—set out during the year of al-Hudaybiyyah with a little over one thousand of his Companions. When he reached Dhu al-Hulayfah he garlanded and marked the sacrificial animals and there entered the state of ihram. Al-Bukhari recorded this report.

Shuʿbah narrated—through ʿAmr ibn Murrah, who heard Ibn Abi Awfa, one of those who witnessed the Pledge of Ridwan—who said, “We were that day one thousand three hundred, and the tribe of Aslam constituted one-eighth of the Emigrants.” Muslim collected it, and al-Bukhari cited it in suspended form in his Sahih.

Husayn ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman related—from Salim ibn Abi al-Jaʿd, from Jabir—who said, “Had we been one hundred thousand, it would have sufficed us; we were fifteen hundred.” Agreed upon.

Al-Aʿmash, however, reported—from the same Salim, from Jabir—that he said, “We were fourteen hundred, the People of the Tree.” This version is likewise agreed upon.

It appears that Jabir was speaking approximately: perhaps they were a full fourteen hundred plus a few he did not reckon, or fifteen hundred minus a few he did not reckon. The Arabs often do this, as may be seen in their differing accounts of the Prophet’s age—sometimes including in the count both the year in which he was born and the year in which he passed away, and at other times counting only the complete years and disregarding the fractional months.

This is clarified by what Qatadah reported: “I asked Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib, ‘How many witnessed the Pledge of Ridwan?’ He said, ‘Fifteen hundred.’ I said, ‘Yet Jabir said they were fourteen hundred.’ He replied, ‘May Allah have mercy on you, he erred. He himself related to me that they were fifteen hundred.’” Al-Bukhari recorded this.

ʿAmr ibn Dinār said: I heard Jabir ibn ʿAbd Allah say, “On the day of Hudaybiyyah we were one thousand four hundred.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to us, “You are the best people on earth.” Both al-Bukhari and Muslim transmitted this through the narration of Ibn ʿUyaynah.

Al-Layth narrated—from Abu al-Zubayr, from Jabir—“On the day….”