I had been deeply taken with the views of the Khawarij. So we set out as a group of considerable number, intending to perform the Hajj and then revolt against the people.He said, We passed through Medina, and there was Jabir bin Abdullah seated by a pillar, narrating to the people from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He happened to be mentioning those who would be brought out of Hellfire.I said to him, "Companion of the Messenger of Allah, what is this you are saying? Allah says, 'Our Lord, indeed whoever You admit to the Fire, You have disgraced him, and for the wrongdoers there are no helpers' [Aal Imran 3:192], and 'Every time they want to get out of it from anguish, they will be returned to it, and taste the punishment of the Burning Fire' [Hajj 22:22]. So what is this that you are saying?"He asked, "Do you recite the Quran?"I said, "Yes."He said, "Have you heard of the station of Muhammad ?" meaning the station to which Allah will raise him.I said, "Yes."He said, "It is the praiseworthy station of Muhammad ﷺ through which Allah will bring out whomever He brings out."He continued, describing how the bridge will be set in place and people will pass over it. He said, "I fear I may not have preserved that part exactly. But he stated that a people will come out of the Fire after having been in it." Meaning, they come out looking like charred sesame stalks. Then they enter one of the rivers of Paradise and bathe in it, emerging as white as sheets of paper.So we returned and said to one another, "Woe to you, do you really think this old man would lie about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?" We turned back, and by Allah, not one of us went through with it except a single man, or as Abu Naeem said.
كنت قد شغفني رأي من رأي الخوارج فخرجنا في عصابة ذوي عدد نريد أن نحج، ثم نخرج على الناس. قال: فمررنا على المدينة فإذا جابر بن عبد الله يحدث القوم- جالس إلى سارية- عن رسول الله ﷺ. قال: فإذا هو قد ذكر الجهنميين. قال: فقلت له: يا صاحب رسول الله، ما هذا الذي تحدثون؟ والله يقول: {إنك من تدخل النار فقد أخزيته وما للظالمين من أنصار} [آل عمران: ١٩٢]. و {كلما أرادوا أن يخرجوا منها من غم أعيدوا فيها وذوقوا عذاب الحريق} [الحج: ٢٢] فما هذا الذي تقولون؟ قال: أتقرأ القرآن؟ قلت: نعم. قال: فهل سمعت بمقام محمد عليه السلام؟ (يعني الذي بعثه الله فيه). قلت: نعم. قال: فإنه مقام محمد ﷺ المحمود الذي يخرج الله به من يخرج. قال: نعم لعث ووضع الصراط وبر الناس عليه. قال: وأخاف أن لا تكون أحفظ ذلك. قال: غير أنه قد زعم أن قوما يخرجون من النار بعد أن يكونوا فيها. قال: يعني فيخرجون كأنهم عيدان السماسم. قال: فيدخلون نهرا من أنهار الجنة، فيغتسلون فيه، فيخرجون كأنهم القراطيس. فرجعنا قلنا: ويحكم، أترون الشيخ يكذب على رسول الله ﷺ؟ فرجعنا، فلا والله ما خرج منا غير رجل واحد، أو كما قال أبو نعيم.
Muslim narrated it in the Book of Faith (191:320) from Hajjaj bin Shayr, who said, Fadl bin Dukayn told us, Abu Asim told us, meaning Muhammad bin Abu Ayub, who said, Yazid the Jurist told me, and then he related it.His saying, "It preoccupied me," means it occupied my heart with one of the views of the Kharijites, namely their claim that those who commit major sins remain in the Fire forever, and that whoever enters it never comes out.His saying, "Then we would go out among the people," means openly displaying the doctrine of the Kharijites.His saying, "As if they were sesame stalks" is the plural of sesame, the well known plant from which sesame oil is extracted. It has also been said that the word is a corruption of "sesame stalks," referring to black wood like ebony.His saying, "As if they were sheets of paper" is the plural of parchment, the sheet on which one writes. He compared them to sheets of paper because of the intense whiteness of their skin after they had washed and the blackness that had been on them had disappeared. This explanation is from Nawawi.His saying, "So we returned, and by Allah, none of us left except one man," means we returned from our pilgrimage without adopting the view of the Kharijites. Rather, we refrained from it and repented of it, except for one man among us, who did not agree with us in refraining from it.Abu Naeem here is Fadl bin Dukayn, the teacher of Muslim's teacher.