Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 7522 — I was in Damascus when they brought some

Shahr bin Hawshab (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I was in Damascus when they brought some heads and placed them on the steps of the mosque of Damascus. I saw Sayyiduna Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) weeping, so I said to him: "O Abu Umamah, what has made you weep?" He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Soon there will be people in my Ummah who will recite the Qur'an, but it will not go beyond their throats. They will scatter it as poor-quality dates are scattered. They will pass out of the religion as an arrow passes through the game, and then they will not return to it until the arrow returns to its notch. They will be the worst of those slain beneath the sky. Glad tidings to the one who kills them and the one whom they kill."