The statement that the number seventy is not intended in the hadith
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
It is said that the number mentioned regarding the seventy thousand is not intended, just as Allah the Exalted said:[At-Tawbah 9:80] for you. If the number here is not intended, is this analogy correct?
Answer:
If you bring evidence that the number is other than that, we will accept it. But if you do not bring evidence, we are in a state of confusion when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "And I know them." What are these confusions? These are just words and questions about this verse, not a practical matter. So they stopped when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stopped, unless you have other evidence that specifies or adds to this number, in which case there is no harm.
It is said that the number mentioned regarding the seventy thousand is not intended, just as Allah the Exalted said:
If you should ask forgiveness for them seventy times - never will Allah forgive
إِن تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً فَلَن يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُAnswer:
If you bring evidence that the number is other than that, we will accept it. But if you do not bring evidence, we are in a state of confusion when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "And I know them." What are these confusions? These are just words and questions about this verse, not a practical matter. So they stopped when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stopped, unless you have other evidence that specifies or adds to this number, in which case there is no harm.
Source
75-اللقاء الأسبوعي مع الشيخ صالح الفوزان - 22 — archive.org (1:01:19)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.