Abu Hurairah came to Madinah empty-handed – without any wealth or material possessions – he received a warm welcome from all the close companions of the Prophet. On his return from Khaibar, he settled in Madinah and initially earned his living working as a general labourer; thus he divided his time between work and acquiring Islamic knowledge directly from the Prophet. His close friendship and interaction with the Prophet not only strengthened his faith; over time, he also became very fond of him. Eager to spend more time in the company of the Prophet, Abu Hurairah eventually gave up work and became a member of the ashab as-suffah. The ashab as-suffah consisted of a group of mainly immigrant Muslims who, forced to flee from Makkah by their enemies, left all their wealth and possessions behind. On their arrival in Madinah, they had nowhere to go. The Prophet, therefore, built a simple thatched platform or lodge (as-suffah) in the corner of his mosque for these Muslims and most of them earned their living working as general labourers. Since the Prophet took direct responsibility for the welfare of the ashab as-suffah, he ensured they received regular supplies of food and clothing. However, the historians disagree as to how many people benefited from this lodge; some say it was around twenty people; others say it was about seventy, while according to others, the total number of people who benefited from this lodge was as high as four hundred and included such prominent companions as Abdullah ibn Umar, Abu Ubaida ibn al-Jarrah, Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, Salman al-Farisi and, of course, Abu Hurairah himself. This lodge, therefore, became the first residential college in Islamic history where the Prophet and his prominent companions taught tajwid (the art of reciting the Qur’an) and aspects of Islam to its residents.
As a leading member of the ashab as-suffah, Abu Hurairah became preoccupied with the pursuit of Islamic knowledge, especially that of hadith, or Prophetic traditions. As a perceptive individual who was blessed with a highly retentive memory, he became one of the most learned among the companions of the Prophet. This is evident from the fact that during the four years or so he spent with the Prophet, until the latter’s death in 632, he not only became a very close friend of the Prophet; he also meticulously observed his behaviour, mannerisms and daily habits. Indeed he lived, ate, prayed, studied and travelled with the Prophet and, due to his superior memory power, memorised his every word and deed. Also, unlike the other companions of the Prophet, Abu Hurairah gave up work to become a full-time student in order to learn and commit the Prophet’s sayings to his memory, while the other companions engaged in farming, business and other commercial activities. For this reason, he was able to learn more about the Prophet and his teachings in around four years than those who had embraced Islam much earlier and known the Prophet over a longer period.
It was Abu Hurairah’s enquiring mind, coupled with his thirst for knowledge, which inspired him to learn and master so much within such a short period of time. He was never afraid to ask the Prophet questions on issues which he felt needed further clarification. On one ocassion, he asked the Prophet a question on something so minute and insignificant that the Prophet remarked, ‘I was sure, O Abu Hurairah, that no one except you would ask such a question of me.’ (Sahih al-Bukhari) His unwavering devotion and dedication to the Prophet and his teachings knew no bounds.
Since Abu Hurairah was determined to memorise and master as much as he could, and do so as quickly as possible, he was concerned that his memory was not up to the task; thus on one occasion he approached the Prophet to ask him to pray for him so he could retain information more easily. He related: ‘People wonder how I narrate so many hadith. The fact is that my muhajir (immigrant) brothers remained busy trading and my ansar (helper) brothers did their farming, while I was among the people of suffah. I never cared to earn my living; I was contented with the little food that the Prophet (pbuh) could give me. I would be with the Prophet (pbuh) at times when no one else was there. I once complained to the Prophet (pbuh) about my poor memory. He said, ‘Spread your shawl!’ I did so. He made some signs on the shawl with his own hands and said, ‘Now wrap this shawl around you.’ I wrapped it around my breast. Since then, I never have forgotten anything that I have wished to remember.’ (Sahih al-Bukhari)
Zaid ibn Thabit, who was a prominent companion and secretary of the Prophet, also said, ‘Once while Abu Hurairah, a friend of ours, and I were praying and remembering God in the mosque, the Prophet came and joined us. He asked us to continue with our prayers. My friend and I prayed first, and then the Prophet said, ‘Ameen.’ Then Abu Hurairah prayed, ‘O God, I ask of you what has been asked by my friend, and I, myself, for knowledge that I will never forget.’ The Prophet said, ‘Ameen.’
Abu Hurairah is a legend in Islamic history for not only narrating a vast quantity of Prophetic traditions, but also for his unique memory power. However, his claim to have learned such a vast quantity of hadith did not go unchallenged. Some of his contemporaries, such as Abdullah ibn Umar, questioned his reliability as a hadith narrator, but Abu Hurairah always proved his critics wrong. On one ocassion, Abu Hurairah related a hadith which referred to the degrees of benefits attainable from attending funeral prayers (salat al-janazah). But Abdullah ibn Umar, who was himself a formidable repository of hadith literature, questioned the authenticity of Abu Hurairah’s narration. So he took Abdullah to the Prophet’s wife, Aishah, who confirmed that Abu Hurairah’s version of the hadith was sound. Abdullah duly apologised to him and acknowledged Abu Hurairah’s superiority over others when it came to narrating hadith. In his old age, his memory was frequently put to the test by the people of Madinah in order to ascertain the veracity of his narrations. When Marwan ibn Hakam was the governor of Madinah, he once asked Abu Hurairah to narrate a number of hadith, which, unbeknown to Abu Hurairah, he had had transcribed by one of his secretaries, word for word, behind a screen. A year later, he recalled him and asked him to relate the same hadith again. To Marwan’s astonishment, Abu Hurairah narrated the ahadith word for word, without a single mistake. This way Abu Hurairah was able to silence all his critics.
According to the scholars of hadith (muhaddithun), Abu Hurairah’s authenticity as a narrator of hadith is beyond reproach. This does not mean to say, however, that other unscrupulous people did not later fabricate hadith and attribute them to him. Abu Hurairah’s reputation as a narrator of a vast quantity of hadith made this a very attractive proposition for the fabricators of hadith. This is why all the great scholars of hadith, including Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari and Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, pursued a thorough and rigorous methodology in order to ascertain the veracity of each and every hadith they incorporated in their famous anthologies. The fact that Abu Hurairah was an unsually learned, very pious and highly respected companion of the Prophet, who devoted all his life to the acquisition and dissemination of Islamic knowledge and wisdom, is today acknowledged by the majority of Muslims. But what is not known so widely is that he was also a hugely popular teacher, who personally taught and mentored more than eight hundred students and scholars of hadith. And like the Prophet, he used to divide his nights into three parts: he used to sleep during the first part, pray during the second and study during the third part.
According to the historian and traditionist Abd al-Rahman ibn Ali ibn al-Jawzi, Abu Hurairah narrated five thousand three hundred and seventy-four hadith in total, more than any other companion of the Prophet, including his wife, Aishah. During the reign of Caliph Umar, Abu Hurairah served as governor of Bahrain for a period, and also acted as governor of Madinah for a while during the early Umayyad period. Abu Hurairah’s selfless devotion to Islamic learning and his efforts to disseminate hadith have today turned him into a household name throughout the Muslim world. Is it any wonder that an Abu Hurairah radi Allahu anhu qala qala rasulullahi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam (Abu Hurairah, may God be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of God, may the peace and blessings of God be on him, said…) has become the most famous introductory statement in the history of hadith literature? He breathed his last at the age of seventy-eight and was buried in Madinah, the city of the Prophet.
PROPHET MUHAMMAD HAD six children
