I say: It is therefore highly unlikely that someone like him would contradict the hadith and the Companions, and agree with the Kharijites in denying the sunnah of wiping over the leather socks—especially since he studied jurisprudence under his father, Dawud, who, along with the leading authorities of fiqh and hadith, held that wiping over the leather socks is permissible, as Imam Ibn Hazm mentioned in al-Muhalla (2/89). So where did al-Salimi get what he attributed to Abu Bakr al-Zahiri?! How excellent is the saying:

“Claims, unless you establish proofs for them, leave their claimants mere pretenders!”

2941 — “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to us in our mosque at Quba. I came while I was a young boy [of tender age], and sat at his right; [Abu Bakr sat at his left.] He then called for a drink, drank from it, and gave it to me, as I was on his right, so I drank from it. Then he rose to pray, and I saw him praying in his sandals.”

Ahmad (4/221) and Ibn Abi ‘Asim in al-Wuhdan (4/167/2148) narrated it through Mujammi‘ ibn Ya‘qub, who said: Muhammad ibn Isma‘il informed us that ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Habibah, may Allah be pleased with him, was asked, “Did you meet the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?” He then mentioned it.

I say: This chain of transmission is good, if Allah wills. This Muhammad ibn Isma‘il was also narrated from by ‘Asim ibn Suwayd, the imam of Quba Mosque, as stated in al-Jarh wa-al-Ta‘dil (Narrator Criticism and Accreditation). Ibn Hibban listed him in al-Thiqat (7/394) among the Followers of the Successors. He likewise listed among them the two narrators mentioned as reporting from him: Mujammi‘ ibn Ya‘qub and ‘Asim ibn Suwayd. This is strange on his part, for it appears that Muhammad ibn Isma‘il was a Successor who met his grandfather on his mother’s side—this ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Habibah. For this reason, Ibn al-Sakan said in his biographical notice on him—that is, this ‘Abdullah—as cited in al-Isabah: