Dhu’th-Thudayyah
Question

                Who was Dhu’th-Thudayyah?
Praise be to Allah.
      Dhuth-Thudayyah’s full name was Hurqoos ibn Zuhayr al-Bajali. He was one 
      of the Khawaarij (Khaarijites) who rebelled against Ameer al-Mu’mineen 
      ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), spread mischief in the land and shed 
      blood that it was forbidden to shed. ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) 
      fought them at the battle of an-Nahrawand and killed them; none of them 
      escaped except a few. 
The 
    Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) urged the 
    believers to fight them. The first of them was Dhu’l-Khuwaysirah at-Tameemi, 
    who told the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): 
    Be fair! And Dhu’th-Thudayyah was the last of them. 
 He was a 
    very dark black man, who had a foul odour and a deformed arm; there was only 
    an upper arm, with no forearm, and at the end of his upper arm there was 
    something like a nipple on which there were some white hairs. 
They (the 
    Khawaarij) are the ones concerning whom the Messenger of Allah (blessings 
    and peace of Allah be upon him) said: 
    “Among the progeny of this man will be people who will recite 
    the Qur’an, but it will not go any further than their throats. They will 
    pass through Islam as an arrow passes through the prey. They will kill the 
    people of Islam and leave the idol-worshippers alone. If I live to see them, 
    then I will certainly kill them like ‘Aad (i.e., as ‘Aad were destroyed).”. 

    Dhu’th-Thudayyah was the sign of these people; he was the sign of fitnah 
    (turmoil) and a symbol of mischief and evil. 
When ‘Ali 
    (may Allah be pleased with him) and the believers who were with him fought 
    them, he asked them to look for this man among the slain, and they found 
    him. ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and those who were with him 
    rejoiced greatly at that, and ‘Ali prostrated to Allah in gratitude. 
al-Bukhaari 
    (3610) and Muslim (1064) narrated that Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allah be 
    pleased with him) said: Whilst we were with the Messenger of Allah 
    (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and he was sharing out some 
    wealth, Dhu’l-Khuwaysirah, a man from Banu Tameem, came to him and said: O 
    Messenger of Allah, be fair! The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of 
    Allah be upon him) said: “Woe to you! Who will be fair if I am not fair? You 
    will be doomed and lost if I am not fair.” ‘Umar said: O Messenger of Allah, 
    give me permission to strike his neck. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and 
    peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Let him be, for he has companions, in 
    comparison to whose prayer one of you would regard his prayer as 
    insignificant, and he would regard his fasting as insignificant in 
    comparison to their fasting. They recite the Qur’an but it does not go any 
    further than their collarbones. They will pass out of the faith as an arrow 
    passes out of the prey. Their sign will be a black man, one of whose upper 
    arms will be like a woman’s breast, or like a piece of quivering flesh. They 
    will emerge when there is division among the people.” 
Abu Sa’eed 
    said: I bear witness that I heard this hadeeth from the Messenger of Allah 
    (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and I bear witness that ‘Ali ibn 
    Abi Taalib fought them when I was with him. He ordered that that man be 
    sought, and he was found and brought; I looked at him and saw that he was 
    just as the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) 
    had described him. 
According to 
    another report narrated by them (al-Bukhaari and Muslim): 
    “Among the progeny of this man will be 
    people who will recite the Qur’an, but it will not go any further than their 
    throats. They will pass through Islam as an arrow passes 
    through the prey. They will kill the people of Islam and 
    leave the idol-worshippers alone. If I live to see them, then I will 
    certainly kill them like ‘Aad (i.e., as ‘Aad were destroyed).” 
It was 
    narrated that Naafi‘ ibn Maslamah al-Akhnasi said: Dhu’th-Thudayyah was a
    man 
    from (the clan of) ‘Arnah from (the tribe of) Bajeelah. He was a very dark 
    black man who had a foul odour. He was well-known among the troops, and 
    before that he used to accompany us. 
Al-Bidaayah 
    wa’n-Nihaayah, 7/289 
Ibn al-Atheer 
    (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

    Dhu’th-Thudayyah – thudayyah 
    is the diminutive of thadiy (breast nipple) And may be taken as meaning a 
    piece of a breast. 
An-Nihaayah, 
    1/592 
Muslim 
    (1066) narrated from ‘Ubaydah as-Salmaani, from ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased 
    with him) that he mentioned the Khawaarij and said: and said: Among them is 
    a man with a defective arm, or a small arm. I would tell you what Allah 
    promised on the lips of Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) 
    to those who kill them. I said: Did you hear that from Muhammad (blessings 
    and peace of Allah be upon him)? He said: Yes, by the Lord of the Ka‘bah; 
    yes, by the Lord of the Ka‘bah; yes, by the Lord of the Ka‘bah.
Muslim 
    (1066) and Abu Dawood (4768) narrated that Salamah ibn Kuhayl said: Zayd ibn 
    Wahb al-Juhani told me that he was 
He was in 
    the army that was with ‘Ali and went out to fight the Khawaarij. ‘Ali said: 
    O people, I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be 
    upon him) say: “There will appear some people among my ummah who will recite 
    the Qur’an and your recitation will not compare to theirs, and your prayer 
    will not compare to theirs, and your fasting will not compare to theirs. 
    They will recite the Qur’an and you will think that it is to their credit 
    but in fact it will count against them. Their prayer will not go any deeper 
    than their collar bones and they will pass out of Islam as an arrow passes 
    out of the prey. If the army that attacks them knew what has been decreed 
    for them on the lips of their Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon 
    him), they would have relied on their deeds. The sign of that is that among 
    them there is a man who has an upper arm but no forearm, and on his upper 
    arm there is something like a nipple with white hairs on it. Would you go to 
    Mu’aawiyah and the people of Syria, and leave these people in charge of your 
    families and wealth in your absence?  By Allah, I hope that they are the 
    same people, for they have shed blood unlawfully and attacked the people’s 
    cattle. March in the name of Allah. 
Salamah ibn 
    Kuhayl said: Zayd ibn Wahb described to me the stops (made by the army) 
    until he said: then we crossed a bridge, and when we met (the Khawaarij), 
    who were being led that day by ‘Abd-Allah ibn Wahb al-Raasibi, he (‘Abd-Allah) 
    said to (his men): Throw your spears and draw your swords from their 
    sheaths, for I am afraid that they may urge you to negotiate as they did on 
    the day of Haroora’. So they threw their spears and unsheathed their swords, 
    and (the companions of ‘Ali) fought back with their spears, and they (the 
    Khawaarij) were killed and piled up one on top of another, but only two of 
    the people (i.e., the companions of ‘Ali) were killed that day. ‘Ali said: 
    Search among them for the one with the deformed hand. But they did not find 
    him. Then ‘Ali himself went to some people who had been killed and were 
    lying on top of one another. They took them out and found him among those 
    who were closest to the ground (at the bottom of the pile). He said takbeer 
    and said: Allah spoke the truth and His Messenger conveyed it. ‘Ubaydah al-Salmaani 
    stood up and said: O Ameer al-Mu’mineen, by Allah besides Whom there is no 
    other god, did you hear this from the Messenger of Allah (blessings and 
    peace of Allah be upon him)? He said: Yes, by Allah besides Whom there is no 
    other god – until he asked him to swear three times and he did so. 
Then Abu 
    Dawood narrated that Abu’l-Wadee’ said: It is as if I can see him, an 
    Abyssinian wearing a shirt, one of his hands like a woman’s nipple with 
    hairs on it like the hairs on the tail of a jerboa. 
Classed as 
    saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood. 
Ahmad (850) 
    narrated that Taariq ibn Ziyaad said: We went out with ‘Ali to fight the 
    Khawaarij, and he killed them then he said: Look, for the Prophet of Allah 
    (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said that there would emerge 
    people who would speak of the truth but it would not go past their throats; 
    they will pass out of the truth as the arrow passes out of the prey. The 
    sign is that one of them will be a black man with a deformed arm, with some 
    black hairs on his arm. If it is him, then you have killed the worst of 
    people, and if it is not him, then you have killed the best of people. And 
    we wept, then he said: Look. So we looked and we found the deformed man, and 
    we fell down in prostration and ‘Ali fell down in prostration with us. 
This hadeeth 
    has several isnaads; see al-Irwa’, 2/231 
Al-Haafiz 
    (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 
It was 
    narrated that Abu Maryam said: Indeed that deformed man was with us in the 
    mosque, and he was a poor man. I gave him a burnous of mine to wear and I 
    saw him attending meals with ‘Ali. He had on his arm something like the 
    breast of a woman, with a nipple on its end like the nipple of a breast, 
    with something on it like the whiskers of a cat. Both reports were narrated 
    by Abu Dawood. 
At-Tabari 
    narrated it at length via Abu Maryam. In it, it says: Before that, ‘Ali used 
    to tell us that some people would appear and the sign would be a man with a 
    deformed arm. I heard that from him many times until I saw him – meaning the 
    deformed man – not wanting to eat with ‘Ali because he often heard that from 
    him. And in it, it says: Then he instructed his companions to look for the 
    deformed man, so they looked for him but they could not find him until a man 
    came and told him: We have found him beneath two slain men in a ditch. 
According to 
    the report of Aflah: ‘Ali said: Which of you recognises this man? One of the 
    people said: We recognise him; this is Hurqoos. 
According to 
    the report of ‘Aasim ibn Shamkh, Abu Sa‘eed said: Ten of the Companions of 
    the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) told me that ‘Ali 
    said: Look for the sign that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of 
    Allah be upon him) spoke of, for I have never told lies and I will never 
    tell lies. He (that man) was brought, and ‘Ali praised and thanked Allah 
    when he recognised the sign. In the report of Abu Bakr, the freed slave of 
    the Ansaar, from ‘Ali, there were seven nipples around it. In that report it 
    states that the people were upset after the killing of the people of the 
    river, but ‘Ali said: I do not think but he was one of them. They found him 
    on the bank of the river, beneath the slain. ‘Ali said: Allah and His 
    Messenger spoke the truth. The people rejoiced when they saw his body, and 
    what they had been feeling disappeared. 
End quote 
    from Fath al-Baari, 12/298 
For more 
    information on the sect of the Khawaarij (Kharijites), please see the answer 
    to question no. 182237. 
And Allah 
    knows best.