The story of Ibn Mas'ud with the two who were reciting dhikr with pebbles and his disapproval of them for doing so.

The Shaykh : It is reported in Sunan al-Darimi with a valid chain that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari came to the house of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud one morning—peace be upon you—and found the people waiting for him. He said to them: "Has Abu 'Abd al-Rahman come out?" They said, "No." Abu 'Abd al-Rahman is the kunyah of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud. He sat and waited until he came out, and then he said: "O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, I just saw something in the mosque that I disapproved of, and praise be to Allah, I have not seen anything but good." Pay attention now to Abu Musa's statement: "I saw something in the mosque that I disapproved of. I disapproved of it, and yet I have not seen anything but good. How is that?" He said, "What did you see?" He said, "If you live, you will see it." He said, "I saw people in the mosque in circles, and in the middle of each circle is a man saying to those around him: 'Recite tasbih this much, recite takbir this much, recite tahmid this much.' These are the paths." Ibn Mas'ud said to Abu Musa, "Did you not disapprove of them?" He said, "No, I was waiting for your opinion or your command." He said, "Did you not disapprove of them and order them to count their sins, and did you guarantee them that nothing of their good deeds would be lost...?" Then Ibn Mas'ud returned to his house and went out wearing a hood so that only his eyes were visible, until he entered the mosque and saw the circles as Abu Musa had described them. He said to them, "Woe to you! What is this you are doing? I am 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, a Companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." They said, "By Allah, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, these are pebbles we use to count the tasbih, takbir, and tahmid." He said, "Count your sins, and I am the guarantor that nothing of your good deeds will be lost. Woe to you! How quickly you will be destroyed! These are the garments of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and they have not worn out, and these are his vessels, and they have not been broken, and by Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, you are either more guided than the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), or you are clinging to a sin of misguidance." They said, "By Allah, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, we did not intend anything but good." He said, "And how many are there who intend good but do not attain it? Indeed, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) told us: " The narrator of the story said: "And we certainly saw those individuals fighting us on the Day of al-Nahrawan, meaning those from the circles, i.e., the dervishes who recite dhikr in an innovated manner. They rebelled against 'Ali ibn Abi Talib and became part of the Khawarij, so 'Ali fought them and uprooted their roots, and only a few individuals escaped. And thus, a small innovation leads to a large innovation. All these paths are contrary to the Shari'ah of Allah, because the path that leads to Allah is only the one path, as He the Exalted said: The hadith has more, but we will suffice with this for now...