sallallahu alayhi wa sailam..."
Through this phrase millions of Muslims from the early history ofIslam
to the present have come to be familiar with the name Abu Hurayrah. In
speeches and lectures, in Friday khutbahs and seminars, in the books
of hadith and sirah, fiqh and ibadah, the name Abu Hurayrah is
mentioned in this fashion: "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 his Prodigious efforts, hundreds of ahadith or sayings of the
Prophet were transmittedto later generations. His is the foremost name
in the roll of hadith transmitters. Next to himcomes the names of such
companions as Abdullah the sonof 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 Amrthe
chieftain of the Daws tribe to which he belonged. The Dawslived in the
region of Tihamah which stretches along the coast of the Red Sea in
southern Arabia. When at-Tufayl returned to his village 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 intheir 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 acampaign 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 him however was hismother who was still a mushrik.He longed, and
prayed, for her tobecome a Muslim but she adamantly refused. One day,
he invited her to have faith in God alone and follow His Prophet
butshe 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 inclineto 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 andsaid: "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 appeared 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 fortune and
say: "Praise be to God Who has guided Abu Hurayrah to Islam." Praise
be to God Who has taughtAbu Hurayrah the Quran."
"Praise be to God who has bestowed on Abu Hurayrah the companionship
of Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace." On reaching
Madinah, Abu Hurayrah set his heart on attaining knowledge. Zayd ibn
Thabit the notable companion of the Prophet reported: "While Abu
Hurayrah and I and another friend of minewere in the Masjid praying to
God Almighty and performing dhikr to Him, the Messenger of God
appeared. He came towards us and sat among us. We became silent and he
said: "Carryon with what you were doing."
"So my friend and I made a supplication to God before Abu Hurayrah 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 knowledgewhich will not be forgotten, andthe 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 wisdom 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 hadheard a certain hadith and
underwhat circumstances.
Once Marwan ibn al-Hakam wanted to test Abu Hurayrah's power 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, Marwan called Abu Hurayrah
again and asked him torecall 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 of Madinah and naturally saw people
engrossed in the business of buying and selling.
"How feeble are you, O people ofMadinah!" he said. "What do yousee
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 theMasjid 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 reading 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 result of
his dedicated search forknowledge. He was often hungryand destitute.
He said about himself:
"When I was afflicted with severe hunger, I would go to a companion'
of the Prophet and asked him about an ayah of the Quran and (stay with
him) learning it so that he would takeme with him to his house and
give food. "One day, my hunger became so severe that I placed astone
on my stomach. I then sat down in the path of the companions. Abu Bakr
passed byand 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 Hurayrah
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 upas
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 andled 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 including his wife and
his daughter. He would stay up for athird 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 withoutibadah, 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 toMadinah. 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 the
mercy and blessings of God." Shewould 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." Abu Hurayrah always encouraged other peopleto be
kind and good to their parents. 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 gratitudeto 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 59AH when he was seventy-eight
years old.
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