among the soundest chains of transmission (1) on the face of the earth. Muhammad ibn Sīrīn was [among] (2) the most scrupulous of people in his speech, and the reports he transmitted directly from the Prophet without naming a Companion are among the soundest such reports.

Abd Allāh said: My father narrated to us:

(* Ismāīl narrated to us: Mansūr ibn Abd al-Rahmān narrated to us, saying: Al-Shabī said:

“No Companion of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—took part in the Battle of the Camel except Alī, Ammār, Talhah, and al-Zubayr. If they can produce a fifth, then I am a liar.”

Abd Allāh ibn Ahmad said: My father narrated to us (3) *), Umayyah ibn Khālid narrated to us, saying:

Shubah was told, “Abū Shaybah narrated from al-Hakam, from Abd al-Rahmān ibn Abī Laylā, who said: ‘Seventy men who had fought at Badr were present at Siffīn.’”

He replied, “By Allah, he lied! I discussed this with al-Hakam, and we reviewed it in his house, but we found no one who had fought at Badr to have been present at Siffīn except Khuzaymah ibn Thābit.”

I say: This denial demonstrates how few took part in it. It has been said that Sahl ibn Hunayf and Abū Ayyūb were also present. Ibn Sīrīn’s statement is close to the mark (4), for scarcely anyone puts their number at one hundred.

Ibn Battah narrated from Bukayr ibn al-Ashajj, who said:

“Indeed, some men who had fought at Badr remained in their homes after Uthmān was killed and never left them again except for their graves.”