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The Islamic Bulletin
A
bu
H
urayrah
(R
adiulahu
A
nhu
)
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may God be pleased with him
who said: The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant
him peace, said...
Through this phrase millions of Muslims from the early history of
Islam to the present have come to be familiar with the name Abu
Hurayrah. In speeches and lectures, in Friday khutbahs and semi-
nars, in the books of hadith and sirah, fiqh and ibadah.
Through his prodigious efforts, hundreds of ahadith or sayings of the
Prophet were transmitted to later generations. No other person has
narrated as many Ahadith as he has done. Ibn Jauzi has attributed as
many as 5,374 Ahadith to him. His is the foremost name in the roll
of hadith transmitters. Next to him comes the names of such com-
panions as Abdullah the son of Umar, Anas the son of Malik, Umm
al-Mumininin Aishah, Jabir ibn Abdullah and Abu Said al-Khudri all
of whom transmitted over a thousand sayings of the Prophet.
Abu Hurayrah became a Muslim at the hands of at-Tufayl ibn Amr
the chieftain of the Daws tribe to which he belonged. The Daws
lived in the region of Tihamah which stretches along the coast of
the Red Sea in southern Arabia. When at-Tufayl returned to his vil-
lage after meeting the Prophet and becoming a Muslim in the early
years of his mission, Abu Hurayrah was one of the first to respond
to his call. He was unlike the majority of the Daws who remained
stubborn in their old beliefs for a long time.
When at-Tufayl visited Makkah again, Abu Hurayrah accompanied
him. There he had the honor and privilege of meeting the noble
Prophet who asked him: “What is your name?”
“Abdu Shams - Servant of a Sun,” he replied.
“Instead, let it be Abdur-Rahman - the Servant of the Beneficent
Lord,” said the Prophet.
“Yes, Abdur-Rahman (it shall be) O Messenger of God,” he replied.
However, he continued to be known as Abu Hurayrah, “the kitten
man”, literally “the father of a kitten” because like the Prophet he
was fond of cats and since his childhood often had a cat to play with.
Abu Hurayrah stayed in Tihamah for several years and it was only at the
beginning of the seventh year of the Hijrah that he arrived in Madinah
with others of his tribe. The Prophet had gone on a campaign to Khaybar.
Being destitute, Abu Hurayrah took up his place in the Masjid with other
of the Ahl as-Suffah. He was single, without wife or child. With himhow-
ever was his mother who was still a mushrik (unbeliever). He longed, and
prayed, for her to become a Muslim but she adamantly refused. One
day, he invited her to have faith in God alone and followHis Prophet but
she uttered some words about the Prophet which saddened him greatly.
With tears in his eyes, he went to the noble Prophet who said to him:
“What makes you cry, O Abu Hurayrah?”
“I have not let up in inviting my mother to Islam but she has always
rebuffed me. Today, I invited her again and I heard words from
her which I do not like. Do make supplication to God Almighty to
make the heart of Abu Hurayrah’s mother incline to Islam.”
The Prophet responded to Abu Hurayrah’s request and prayed for
his mother. Abu Hurayrah said: “I went home and found the door
closed. I heard the splashing of water and when I tried to enter my
mother said: “Stay where you are, O Abu Hurayrah.” And after
putting on her clothes, she said, “Enter!” I entered and she said: “I
testify that there is no god but Allah and I testify that Muhammad
is His Servant and His Messenger.”
“I returned to the Prophet, peace be on him, weeping with joy
just as an hour before I had gone weeping from sadness and said:
“I have good news, O Messenger of Allah. God has responded to
your prayer and guided the mother of Abu Hurayrah to Islam.”
Abu Hurayrah loved the Prophet a great deal and found favor with
him. He was never tired of looking at the Prophet whose face ap-
peared to him as having all the radiance of the sun and he was never
tired of listening to him. Often he would praise God for his good for-
tune and say: “Praise be to God Who has guided Abu Hurayrah to
Islam.” Praise be to God Who has taught Abu Hurayrah the Quran.”
“Praise be to God who has bestowed on Abu Hurayrah the com-
panionship of Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him
peace.” On reaching Madinah, Abu Hurayrah set his heart on at-
taining knowledge. Zayd ibn Thabit the notable companion of the
Prophet reported: “While Abu Hurayrah and I and another friend
of mine were in the Masjid praying to God Almighty and perform-
ing dhikr to Him, the Messenger of God appeared. He came to-
wards us and sat among us. We became silent and he said: “Carry
on with what you were doing.”
“So my friend and I made a supplication to God before Abu Hu-
rayrah did and the Prophet began to say Ameen to our dua.
“Then Abu Hurayrah made a supplication saying: “O Lord, I ask
You for what my two companions have asked and I ask You for
knowledge which will not be forgotten.”
“The Prophet, peace be on him, said: ‘Ameen.’ We then said: ‘And
we ask Allah for knowledge which will not be forgotten, and the
Prophet replied: ‘The Dawsi youth has asked for this before you.’”
With his formidable memory, Abu Hurayrah set out to memorize
in the four years that he spent with the Prophet, the gems of wis-
dom that emanated from his lips. He realized that he had a great
gift and he set about to use it to the full in the service of Islam.
He had free time at his disposal. Unlike many of the Muhajirin he
did not busy himself in the market-places, with buying and selling.
Unlike many of the Ansar, he had no land to cultivate nor crops to
tend. He stayed with the Prophet in Madinah and went with him
on journeys and expeditions.
Many companions were amazed at the number of hadith he had
memorized and often questioned him on when he had heard a
certain hadith and under what circumstances.
Once Marwan ibn al-Hakam wanted to test Abu Hurayrah’s pow-
er of memory. He sat with him in one room and behind a curtain
he placed a scribe, unknown to Abu Hurayrah, and ordered him
to write down whatever Abu Hurayrah said. A year later, Mar-
wan called Abu Hurayrah again and asked him to recall the same
ahadith which the scribe had recorded. It was found that he had
forgotten not a single word.
Abu Hurayrah was concerned to teach and transmit the ahadith he
had memorized and knowledge of Islam in general. It is reported
that one day he passed through the suq (market) of Madinah and
naturally saw people engrossed in the business of buying and selling.
“How feeble are you, O people of Madinah!” he said.
“What do you see that is feeble in us, Abu Hurayrah?” they asked.
“The inheritance of the Messenger of God, peace be on him, is
being distributed and you remain here! Won’t you go and take
your portion?”
“Where is this, O Abu Hurayrah?” They asked.
“In the Masjid,” he replied.
Quickly they left. Abu Hurayrah waited until they returned. When
they saw him, they said: “O Abu Hurayrah, we went to the Masjid
and entered and we did not see anything being distributed.”
“Didn’t you see anyone in the Masjid?” he asked.
“O yes, we saw some people performing Salat, some people read-
ing the Quran and some people discussing about what is halal and
what is haram.”
“Woe unto you,” replied Abu Hurayrah,” that is the inheritance of
Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace.”
Abu Hurayrah underwent much hardship and difficulties as a re-
sult of his dedicated search for knowledge. He was often hungry
and destitute. He said about himself:
“When I was afflicted with severe hunger, I would go to a com-
panion’ of the Prophet and asked him about an ayah of the Quran
and (stay with him) learning it so that he would take me with him
to his house and give food.”
One day, my hunger became so severe that I placed a stone on my
stomach. I then sat down in the path of the companions. Abu Bakr
passed by and I asked him about an ayah of the Book of God. I
only asked him so that he would invite me but he didn’t.
“Then Umar ibn al-Khattab passed by me and I asked him about
an ayah but he also did not invite me. Then the Messenger of
God, peace be on him, passed by and realized that I was hungry
and said: “Abu Hurayrah!”
“At your command” I replied and followed him until we entered
his house. He found a bowl of milk and asked his family: “From
where did you get this?”
“Someone sent it to you” they replied.
He then said to me: “O Abu Hurayrah, go to the Ahl as-Suffah
and invite them.” Abu Hurayrah did as he was told and they all
drank from the milk.
The time came of course when the Muslims were blessed with
great wealth and material goodness of every description. Abu Hu-
rayrah eventually got his share of wealth. He had a comfortable
home, a wife and child. But this turn of fortune did not change
his personality. Neither did he forget his days of destitution. He
would “I grew up as an orphan and I emigrated as a poor and
indigent person. I used to take food for my stomach from Busrah
bint Ghazwan. I served people when they returned from journeys
and led their camels when they set out. Then God caused me to
marry her (Busrah). So praise be to God who has strengthened his
religion and made Abu Hurayrah an imam.” (This last statement is
a reference to the time when he became governor of Madinah.)
Much of Abu Hurayrah’s time would be spent in spiritual exercises
and devotion to God. Qiyam al-Layl (staying up for the night in
prayer and devotion) was a regular practice of his family includ-
ing his wife and his daughter. He would stay up for a third of the
night, his wife for another third and his daughter for a third. In this
way, in the house of Abu Hurayrah no hour of the night would
pass without ibadah, dhikr and Salat.
During the caliphate of Umar, Umar appointed him as governor
of Bakrain. Umar was very scrupulous about the type of persons
whom he appointed as governors. He was always concerned
that his governors should live simply and frugally and not acquire
much wealth even though this was through lawful means.
In Bahrain, Abu Hurayrah became quite rich. Umar heard of this
and recalled him to Madinah. Umar thought he had acquired his
wealth through unlawful means and questioned him about where
and how he had acquired such a fortune. Abu Hurayrah replied:
“From breeding horses and gifts which I received.” “Hand it over
to the treasury of the Muslims,” ordered Umar.
Abu Hurayrah did as he was told and raised his hands to the heavens
and prayed: “O Lord, forgive the Amir al-Muminin.” Subsequently,
Umar asked him to become governor once again but he declined.
Umar asked him why he refused and he said: “So that my honor
would not be besmirched, my wealth taken and my back beaten.”
And he added: “And I fear to judge without knowledge and speak
without wisdom.”
Throughout his life Abu Hurayrah remained kind and courteous to
his mother. Whenever he wanted to leave home, he would stand at
the door of her room and say: As-salaamu alaykum, yaa ummataah,
wa rahrnatullahi wa barakatuhu, peace be on you, mother, and
th e mercy and blessings of God.” She would reply: “Wa alayka-s
salaam, yaa bunayya, wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu - And on you
be peace, my son, and the mercy and blessings of God.” Often, he
would also say: “May God have mercy on you as you cared for me
when I was small,” and she would reply: “May God have mercy on
you as you delivered me from error when I was old.”
One day he saw two men walking together, one older than the
other. He asked the younger one: “What is this man to you?” “My
father,” the person replied. “Don’t call him by his name. Don’t walk
in front of him and don’t sit before him,” advised Abu Hurayrah.
Muslims owe a debt of gratitude to Abu Hurayrah for helping to
preserve and transmit the valuable legacy of the Prophet, may
God bless him and grant him peace. He died in the year 59 AH
when he was seventy-eight years old.