The account of the incident that occurred with 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud and the Khawarij, who said to him, "By Allah, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, we do not desire anything but good."

The Shaykh : They said, "By Allah, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, we did not intend anything but good." And it is true that the innovators, these people, except for the schemers among them, intend good. But "You hope for salvation but do not follow its paths, until the end of it". So the answer of Ibn Mas'ud was, "How many are those who desire good but do not attain it." Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) told us . He said—the witness to the story—, "We certainly saw those people fighting us on the Day of al-Nahrawan." That is, they became among the Khawarij who rebelled against the Rightly Guided Caliph 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. The point is... they raised their voices with glorification, takbir, and praise. They took what had an absolute basis in the Shari'ah and qualified it. So Ibn Mas'ud denied this qualification for them because of this.