Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2956
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ بْنُ حُمَيْدٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّزَّاقِ، عَنْ مَعْمَرٍ، عَنْ هَمَّامِ بْنِ مُنَبِّهٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي قَوْلِهِ : (ادْخُلُوا الْبَابَ سُجَّدًا ) قَالَ " دَخَلُوا مُتَزَحِّفِينَ عَلَى أَوْرَاكِهِمْ " . وَبِهَذَا الإِسْنَادِ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلمَ : (فَبَدَّلَ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا قَوْلاً غَيْرَ الَّذِي قِيلَ لَهُمْ ) قَالَ " قَالُوا حَبَّةٌ فِي شَعْرَةٍ " . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah explained Allah’s words, ‘Enter the gate prostrating’ (Qur’an 2:58): ‘They entered crawling on their haunches.’ Through the same chain, regarding the words, ‘But those who did wrong changed the word they had been told’ (Qur’an 2:59), the Prophet said, ‘They said, “A grain in a hair”’ (habbah fi sha‘irah), distorting the command they had been given. Abu ‘Isa graded this hadith hasan sahih.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The first explanation describes entering while crawling on their haunches, not literal prostration. The phrase habbah fi sha‘irah is a mocking distortion of the commanded word hittah (‘relieve us’/‘forgive us’); the English witness transliterates it as ‘a seed in barley.’