by his bad deed and pleased by his good deed is a believer."
This narration has been recorded by Imam Ahmad, Imam Abu Ya'la and Imam al-Bazzar. Imam al-Tabarani has also recorded it; in one of his narrations the wording is: "after he has tied that obedience around his neck." The chain of this narration contains one narrator, Asim bin Ubaydullah, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Each prayer is an expiation for what lies between it and the prayer before it, except for three matters." The narrator says: We realised that some new ruling had come. (The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:) "Except for associating partners with Allah, breaking the bargain (al-safqah), or abandoning the Sunnah." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said (or the narrator said): "As for breaking the bargain, it is that you give your pledge of allegiance to a man and then set out to fight him with your sword; and abandoning the Sunnah means leaving the Jama'ah (the united community)." (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: part of it is recorded in the Sahih.
This narration has been recorded by Imam Ahmad. Its chain contains one narrator who has not been named.

Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Shall I not tell you about your best rulers and your worst rulers?" The people said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah!" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The best of them are those who are best for you: those whom you love and who love you, for whom you pray to Allah Almighty and who pray to Allah Almighty for you. And the worst of them are those who are worst for you: those whom you hate and who hate you, against whom you pray to Allah Almighty and who pray to Allah Almighty against you." The people said: "O Messenger of Allah! Should we not fight them?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No. As long as they fast and pray, leave them as they are."
This narration has been recorded by Imam al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and something similar in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains one narrator, Bakr bin Yunus, whom Ahmad al-Ijli declared thiqah (trustworthy), while Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) and Abu Zur'ah declared him da'if (weak); the remaining narrators of this narration are the narrators of the Sahih.

Zayd bin Wahb narrates: In the time of Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him), the people objected to something done by the governor of that time. A man came into the great mosque of the city, making his way through the people, until he reached Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him), who was sitting in a circle at the time. He stood over him and said: "O Companion of the Messenger of Allah, will you not command what is right and forbid what is wrong?" Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) raised his head and understood what he meant. Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: "Commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong is a good deed, but it is not part of the Sunnah that you take up arms against your ruler."
This narration has been recorded by Imam al-Bazzar. Its chain contains one narrator, Habib bin Khalid, whom Ibn Hibban declared thiqah (trustworthy). Abu Hatim says: he is not strong.

Sayyiduna Jabalah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever separates from the Jama'ah by a hand-span has separated from Islam."
This narration has been recorded by Imam al-Bazzar. Its chain contains one narrator, Muhammad bin Ubaydullah al-Arzami, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever separates from the Jama'ah by a hand-span (here the narrator is in doubt about one word) has removed the noose of Islam from his neck. Whoever dies in a state in which there is no imam over him, his death is the death of the Days of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah). And whoever dies under the banner of partisanship (asabiyyah), calling to partisanship or supporting partisanship, his killing will be a killing of the Days of Ignorance."
This narration has been recorded by Imam al-Bazzar and by Imam al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains one narrator, Khulayd bin Da'laj, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Whoever gives a pledge of allegiance and then breaks it, when he comes before Allah Almighty, his right hand will not be with him."
(Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: another hadith (on this subject) besides this one is also reported from this Companion.
This narration has been recorded by Imam al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains one narrator, Musa bin Sa'd, and he is majhul (unknown).

Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah bin Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever dies with no imam over him dies the death of the Days of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah)."
This narration has been recorded by Imam al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains one narrator, al-Abbas bin al-Hasan al-Qantari, and I do not know him; its remaining narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Al-Ashtar narrates: Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) mentioned that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to them: "Indeed, the hand of Allah Almighty's mercy is with the Jama'ah, and the one who stands alone is with Satan. The root of truth is in Paradise, and the root of falsehood is in Hell."
(Allamah al-Haythami says:) After this he mentioned the complete hadith.
This narration has been recorded by Imam al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and its chain contains a group of narrators whom I do not know.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take care of my Companions for my sake, then those who come after them, then those who come after them. Then lying will become widespread, until a man will give testimony though no testimony was asked of him, and a man will swear an oath though no oath was asked of him; he will spend himself in exchange for false speech. Whoever wishes to live in the middle of Paradise should stay with the Jama'ah, for the hand of Allah Almighty's mercy is upon the Jama'ah. Satan is with one person, and he is further away from two. No man should be alone with a (non-mahram) woman, for the third with the two of them will be Satan. And whoever is grieved by his bad deed and pleased by his good deed is a believer."
This narration has been recorded by Imam al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains one narrator, Abdullah bin Ibrahim bin Abdullah bin Khalid al-Missisi, and he is matruk (abandoned). Hadiths of this kind have already passed in the chapter before this one.