He departed Madinah in the month of Ramadan accompanied by ten thousand Muslims. This took place eight and a half years after his arrival in Madinah, and he conquered Mecca with thirteen nights of Ramadan still remaining.

Al-Bayhaqī relates (1) through ʿAbd al-Razzaq, from Maʿmar, from al-Zuhrī, from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from Ibn ʿAbbās, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out in Ramadan with ten thousand of the Muslims, fasting until he reached al-Kadīd, whereupon he broke his fast.

Al-Zuhrī commented, “One acts only on the most recent precedent.” He also said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered Mecca at dawn with thirteen nights of Ramadan already elapsed.” He then attributed this report to “the two Ṣaḥīḥs” through the channel of ʿAbd al-Razzaq—and Allah knows best.

Al-Bayhaqī also narrates (2) through Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Tanūkhī, from ʿAṭiyyah ibn Qays, from Qazaʿah ibn Yaḥyā, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ informed us of our departure in the Year of the Conquest when two nights of Ramadan had passed. We set out fasting until we reached al-Kadīd, where the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered us to break the fast. The next morning the people were of two groups—some fasting, others not. When we reached the encampment where we were to meet the enemy, he again commanded us to break the fast, and so we all broke it.”

Imām Aḥmad has likewise transmitted it (3) from Abū al-Mughīrah, from Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, who said: “ʿAṭiyyah ibn Qays narrated to me—from someone who told him—on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī…” and he gave the substance of the above report.

I (the author) say: On al-Zuhrī’s reckoning that the Conquest occurred on the thirteenth of Ramadan, and on Abū Saʿīd’s report that they left Madinah on the second of the month, their march between Mecca and Madinah would have taken eleven nights.

Yet al-Bayhaqī (4) transmits—through Abū al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faḍl, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar, Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān, al-Ḥasan ibn al-Rabīʿ, Ibn Idrīs, Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq—from al-Zuhrī, Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatādah, ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Bakr and others, who all said: “The Conquest of Mecca took place with ten nights remaining in the month of Ramadan, in the eighth year.”

Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī (5) said: Wuhayb narrated to us, from Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, from his father, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, who said: