Bayhaqi 16886 — Those who said about the apostate: He is asked

Harithah bin Mudarrib (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I prayed the Fajr prayer with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him). When he finished with the salam, a man stood up and told him that he had gone to the mosque of Banu Hanifah, the mosque of Abdullah bin al-Nawwahah, and heard their muezzin bearing witness in this way: "He bears witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Musaylimah the Liar is the Messenger of Allah," and that he found the people of the mosque upon the same. Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Who is here? A group jumped up, and he said: Bring Ibn al-Nawwahah and his companions to me. They were brought while I was sitting there, and Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Ibn al-Nawwahah: Where is the Qur'an that you used to recite? He said: I used to shield myself from you with it. He said: Repent. He refused, so he ordered Sayyiduna Qarazah bin Ka'b al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him), who took him out to the marketplace and struck off his head. Then I heard Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) say: Whoever would like to see Ibn al-Nawwahah lying slain in the marketplace, let him go out and look at him. Harithah said: I was among those who went out, and he had been stripped. Then Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) consulted the people about the rest of that group, and Sayyiduna Adi bin Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) advised him to kill them. Then Sayyiduna Jarir and Sayyiduna Ash'ath (may Allah be pleased with them both) stood up and said: No; rather, ask them to repent and make their clans guarantors for them. So he asked them to repent, they all repented, and he made their clans guarantors for them.