Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2547
حَدَّثَنَا مَحْمُودُ بْنُ غَيْلاَنَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو دَاوُدَ، أَنْبَأَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ أَبِي إِسْحَاقَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ عَمْرَو بْنَ مَيْمُونٍ، يُحَدِّثُ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ، قَالَ كُنَّا مَعَ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي قُبَّةٍ نَحْوًا مِنْ أَرْبَعِينَ فَقَالَ لَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " أَتَرْضَوْنَ أَنْ تَكُونُوا رُبُعَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ " . قَالُوا نَعَمْ . قَالَ " أَتَرْضَوْنَ أَنْ تَكُونُوا ثُلُثَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ " . قَالُوا نَعَمْ . قَالَ " أَتَرْضَوْنَ أَنْ تَكُونُوا شَطْرَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ إِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ لاَ يَدْخُلُهَا إِلاَّ نَفْسٌ مُسْلِمَةٌ مَا أَنْتُمْ فِي الشِّرْكِ إِلاَّ كَالشَّعْرَةِ الْبَيْضَاءِ فِي جِلْدِ الثَّوْرِ الأَسْوَدِ أَوْ كَالشَّعْرَةِ السَّوْدَاءِ فِي جِلْدِ الثَّوْرِ الأَحْمَرِ " . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ . وَفِي الْبَابِ عَنْ عِمْرَانَ بْنِ حُصَيْنٍ وَأَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abdullah ibn Masud reported: ‘We were with the Prophet in a tent, about forty of us, when he asked, “Would you be pleased to make up a quarter of the people of Paradise?” We said, “Yes.” He asked, “Would you be pleased to make up a third of the people of Paradise?” We said, “Yes.” He asked, “Would you be pleased to make up half of the people of Paradise? Only a Muslim soul will enter Paradise. Compared with the people of idolatry, you are like a single white hair on the hide of a black bull, or a single black hair on the hide of a red bull.”’ Abu Isa graded this hadith hasan sahih and noted related reports from Imran ibn Husayn and Abu Saeed al-Khudri.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic says there were approximately forty people in the tent; ‘about forty’ preserves the approximate number.
The comparison to a single hair conveys the small proportion of Muslims among those practicing idolatry; the wording is kept close to the Arabic.