Arabic (Original)
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْمُغِيرَةِ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا الْأَوْزَاعِيُّ حَدَّثَنِي قَتَادَةُ عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ وَأَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ وَقَدْ حَدَّثَنَاهُ أَبُو الْمُغِيرَةِ عَنْ أَنَسٍ عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ ثُمَّ رَجَعَ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ سَيَكُونُ فِي أُمَّتِي خِلَافٌ وَفُرْقَةٌ قَوْمٌ يُحْسِنُونَ الْقِيلَ وَيُسِيئُونَ الْفِعْلَ يَقْرَءُونَ الْقُرْآنَ لَا يُجَاوِزُ تَرَاقِيَهُمْ يَحْقِرُ أَحَدُكُمْ صَلَاتَهُ مَعَ صَلَاتِهِمْ وَصِيَامَهُ مَعَ صِيَامِهِمْ يَمْرُقُونَ مِنْ الدِّينِ مُرُوقَ السَّهْمِ مِنْ الرَّمِيَّةِ لَا يَرْجِعُونَ حَتَّى يَرْتَدُّوا عَلَى فُوقِهِ هُمْ شَرُّ الْخَلْقِ وَالْخَلِيقَةِ طُوبَى لِمَنْ قَتَلَهُمْ وَقَتَلُوهُ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى كِتَابِ اللَّهِ وَلَيْسُوا مِنْهُ فِي شَيْءٍ مَنْ قَاتَلَهُمْ كَانَ أَوْلَى بِاللَّهِ مِنْهُمْ قَالُوا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَا سِيمَاهُمْ قَالَ التَّحْلِيقُ.
English Translation
Abu al-Mughirah told us, he said: al-Awza’i told us, Qatadah told me, from Anas ibn Malik and Abu Sa’id al-Khudri - and Abu al-Mughirah had told it to us from Anas from Abu Sa’id, then he traced it back to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him - who said: "There will be dissension and division within my nation: a people who speak well but act badly, who recite the Qur’an but it does not pass beyond their collarbones. One of you will regard his own prayer as insignificant compared to theirs, and his fasting compared to theirs. They will pass out of religion as an arrow passes through its target, never to return, until they turn back upon the notch of the arrow. They are the worst of creation and created beings. Blessed is he who kills them and who is killed by them. They call to the Book of Allah but have no share of it. Whoever fights them is closer to Allah than they are." They said, "O Messenger of Allah, what is their mark?" He said, "Shaving of the head."