Sahih Muslim 2461
صحيح مسلم#2461Sahihحَدَّثَنِي عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ الْقَوَارِيرِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ الزُّبَيْرِ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ حَبِيبِ بْنِ أَبِي ثَابِتٍ، عَنِ الضَّحَّاكِ الْمِشْرَقِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي حَدِيثٍ ذَكَرَ فِيهِ قَوْمًا يَخْرُجُونَ عَلَى فُرْقَةٍ مُخْتَلِفَةٍ يَقْتُلُهُمْ أَقْرَبُ الطَّائِفَتَيْنِ مِنَ الْحَقِّ .
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) that a group (Khawarij) would emerge from the different parties (the party of Hadrat 'Ali and the party of Amir Mu'awiya), the group nearer the truth between the two would kill them
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
Every narration in Sahih Muslim is accepted as Sahih (authentic) by the established status of the book.
In-book reference: 12:198