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For the first time, the content of this hadith has come in Rijaal al Kishi and Al-Ikhtisaas with different sanad for the first time.

One of the texts is as follows:

عَنْ بُرَیْدِ بْنِ مُعَاوِیَهَ عَنْ أَبِی جَعْفَرٍ علیه السلام قَالَ: ارْتَدَّ النَّاسُ بَعْدَ النَّبِیِّ إِلَّا ثَلَاثَهَ نَفَرٍ: الْمِقْدَادُ بْنُ الْأَسْوَدِ وَ أَبُو ذَرٍّ الْغِفَارِیُّ وَ سَلْمَانُ الْفَارِسِیُّ، ثُمَّ إِنَّ النَّاسَ عَرَفُوا وَ لَحِقُوا بَعْد.

Buraid bin Muawiya narrates from Imam Baqir(as), Imam said:

The people returned(ارتداد) after the Holy Prophet(s.a.w.w), except for three; Miqdad, Abu Dharr and Salman; then the people became aware and joined.

In addition to these narrations in which the word “apostasy of the people” is used, other narrations with the same theme have been quoted in reliable sources such as “Al-Kafi” and “Tafsir Ayashi“.

In the hadith it says the people became مرتد, it doesn’t mean the apostacy which is the terminology used in Fiqh, because in these ahadith it doesn’t say «ارْتَدَّ النَّاسُ عن دنیه» which gives the fiqh terminological meaning, which means that people apostatized (became murtad) in their religion. Rather, apostasy(ارتداد) in these narrations, like many other narrations, means “any type of return”.

But the question that remains here is what belonged to apostasy and in other words what did the companions turn away from?

Apostasy(ارتداد) in these hadiths according to various evidences, refers to the return from the covenants that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w) took from them on various occasions such as Ghadir, and the companions broke the covenant related to it.

The wahhabis bring evidences from Rijal and other books to support the same idea and attack Shiism. But in these ahadith, the meaning of apostasy(ارتداد) is explicit opposition to the orders of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w).

May Allah(swt) grant you success

Wassalam,

Syed Haider