Abu Hurayrah

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Abu Hurayrah [ra]

Abu Hurayrah was one of the most famous and most learned of the Companions of the Prophet [s]. He was a scholar of the Prophet’s [s] Hadith. He can rightly be called one of the saviours of the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah [s].

Abu Hurayrah was not his real name, but a pet name given to him by the Prophet [s] on account of the tenderness he once showed to a little cat [Hurayrah, a diminutive form of the term Hirrah]. His real name is not known for certainty. It is said to have been Abd ash-Shams before he embraced Islam, and afterwards Abdur Rahmaan, Abdullah, Umayr or Aamir. He belonged to the tribe of Daws. He came to Madinah in the year 7 H.

When the Prophet [s] was at Khaybar, he followed him there and embraced Islam. From that time onward, he never left the Prophet [s] and was day and night in his attendance as his most faithful servant. This fact accounts for the great number of traditions attributed to him; the number of those that are supposed to come from him is estimated at 5374. Allah’s Messenger [s] had guided him to an act that would keep him from ever forgetting a Hadith again. Abu Hurayrah himself said, ‘One day Allah’s Messenger [s] said, “He who amongst you spreads a cloth and listens to my talk and would then press it against his chest would never forget anything heard from me.” So I spread my mantle and when he had concluded his talk, I then pressed it against my chest, and so I never forgot after that day anything that the Messenger of Allah [s] said.’ [Sahih Muslim: English Translation A. H. Siddiqi; vol. 4 p. 1330, Hadith 6085]

Abu Hurayrah’s mother was an unbeliever. He had asked the Prophet [s] to pray for her guidance and she afterwards accepted Islam. Abu Hurayrah returned to the Prophet [s] to tell him the good news and then said, ‘Allah’s Messenger, pray to Allah that He may instil love for me and for my mother in the believing servants, and let our hearts be filled with their love.’ Allah’s Messenger [s] then said, ‘Let there be love for these two servants of yours in the hearts of the believers and let their hearts be filled with love for your believing servants.’ Later, Abu Hurayrah said, ‘This supplication was so answered by Allah that no believer was ever born who heard of me and who saw me except that he had love for me.’ [Sahih Muslim: A. H. Siddiqi; vol. 4, p. 1329] This incident shows that the true believer will have love in his heart for Abu Hurayrah.

His knowledge was well-known among the Companions. He was one of the most learned of the Companions. Some followers, that is to say the generation after that of the Prophet’s [s] Companions wondered how he knew so many Traditions of the Prophet [s]. He replied to them saying, ‘You people say that Abu Hurayrah relates too many Traditions on the authority of the Prophet [s], and you also say how come the Emigrants do not relate such Traditions? My companions from among the Emigrants were busy taking care of their trade while I was poor and stayed with the Messenger of Allah [s] and was satisfied with whatever that filled my stomach. I was in more gatherings with Allah’s Messenger [s] and I was present when they were absent and I remembered when they forgot.’ [Sahih Muslim, vol. 4, p. 1330]

Abu Hurayrah was a poor man. He devoted all his time to serving the Prophet [s]. The Prophet [s] admired his devotion and knowledge. He sent him with al-Ala al-Hadhrami to Bahrayn [the present-day al-Hasa in Saudi Arabia and not the state of Bahrain] to teach the people about Islam. During Umar’s Caliphate, he acted for a short time as the Governor of Bahrayn. Later, Umar asked him again to be a governor, but he refused. He was present in the house of Uthman bin Affan on the day that Uthman bin Affan, the third of the four rightly-guided Caliphs, was martyred.

Abu Hurayrah died in Madinah in 59 H., at the age of seventy-eight. He was well-known for his piety.