Anas said, “I do not find (now-a-days) things as they were (practiced) at the time of the Prophet.” Somebody said “The prayer (is as it was.)” Anas said, “Have you not done in the prayer what you have done?
I asked Anas, “Tell me about the name ‘Al-Ansar.; Did you call yourselves by it or did Allah call you by it?” He said, “Allah called us by it.” We used to visit Anas (at Basra) and he used to narrate to us the virtues and deeds of the Ansar, and he used to address me or a person from the tribe of Al-Azd and say, “Your tribe did so-and-so on such-and-such a day.”
We used to visit Anas bin Malik and he used to talk to us about the Ansar, and used to say to me: “Your people did so-and-so on such-and-such a day, and your people did so-and-so on such-and-such a day.”
Anas said “You people do (bad) deeds (commit sins) which seem in your eyes as tiny (minute) than hair while we used to consider those (very deeds) during the life-time of the Prophet (ﷺ) as destructive sins.”