Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3229
حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ حُجْرٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ، عَنْ زُهَيْرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ، عَنْ رَجُلٍ، عَنْ أَبِي الْعَالِيَةِ، عَنْ أُبَىِّ بْنِ كَعْبٍ، قَالَ سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَنْ قَوْلِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى : ( وأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ ) قَالَ " عِشْرُونَ أَلْفًا " . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ غَرِيبٌ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ubayy ibn Ka‘b said: I asked the Messenger of Allah about Allah Most High’s words, ‘And We sent him to a hundred thousand, or more’ (Qur’an 37:147). He replied, ‘Twenty thousand.’ Abu ‘Isa said: This is a gharib hadith.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Left the Prophet’s brief answer as ‘Twenty thousand,’ without making explicit whether the figure is an addition to the hundred thousand, as the Arabic does not state that in the reply itself.