The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "What I fear most for my community are the misleading leaders."
قال رسول الله ﷺ: إنما أخاف على أمتي الأئمة المضلين.
Reported by Abu Dawud (4252), Tirmidhi (2229), Ibn Majah (3952), and Ahmad (22393), and Ibn Hibban (7238) graded it sahih. All of them narrated it through Abu Qilaba, from Abu Asma, from Thawban, within a longer hadith, and Ahmad, at this point, quoted only this wording. Its chain of transmission is sahih. Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan sahih hadith."Something similar has been narrated from Umar, Abu Darda, Abu Dharr, and others, and Ahmad recorded their hadiths. Their chains of transmission are not free of some criticism, but taken together they strengthen the meaning of the hadith.