I asked Jabir bin Abdullah about wiping over leather socks, and he replied, "It is the Sunnah, my nephew."I also asked him about wiping over the turban, and he said, "Let the water touch the hair."
سألت جابر بن عبد الله عن المسح على الخفين، فقال: السنة يا ابن أخي. قال: وسألته عن المسح على العمامة، فقال: أمس الشعر الماء.
Tirmidhi (102) narrated it, saying, Qutayba bin Saeed told us, Bishr bin Mufaddal told us, from Abdul-Rahman bin Ishaq Qurashi, from Abu Ubayda, with this wording. Its isnad is hasan because of Abu Ubayda. Some said he is the brother of Salama bin Muhammad, and some said they are one and the same person. Bukhari said, in his entry on Salama, "I think he is the brother of Abu Ubayda." Abu Ahmad Hakim mentioned Abu Ubayda among those whose name is not known. Abu Hatim's statement about him varies, for he said at one point, "His hadith is objectionable and he is not named," while in another place he said, "His hadith is sahih." Ibn Main said of him, "Trustworthy." Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal said, "This Abu Ubayda is trustworthy, while no one narrated from his brother Salama except Ali bin Zayd, and his condition is not known."As for Hafiz's statement about him that he is "acceptable," it seems he judged that the two are one and the same person. Otherwise, after the confirmations of trustworthiness by Ibn Main and Abdullah bin Ahmad, Abu Ubayda deserves to be raised to the rank of "truthful."As for his wording "until the hair has been touched by water," in Malik's narration as a balagh (52), from Jabir bin Abdullah, it reads, "until the hair is touched by the water." This is how it appears in Muwatta Muhammad. Shaykh Laknawi said in Taliq Mumajjad (1/286), "It is from imsas or mass, meaning it reaches the hair, with the accusative case marking it as a preceding object, while 'the water' takes either the nominative or accusative case." In Muwatta Yahya it reads, "until the hair has been wiped with water."