‘Ubaydullah ibn ‘Abdillah reported: Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “No one narrates a hadith to people who cannot comprehend it except that it will be a tribulation for some of them.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1/9
Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Muslim
Imam Ibn Hajar commented, “Among those who disliked narrating certain reports to some people but not others were: Ahmad, regarding hadith whose apparent meaning suggests rebellion against the ruler; Malik, regarding hadith about the divine attributes. Abu Yusuf, regarding unusual and rare narrations. Before them, there was Abu Huraira, as mentioned previously concerning the ‘two vessels,’ where it was explained that he was referring to the tribulations that would occur. Similar reports are related from Hudhayfah. It is also reported from al-Hasan al-Basri that he disapproved of Anas narrating the story of the ‘Urayniyyun to al-Hajjaj, because al-Hajjaj used it as a means to justify the excessive bloodshed upon which he relied, based on his weak interpretation of it. The governing principle in all of this is: When the apparent meaning of a hadith serves to strengthen a heretical innovation, while that superficial meaning is not actually intended in the first place, then withholding it from those who are feared to take it according to its apparent meaning is appropriate.”
Source: Fatḥ al-Bārī 1/225
عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللهِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ عُتْبَةَ أَنَّ عَبْدَ اللهِ بْنَ مَسْعُودٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ مَا أَنْتَ بِمُحَدِّثٍ قَوْمًا حَدِيثًا لَا تَبْلُغُهُ عُقُولُهُمْ إِلَّا كَانَ لِبَعْضِهِمْ فِتْنَةً
1/9 صحيح مسلم مقدمة باب النهي عن الحديث بكل ما سمع
قال ابن حجر وَمِمَّنْ كَرِهَ التَّحْدِيثَ بِبَعْضٍ دُونَ بَعْضٍ أَحْمَدُ فِي الْأَحَادِيثِ الَّتِي ظَاهِرُهَا الْخُرُوجُ عَلَى السُّلْطَانِ وَمَالِكٌ فِي أَحَادِيثِ الصِّفَاتِ وَأَبُو يُوسُفَ فِي الْغَرَائِبِ وَمِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ كَمَا تَقَدَّمَ عَنْهُ فِي الْجِرَابَيْنِ وَأَنَّ الْمُرَادَ مَا يَقَعُ مِنَ الْفِتَنِ وَنَحْوُهُ عَنْ حُذَيْفَةَ وَعَنِ الْحَسَنِ أَنَّهُ أَنْكَرَ تَحْدِيثَ أَنَسٍ لِلْحَجَّاجِ بِقِصَّةِ الْعُرَنِيِّينَ لِأَنَّهُ اتَّخَذَهَا وَسِيلَةً إِلَى مَا كَانَ يَعْتَمِدُهُ مِنَ الْمُبَالَغَةِ فِي سَفْكِ الدِّمَاءِ بِتَأْوِيلِهِ الْوَاهِي، وَضَابِطُ ذَلِكَ أَنْ يَكُونَ ظَاهِرُ الْحَدِيثِ يُقَوِّي الْبِدْعَةَ وَظَاهِرُهُ فِي الْأَصْلِ غَيْرُ مُرَادٍ فَالْإِمْسَاكُ عَنْهُ عِنْدَ مَنْ يُخْشَى عَلَيْهِ الْأَخْذُ بِظَاهِرِهِ مَطْلُوبٌ وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ
1/225 فتح الباري بشرح البخاري كتاب العلم باب من خص بالعلم قوما دون قوم كراهية أن لا يفهموا
