Grading: (1) Its chain is da'if due to the weakness of al-Khadir bin Aban al-Hashimi. Although he has been corroborated, the corroboration is of no benefit, because Abu Isra'il (Isma'il bin Khalifah) also has weakness. Moreover, there is disagreement over it from al-Hakam (Ibn Utaybah) in both chain and text, as will be explained.

Reference / Source: Al-Khatib (2/ 503) narrated it via the route of Muhammad bin Umayrah al-Nakha'i, and al-Rafi'i (1/ 193) via the route of Asbat and Malik bin Isma'il, all three from Abu Isra'il, from al-Hakam.

Reference / Source: Ahmad bin Hanbal narrated in "al-'Ilal" (462) (in the recension of his son Abdullah), and via his route Abu Bakr al-Khallal in "al-Sunnah" (726), as did al-Uqayli in "al-Du'afa'" (1/ 201), Ibn Adi in "al-Kamil" (1/ 239) and al-Khatib in "Tarikh Baghdad" (7/ 24), from Umayyah bin Khalid, who said: I said to Shu'bah: Abu Shaybah narrated to us from al-Hakam, from Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Layla, that he said: "Seventy men of the people of Badr were present at Siffin." Shu'bah said: "By Allah, he has lied. I discussed that with al-Hakam, and we discussed it in his house, and we did not find anyone of the people of Badr who was present at Siffin except Khuzaymah bin Thabit."
Important point: Al-Dhahabi, after citing it in "al-Mizan", said: "Glory be to Allah! Was Ali not present at it? Was Ammar not present at it?"

Grading: Several historians and biographers have mentioned that it is narrated from Habbah bin Juwayn al-Urani (who is weak and an extremist in Shi'ism) that eighty Badris were with Ali at Siffin. Al-Dhahabi said in "al-Mizan" (in the biography of Habbah): "This is impossible."

Technical note / Defect ('illah): Mughlatay quoted al-Saji as saying: "The weakness of Habbah al-Urani is shown by his claim that eighty Badris were with Ali, although they are well known and their number is fixed and recorded in the books of biography." We say: It is not unlikely that al-Hakam took this from Habbah, since he has narrations from him. And Allah knows best.

Important point: Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said in "Minhaj al-Sunnah" (6/ 236): "It is said that Sahl bin Hunayf and Abu Ayyub (from among the Badris) were present at it."

Reference / Source: It is narrated from Muhammad bin Sirin with a sahih chain to him: "The fitnah broke out while the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) numbered ten thousand, yet not even a hundred of them took part in it; indeed they did not reach thirty." Ahmad narrated it in "al-'Ilal" (4787), and via his route Abu Bakr al-Khallal in "al-Sunnah" (728), from Isma'il Ibn Ulayyah, from Ayyub, from Ibn Sirin. It will come at (8562) via the route of Ma'mar bin Rashid, from Ayyub, from Ibn Sirin, in the wording: "Not even forty men of them hastened to it." Ibn Taymiyyah said in "Minhaj al-Sunnah" (6/ 236): "This chain is among the most authentic chains on the face of the earth. Muhammad bin Sirin was among the most scrupulous of people in his speech, his mursal reports are among the most authentic mursal reports, and his statement is close to the truth, for scarcely a hundred can be named."