It is related in an athar in al-Daarimi [210] on the authority of ‘Amr ibn Salamah who said:
We were sitting at the door of ‘Abd-Allah ibn Mas’ood before Fajr prayer, so that if he came out, we could walk with him to the Masjid,, then Abu Moosa al-Ash’ari came to us and said: Has Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan come out to you yet? We said: No.
So he sat with us until he came out, and when he came out we all stood up. Abu Moosa said to him: O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan, just now I saw something in the mosque that I have never seen before, but I do not think it was anything but good. He said: What was it? He said: If you live, you will see it. He said: In the mosque I saw some people sitting in circles waiting for the prayer. In every circle there was a man, and in their hands they had pebbles. He would say: Say Allahu akbar (Allah is Most Great) one hundred times, and they would say Allahu akbar one hundred times. He would say: Say Laa ilaaha ill-Allah (there is no god but Allah) one hundred times, and they would say Laa ilaaha ill-Allah one hundred times. He would say: Say Subhaan-Allah (Glory be to Allah) one hundred times, and they would say Subhaan-Allah one hundred times. He said: What did you say to them? He said: I did not say anything to them; I was waiting to see what you think and I waited for your command. He said: Why did you not tell them to count their bad deeds and guarantee to them that their good deeds would not be wasted? Then he moved on and we moved on with him until he came to one of those circles, and he stood over them and said: What is this that I see you doing? They said: O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan, these are stones with which we count the takbeers (‘Allahu akbar’), tahleel (‘Laa ilaaha illa-Allah’) and tasbeeh (‘Subhaan-Allah’). He said: Count your bad deeds, for I guarantee to you that none of your good deeds will be lost. Woe to you, O ummah of Muhammad! How quickly you have become doomed! His companions are still alive and his cloak has not worn out, and his vessel is not yet broken. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, you are either following a way that is more guided than the way of Muhammad or you are opening the door to misguidance. They said: By Allah, O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan, we intended nothing but good. He said: How many of those who intended good did not achieve it? The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) told us that some people would recite the Qur’an and it would not go any further than their collarbones. By Allah, I do not know, perhaps most of them are from among you. Then he turned away from them
and ‘Amr ibn Salamah said: We saw most of the people of those circles fighting alongside the Khawaarij against us in the battle of Nahrawaan.[1]