Ibn Jurayj narrated—through a blind man (1)—from ʿAṭāʾ, who said: “Abū Ayyūb travelled to ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir in Egypt to ask him about a hadith; Maslamah met him and embraced him.” (2)
Al-Wāqidī and others said: The Prophet ﷺ passed away when Maslamah ibn Mukhalid was fourteen years old. Al-Bukhārī, al-Dāraqutnī, and Ibn Yūnus affirmed that he was a Companion, while Abū Ḥātim—alone—maintained that he was not. (3)
It is also reported that ʿUmar appointed Maslamah to oversee the alms of the Banū Fizārah.
Al-Layth said: “ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir was removed from the governorship of Egypt in the year 47 AH; Maslamah then governed it until he died during Yazīd’s reign.”
Mujāhid said: “I prayed behind Maslamah ibn Mukhalid; he recited Sūrat al-Baqarah without leaving out so much as a single wāw or alif.”
(1) Abu Saad al-Makki al-Aʿma is an unknown transmitter; no one narrated from him except Ibn Jurayj.
(2) Reported by al-Humaydi in his Musnad (no. 384) and, through his chain, by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi in ar-Rihla (34): “Sufyan narrated to us; Ibn Jurayj narrated; he said: I heard Abu Saad al-Aʿma relate from Ata ibn Abi Rabah: Abu Ayyub travelled to Uqba ibn Amir, who was then in Misr (Egypt), to ask him about a hadith he had heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; no one who had heard it from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained alive except him and Uqba. When he arrived, he went to the residence of Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari, the governor of Misr, who informed Uqba. Uqba hurried out, embraced him and asked, ‘What has brought you, Abu Ayyub?’ He replied, ‘A hadith I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; no one besides you and me heard it. Show me to his house.’ Maslama sent someone to guide him to Uqba’s home. Uqba hurried out, embraced him and asked, ‘What has brought you, Abu Ayyub?’ He answered, ‘A hadith I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; no one besides you and me heard it, concerning the covering (sitr) of a believer.’ Uqba said, ‘Yes, I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “Whoever conceals a believer in this world from disgrace, Allah will conceal him on the Day of Resurrection.”’ Abu Ayyub replied, ‘You have spoken the truth,’ then mounted his riding-beast and set off back to al-Madinah; the gift sent after him by Maslama ibn Mukhallad only caught up with him at al-Arish in Misr.
The report also appears in the Musnad 4/153 in abridged form. It has additional chains that strengthen it; see ar-Rihla (35, 36, 37) and Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid 1/134.
(3) Al-Jarh wa-t-Taʿdil 8/265-266.