Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim recounted: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Yaʿqūb narrated to us, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaddād, from his father, who said:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came out to us carrying al-Ḥasan—or al-Ḥusayn—in his arms. He stepped forward, set the child down, pronounced the opening takbīr, and entered the prayer. During the prayer he made a prostration and prolonged it; I raised my head and found the boy sitting on his back, so I returned to my prostration. When he concluded the prayer they said, ‘Messenger of Allah, you made that prostration very long!’ He replied, ‘My son was riding on me, and I disliked to hurry him until he had finished what he wanted.’ (1)
I say: Where is the hyper-scrupulous jurist who would censure such an act?
From Salamah ibn Wuhrām, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came out carrying al-Ḥasan on his shoulder. A man said, ‘Young boy, what an excellent mount you are riding!’ The Prophet ﷺ replied, ‘And what an excellent rider he is!’ (2)
It was transmitted by Abū Yaʿlā in his Musnad.
Aḥmad, in his Musnad (3), recorded: Talīd ibn Sulaymān narrated to us, Abū al-Jaḥḥāf narrated to us, Abū Ḥāzim narrated to us, from Abū Hurayrah, who said:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ looked at …”
He transmits this hadith from al-Thawri. Ibn Hibban states in al-Majruhin 3/19: “He reports from al-Thawri narrations that no one else corroborates; it is impermissible to use his reports as evidence, because in everything he relates he contradicts the reliable transmitters.” Ibn Hibban then cited this very hadith.
(1) The chain of transmission is sound. The report is also found in the Musnad 3/493–494 and in al-Nasaʾi 2/229–230 (al-Tatbiq, chapter: ‘Is it permissible for one prostration to be longer than the other?’). A similar wording is transmitted from Anas in Abu Yaʿla, as cited in Majmaʿ al-zawaʾid 9/181.
(2) Al-Tirmidhi (3784) records it through the route of Muhammad ibn Bashshar → Abu ʿAmir al-ʿAqadi → Zamʿah ibn Salih with this same chain. Zamʿah is weak, while the remaining transmitters are trustworthy. Al-Hakim 3/170 deemed it sahih, but al-Dhahabi objected, saying: “I do not concur.”
(3) Also transmitted in 2/442 and, through that route, by al-Tabarani (2621). It appears as well in Tarikh Baghdad 7/137 and al-Hakim 3/149, who graded it hasan; al-Dhahabi agreed. A weak supporting narration that lends it further weight comes from Zayd ibn Arqam, recorded by al-Tirmidhi (3879), Ibn Majah (145), al-Tabarani (2619), and Ibn Hibban (2244).