This is a sound hadith with a verified chain of transmission (isnad). In one version, he said: "There will emerge a people at the end of time, young in age, foolish in minds, who say the best of words (16) of creation. They recite the Quran, but it does not pass beyond their throats. They pass through the religion as an arrow passes through the prey. So wherever you encounter them, kill them; for in killing them is a reward for those who kill them on the Day of Resurrection." Recorded by Al-Bukhari (17). Its meaning has been narrated through various channels. It states: "Just as this arrow came out clean, empty of blood and excrement, with nothing of them attached to it (18), such is the exit of these people from the religion," meaning the Khawarij. From Abu Umamah, it is narrated that he saw heads mounted on the steps of the Mosque of Damascus, and he said: "Dogs of the Fire, the worst of those killed beneath the canopy of the sky; the best of those killed are those whom they have killed." Then he recited: {On the Day when some faces will turn white and some faces will turn black} (19) until the end of the verse. It was said to him: Did you hear this from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him? He replied: "If I had not heard it except once, or twice, or three times, [or four] (20) — until he counted seven — I would not have narrated it to you" (21). Al-Tirmidhi said: This is a hasan (good) hadith. It was recorded by Ibn Majah, on the authority of Sahl, from Ibn 'Uyaynah, from Abu Ghalib, that he heard Abu Umamah saying: "The worst of those killed who were killed beneath the canopy of the sky, and the best of the killed are those whom"