He was born during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ and, according to some reports, actually saw him.

He transmitted hadith from his father; from ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, Zayd ibn Thābit, Ibn ʿAbbās, Muʿāwiyah, and others.

Those who narrated from him include al-Zuhrī, Saʿd ibn Ibrāhīm, Abū Ḥāzim al-Aʿraj, Muḥammad ibn al-Munkadir, Abū l-Zinād, Yaʿqūb ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ashajj, Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī, his two sons—Muḥammad and Sahl—and many others.

He was counted among the scholars.

Abū Maʿshar al-Sindī said, “I saw Abū Umāmah, and he had seen the Prophet ﷺ.”

Al-Zuhrī related, “Abū Umāmah informed me; he was one of the eminent and learned men of the Anṣār and descended from those who fought at Badr.”

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith narrated through Ḥakīm ibn Ḥakīm ibn ʿAbbād ibn Ḥunayf, from Abū Umāmah ibn Sahl, who said:

“ʿUmar wrote with me to Abū ʿUbaydah: ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Allah and His Messenger are the patron of anyone who has no patron, and the maternal uncle inherits from one who has no heirs.”’ (1)”

Al-Tirmidhī remarked, “This is a sound (ḥasan) hadith.”

Yūsuf ibn al-Mājishūn reported from ʿUtbah ibn Muslim: “ʿUthmān ascended the …”