—the Messenger of Allah went out to the Banū Qurayẓah, passed by us in the likeness of Dihyah, and ordered us to arm ourselves; and the second was at the funeral ground on the day we returned from Ḥunayn. I walked past while he was speaking with the Prophet ﷺ and did not give the greeting. Gabriel said, “Who is this, O Muḥammad?” He replied, “Ḥārithah ibn al-Nuʿmān.” Gabriel said, “He is one of the hundred who stood firm at Ḥunayn, whose provision Allah has guaranteed in Paradise; had he offered the greeting, we would have returned it to him.” (1)
It is also related with a broken chain that Ḥārithah later lost his sight. He fixed a cord from his prayer spot to his room and kept beside him a basket containing dates and other food. Whenever a beggar saluted him, he would take something from the basket, follow the cord to the doorway, and hand it to the beggar. His family would say, “We can do that for you.” He would answer, “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘Passing something directly to a beggar protects one from an evil death.’” (2)
(1) Ibn Saʿd, vol. 3, p. 488, records the report without an isnad. Al-Tabarani also transmits it (no. 3225) through Muhammad b. ʿImran b. Abi Layla, who said: “My father narrated to me from Ibn Abi Layla, from al-Hakam, from Miqsam, from Ibn ʿAbbas.”
Only Ibn Hibban declared ʿImran b. Muhammad reliable, while his father is of weak memory. Nevertheless, al-Haythami cites the report in Majmaʿ al-zawaʾid, 9/314, attributing it to al-Tabarani and al-Bazzar, and concludes: “Its chain is hasan; all the transmitters are regarded as trustworthy, though a few are disputed.”
Ahmad (5/433) and al-Tabarani (no. 3226) also relate it through ʿAbd al-Razzaq – Maʿmar – al-Zuhri – ʿAbd Allah b. ʿAmir b. Rabiʿa – Haritha b. Nuʿman, who said: “I passed by the Messenger of Allah while Jibril was sitting with him in the courtyard. I greeted him and went on. When I returned, the Prophet asked, ‘Did you see the one who was with me?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He replied, ‘That was Jibril, and he returned your greeting.’” The isnad is sahih. Al-Haythami lists it in Majmaʿ al-zawaʾid, 9/313, credits Ahmad and al-Tabarani, and notes: “Its narrators are all those of the Sahih.”
(2) Reported by Ibn Saʿd, 3/488, and al-Tabarani, 3/258, through Ismaʿil b. Abi Fudayk, who said: “Muhammad b. ʿUthman narrated to me from his father, that Haritha b. Nuʿman…”
Al-Haythami comments in Majmaʿ al-zawaʾid, 3/112: “Its chain contains transmitters I do not know.”