It is also said that he carried the banner of his clan on ʿAlī’s side at the Battle of Ṣiffīn.
Sīmāk ibn Ḥarb narrated—through Alqamah ibn Wāʾil, from his father—that he once came as a delegate to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—who granted him a tract of land and dispatched Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān with him to point it out.
He related: “Muʿāwiyah said to me, ‘Let me ride behind you.’ I replied, ‘Someone like you does not ride pillion.’ He then said, ‘Give me your sandals.’ I replied, ‘Walk in the shade of the camel instead.’
“Later, when Muʿāwiyah became caliph, I visited him. He seated me beside him on the couch and reminded me of that incident. I said to myself, ‘If only I had carried him in front of me.’ (1)
I say: All of the remaining compilers of the Six Books, except al-Bukhārī, transmitted his reports.
123 – Abū Wāqid al-Laythī, al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAwf * (ʿ)
A Companion of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
Al-Bukhārī and others record his full name as al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAwf.
Abu Dawud (no. 723) records it in the Book of Prayer, chapter “Raising the hands in prayer,” and al-Tahawi (1/151) transmits it through the chain of Muhammad ibn Juhadah: ʿAbd al-Jabbar ibn Wail ibn Hujr related, “I was a boy who could not yet grasp my father’s prayer.” He continued, “ʿAlqamah ibn Wail ibn Hujr told me from his father: ‘I prayed with the Messenger of Allah. Whenever he pronounced the takbir he would raise his hands, wrap his cloak around himself, clasp his left hand with his right, and place both hands inside his garment. When he intended to raise his head from rukuh (bowing), he would raise his hands; then he would prostrate, placing his face between his two palms. Each time he lifted his head from sujud (prostration) he again raised his hands, and he did so until he finished the prayer.’” The chain of transmission is sound.
(1) The chain is hasan (reliable) because of Samak ibn Harb. It is also found in the Musnad (6/399) through the route of Hajjaj, from Shubah, from Samak ibn Harb with the same wording.
(*) Further sources: Musnad Ahmad 5/217; Ibn Maʿin’s Tarikh, no. 731; Khalifah’s Tabaqat, p. 29; al-Bukhari, al-Tarikh al-Kabir 2/58; Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Jarh wa-l-Taʿdil 3/82; al-Tabarani, al-Muʿjam 3/274; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak 3/531; Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istiʿab 4/1774; Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-Ghabah 6/325; al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-Kamal, no. 1656; and others.