Hadith: A people who recite the Qur’an beautifully will emerge from the progeny of this (man), but it will not go beyond their throats. They will go out of the religion just as the arrow goes out of the game

عن أبي سعيد الخدري رضي الله عنه قال: بعَث عليُّ بن أبي طالب رضي الله عنه إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم مِن اليَمَن بذُهَيْبة في أدِيمٍ مَقْرُوظ، لم تُحَصَّل من تُرَابِها، قال: فقَسَّمها بين أَربعَة نَفَر، بين عُيَيْنة بن بدر، وأقْرَع بنِ حَابِس، وزَيدِ الخَيل، والرابع: إِمَّا عَلقَمَة وإمَّا عَامِر بنُ الطُّفَيل، فقال رجل مِن أَصحَابه: كُنَّا نحْن أحق بهذا من هؤلاء، قال: فبلغ ذلك النبيَّ -صلَّى الله عليه وسلم- فقال: «ألا تَأْمَنُونِي وأنا أمينُ مَن في السَّماءِ، يَأْتِينِي خبرُ السماءِ صباحًا ومساءً»، قال: فقام رجلٌ غائِرُ العَيْنَيْنِ، مُشْرفُ الوَجْنَتين، ناشِزُ الجَبْهة، كَثُّ اللِّحيَة، مَحْلُوقُ الرَّأس، مُشَمَّر الإزار، فقال يا رسولَ الله اتَّق الله، قال: «وَيْلَك، أَوَلَسْتُ أحقَّ أهلِ الأرض أن يتَّقِيَ الله» قال: ثم ولَّى الرَّجلُ، قال خالد بن الوليد: يا رسول الله، ألا أضرِبُ عُنُقَه؟ قال: «لا، لَعَلَّه أنْ يكون يُصَلِّي» فقال خالد: وكَم مِن مُصَلٍّ يقول بلسانِه ما ليس في قلبِه، قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : «إني لم أومَرْ أنْ أُنَقِّبَ عن قلوب الناس ولا أَشُقَّ بطونَهم» قال: ثم نظر إليه وهو مُقْفٍ، فقال: «إنه يخرج من ضِئضِئ هذا قومٌ يتلونَ كتابَ اللهِ رَطْبًا، لا يُجَاوِز حَنَاجِرَهم، يَمْرُقون من الدِّين كما يَمْرُق السَّهْمُ مِن الرَّمِيَّة»، وأظنه قال: «لئن أدركتُهم لأَقْتُلَنَّهُم قَتْلَ ثمودَ».
[صحيح] - [متفق عليه]

Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: ‘Ali ibn Abi Tālib (may Allah be pleased with him) sent to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) some gold alloyed with clay in a leather bag dyed in the leaves of Mimosa flava from Yemen. He distributed it among four men; ‘Uyayna ibn Badr, Aqra‘ ibn Hābis, Zayd al-Khayl, and the fourth one was either ‘Alqamah or ‘Āmir ibn At-Tufayl. A person from among the Prophet's Companions said: 'We had a better claim to this (wealth) than these (persons).' This remark reached the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) to which he said: 'Do you not trust me, whereas I am a trustee of the One Who is in the heaven? Revelation comes to me from the heavens morning and evening.' Then, a man with deep sunken eyes, prominent cheek bones, an elevated forehead, a thick beard, a shaven head, and his loincloth tucked up stood up and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, fear Allah.' The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Woe to you. Am I not the worthiest to fear Allah among all the people upon the face of this earth?' Then the man left. Khālid ibn al-Walīd then said: 'O Messenger of Allah, should I not strike his neck?' The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'No, perhaps he observes the prayer.' Khālid said: 'How many are those people who pray and profess with their tongue what is not in their heart?' Upon this, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'I have not been commanded to pierce through the hearts of people, nor to split their bellies (insides).' He again looked at him as he was going away and said: 'A people who recite the Qur’an beautifully will emerge from the progeny of this (man), but it will not go beyond their throats. They will go out of the religion just as the arrow goes out of the game.' I believe that he said: 'If I find them, I will kill them as the people of Thamood were killed.'"
[Authentic hadith] - [Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim]

Explanation

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) sent ‘Ali ibn Abi Tālib to Yemen to call the people to Islam, to collect Zakah from those who had to pay it, and to judge between disputing parties. This was before the Farewell Hajj. Then ‘Ali returned from Yemen and met the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) in Makkah during the farewell Hajj. He had sent some pieces of gold that were mixed with dust. It was not pure gold, because it was mixed with dust. So the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) distributed it between those four people mentioned in the Hadīth, hoping that they would accept Islam. They were the leaders of their tribes, and if they accepted Islam, the rest of their tribes would follow them. For this reason, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) gave them the gold to attract them to Islam and make their hearts content with Islam. Whoever was Muslim from among them, then he was given that in order to make his faith stronger and keep his faith firm. These pieces of gold were part of the Khumus (one fifth of the war booty allocated to certain parties specified by the Shariah). The scholars held that it was unlikely that the gold belonged to the origin of the booty, and perhaps it was from the money collected from Zakah. So when the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) gave those four men, a man from among the Muslims stood up and said: "We are more deserving to receive that gold than those four?" When the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) heard about this, he said: "Do you not trust me, while I am entrusted with the revelation from the heavens, I receive revelation from the heavens throughout the day and the night", meaning: Allah trusts me with His message that He sent me with, and you do not trust me, O you who object? And those who are similar to you who have gone astray from the straight path; you do not trust me to distribute the wealth of this worldly life in its rightful place, in accordance with Allah’s commandments. His statement: "The One Who is in the heavens", this is proof of Allah’s elevation over His creation, it means: Allah is above the heavens as the Arabs sometimes use the article "fi" (in) to mean "‘ala" (on/over). Similarly, his statement "In the heavens", means above His throne, above the heavens. This Hadīth is like Allah’s statement (which means): {Do you feel secure that He Who [holds authority] in the heaven would not cause the earth to swallow you and suddenly it would sway? Or do you feel secure that He Who [holds authority] in the heaven would not send against you a storm of stones?} [Sūrat al-Mulk: 16-17] While they were in that state, a man with deep sunken eyes, prominent cheek bones, an elevated forehead, a thick beard, a shaven head, and his loincloth tucked up stood up and said to the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him): "Fear Allah!" So the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) responded: "Woe to you, am I not the worthiest one of fearing Allah the most on the face of this earth?" Meaning: he is the most deserving one to be obedient to Allah, the Almighty, and have fear of Him. It is an aspect of manifest error that someone perceives obedience to be sin. This man who objected to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) thought that what the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) did was a sin and oppression. So he set himself in the position of someone who commands piety and fearing Allah. He said to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him): "Fear Allah!" even though the action of the Prophet was obedience to Allah and one of the best acts of obedience; he was giving that money for the sake of Allah and to support His religion and guide His servants. When the man left, Khālid ibn al-Walīd said: "O Messenger of Allah, let me kill him?" The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No, for perhaps he observes the prayer." Thereupon, Khālid said: "How many are those people who pray and they say with their tongues what is not in their hearts." So the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) responded: "I have not been commanded to investigate or open people’s hearts and stomachs", meaning: I deal with people according to what I see from their apparent actions, and I leave their hidden affairs to Allah, Who knows them and will hold them accountable for them. Another narration mentions that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb was the one who said this. Then the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) looked at that man as he was walking away and said: "A people who recite the Qur’an beautifully will emerge from the progeny of this (man), but it will not go beyond their throats. They will go out of the religion just as the arrow goes out of the game. If I find them, I will kill them as the people of Thamūd were killed." The intended meaning here is to inform that there will be a group of people who will emerge from the progeny of that misguided man. They will follow his way and methodology, they recite the Qur’an easily given their frequent recitation and memorization of it. However, it does not reach their hearts. They do not understand the Qur’an properly, rather they use the Qur’an in places and situations which are not correct because they are misguided and ignorant. Therefore, they leave Islam quickly and easily, without being affected by it, as if they never entered it. This indicates that although they have entered Islam, faith never settled in their hearts, nor did they understand it correctly. Among their characteristics is that they kill the Muslims and leave the disbelievers and the idol worshipers alone. For this reason, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If I find them, I will kill them as the people of Thamūd were killed." Meaning: I will fight them and kill them vehemently, so that none of them will remain.