The story of Ibn Mas'ud with those who were using pebbles for dhikr, 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 asked them, "Has Abu 'Abd al-Rahman come out?" They said, "No." Abu 'Abd al-Rahman is the kunya of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud—peace be upon you. He sat and waited until he came out, and then said: "O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, I saw something in the mosque just now that I disapproved of, and praise be to Allah, I saw nothing but good." Pay attention now to Abu Musa's words: "I saw in the mosque something I disapproved of, I disapproved of it, and yet I saw nothing but good." How is that? He asked, "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 was a man saying to those around him: 'Recite tasbih so many times, recite takbir so many times, recite tahmid so many times.'" 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 waiting for your command." He said, "Did you not disapprove of them and order them to count their sins, and did you not guarantee for them that nothing of their good deeds would be lost?" Then Ibn Mas'ud returned to his house and went out veiled, so that nothing of him was visible except his eyes, until he entered the mosque and saw the circles as Abu Musa had described them to him. 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 for you that nothing of your good deeds will be lost. Woe to you! How quickly you will be destroyed! These are his garments (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 (may Allah send prayers and blessings upon him and his family), or you are clinging to the tail of misguidance." They said, "By Allah, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, we intended nothing but good!" He said, "How many are there who intend good but do not attain it? Indeed, Muhammad (may Allah send prayers and blessings upon him and his family) told us: . The narrator of the story said: "And we certainly saw those individuals fighting us on the Day of al-Nahrawan, meaning: from the people of the circles, i.e., the dervishes who recite an innovated dhikr. They rebelled against 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, and they became among the Khawarij, so 'Ali fought them and uprooted their roots, and only a few individuals escaped from them. And so, this 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 (Mighty and Majestic) said: ."
The hadith has more, but we will suffice with this for now... and peace be upon you.