Abu Huraira: The Beloved Narrator

" 'An Abi Huraira radiyallahu anhu qal, qala Rasul Allahi, sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam...."
(On the authority of Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, he
said: Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) said...)
Through this phrase millions of Muslims from early history of Islam to
the present have come tobe familiar with the name Abu Huraira, who you
expect to find his name in most Hadith, Sirah or Fiqh books.
Abu Huraira (r.a.a) enjoyed a great talent, he was gifted with an
extraordinary long term memory to the extent that he would hear a
discussion or a speech and be able to reproducethe identical
discussion or speech years later without changing or deleting one
single word from it.
This great gift that Abu-Huraira enjoyed could have been the worst
thing that could have happened to him assome people used his well
known and authentic name to make up false Ahadith about our beloved
Prophet, andlink these false Ahadith to Abu Huraira (r.a.a). However,
through hard and sincere efforts put in by some of the pious scholars
who sacrificed their lives to preserve and save our beloved Prophet's
Ahadith (sayings) and save them from any harm by the enemies of Islam
who tried to mislead Muslims by adding to them thing that were never
said by the Prophet of Allah (s.w.t), Abu Huraira's reputation was
saved from their wrong doing until our present day.
Abu Huraira became a Muslim at the hands of At-Tufayl Ibn Amr who was
the chief of the tribe to which he belonged. When he submitted to the
truthfulness of this religion, he accompaniedAt-Tufayl to Makkah and
had the privilege of meeting the noble Prophet (s.a.w.). The Prophet
(s.a.w) asked Abu Huraira what his name was, "Abdu-Shams"(the servant
of the sun), Abu Huraira replied. So he was introduced by theholy
Prophet (s.a.w) to change his name to"Abdur-Rahman" (the servant of
the Beneficent). However, he continued to be known among people as
"Abu Hurrah" (the kitten's father) because of his love for a cat he
looked after and fed, and which used to stick to him wherever he went.
Abu Huraira lived with his mother who was still a Mushrik. He prayed
for her and tried hard to convince her to join Islam, but she
adamantly refused. One day when he was telling her about Islam she
uttered some words about the Prophet which saddened Abu Huraira
greatly. He went to the Prophet (s.a.w), hiseyes full of tears and
told him about what had happened between him and his mother. He also
asked the Prophet to make supplication to Allah (s.w.t) for her to
make her heart respond to Islam. The Prophet responded to Abu
Huraira's request and prayed for his mother. When Abu Huraira returned
home he was delighted to hear his mother, who had just taken a shower,
testifying that there is nogod but Allah and that Muhammad is His
Servantand His Messenger. So he rushed back to the Prophet with his
eyes glowing with joy, and informed him that Allah had answered his
prayers, and guided his mother to Islam. He then said: "O Allah's
Messenger,Ask Allah to make me andmy mother lovable to the believing
men and women" . So he (s.a.w.) said: "O Allah, make this servant of
yours and his mother lovable to every believing man and woman" .
With his great gift and talent, Abu Huraira realised that he was able
to serve this religion a great deal. He realised that, because many of
the early companions who had the most knowledge died in the battles in
Allah's cause, this religion needed people to preserve it, as in these
days the companions used to write only the Qur'an fearing it might get
mixed with the Hadith of the Messenger, if the latter was to be
documented too. Even among those who had a great deal of
knowledge,many of them were occupied by their trades and didn't have
as much free time as Abu Huraira to spend with the Prophet (s.a.w).
Also the fact that he had an extraordinary long term memory meant that
he could hear the Prophet's teachings and be able to ask a writer to
write them later knowing that he will not forget any of them.
Therefore, during the four years Abu Huraira stayed with the Prophet
(s.a.w) in Madinah, he set himself to accompany the holy Prophet to
gain knowledge and memorise his sayings andteachings in order to
preserve the word of Allah (s.w.t) and the teachings of his beloved
Prophet (s.a.w). The Prophet (s.a.w.) himself directed Abu Huraira to
an effective way to memorise his Hadiths, Abu Hurrah said: Allah's
Prophet one day said to us: "whoever spreads his dress until I finish
my talk, and then takes hold of it, will not forget anything from what
he heard from me" .
The fact that Abu Huraira set himself to preserve the teachings of the
noble Prophet, meant that he was always close to the Prophet (s.a.w)
in his stay in Madinah, as hehad free time at his disposal, unlike the
Muhajirin he did not work in trade and unlike the Ansar he did not
havea land to look after. This enabled Abu Huraira to stay with the
noble Prophet at Madinah and to go with him on journeys and
expeditions.
He loved the Prophet a great deal, he was never tired of looking at
the Prophet nor was he tired of listening to him. Often he would
praise Allah for his good fortune and say "Praise be to Allah who has
guided Abu Huraira to Islam, Praise be to Allah who taught Abu Huraira
the Qur'an, Praisebe to Allah who has bestowed on Abu Hurairathe
companionship of Muhammad (s.a.w)" .
Abu Huraira underwent much hardship and difficulties as a result of
devoting his life to knowledge and companionship of the holy Prophet
(s.a.w): "Oneday, 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
onlyasked him so that he would invite me but he didn't".
Despite the fact that Abu Huraira set himself to preserving the word
of Allah and the teachings of his Prophet, he by no means neglected
his other duties as much of his time was spend in prayers and devotion
to God. He often rotated staying up at night with his wife and his
daughter, as he would stay up for a third of the night, his wife for
another third and his daughter for a third, this way in the house of
Abu Huraira no hour of the night would pass withoutIbadah and Salat.
Abu Huraira's presence was also felt in the battlefield when needed to
protect and establish the religionof Islam by the sword, as he lived
all his life, since becoming a Muslim, as a soldier of Islam not
missing a single battle with the holy Prophet (s.a.w).
After the death of the holy Prophet (s.a.w), Abu Huraira continued his
duties in conveying the teachings of the Prophet (s.a.w). He went on
preaching a great number of Ahadith, which made some of his friends
curious of the large amount of Ahadith that he memorised in such a
short time. Although the fact that he was able to memorise so many
Ahadith was justified by the fact that he was dedicated to staying
with the Prophet and due to the extraordinary ability to memorise
speeches from the first time.
During the caliphate of Umar (r.a.a), Umar appointed him as a governor
of Bahrain where he became quiet rich. Umar, being very scrupulous
about the type of persons he appointed as governors, he was concerned
that his governors should live simply and frugally and not acquire
much wealth even through lawful means. When Umar (r.a.a)heard about
Abu Huraira's wealth he recalled him to Madinah, thinking that Abu
Hurairahad acquired his wealth through unlawful means.
When Abu Huraira arrived in Madinah, Umarquestioned him about the way
he acquired sucha fortune. Abu Huraira replied "from breeding horses
and gifts that I received" . Umar then ordered him to hand his fortune
over to the treasury of the Muslims. Abu Huraira did as he was ordered
and raised his hands to the heavens and prayed "O Lord, forgive Amir
ul-Muminin" . After a while Umar called upon Abu Huraira and offered
him to regain his position as thegovernor of Bahrain but Abu Huraira
refused the offer. When he was asked by Umar why he refused his offer
he replied "So that my honorwould not be besmirched, and my wealth
would not be taken and my back would not be beaten" . He then added "I
also fearto judge without knowledge and speak without wisdom".
Abu Huraira continued tolive a righteous life, devoting himself to
servethe religion of Islam and being kind to his mother as well as
encouraging others to be kind to their parents. One day when Abu
Huraira's health was deteriorating quickly andhis friends were praying
for him to recover, he looked to the heavens and said "O Allah I love
meeting you and ask you to love meeting me" . He then died in the year
59 after Hijra when he was seventy eight years old.
He died after having accomplished his duty and his desire to preserve
and transmit the teachings of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w), leaving
Muslims a great debt of gratitude for helping to preserve the
teachings ofthe noble Prophet (s.a.w)and setting them a perfect
example and platform to follow in preaching and conveyingto the
humanity what he and others had worked relentlessly, facing all sorts
of hardships, in order to preserve. We askAllah (s.w.t) to reward Abu
Huraira and grant him the companionship of the holy Prophet in
thehereafter just as he was granted his companionship in this world.