Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2640
حَدَّثَنَا الْحُسَيْنُ بْنُ حُرَيْثٍ أَبُو عَمَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا الْفَضْلُ بْنُ مُوسَى، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " تَفَرَّقَتِ الْيَهُودُ عَلَى إِحْدَى وَسَبْعِينَ أَوِ اثْنَتَيْنِ وَسَبْعِينَ فِرْقَةً وَالنَّصَارَى مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ وَتَفْتَرِقُ أُمَّتِي عَلَى ثَلاَثٍ وَسَبْعِينَ فِرْقَةً " . وَفِي الْبَابِ عَنْ سَعْدٍ وَعَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو وَعَوْفِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى حَدِيثُ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘The Jews split into seventy-one or seventy-two groups, and the Christians likewise; my community will split into seventy-three groups.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘The hadith of Abu Hurairah is hasan sahih.’ Reports on this topic are also related from Sa‘d, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr, and ‘Awf ibn Malik.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic gives an uncertainty between seventy-one and seventy-two for the Jews and says the Christians split similarly; that ambiguity is retained.