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"An Abi Hurayrata, radiyallahu anhu,
qal.' qala rasul Allahi, sallallahu alayhi wa sailam..."
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
seminars, in the books of hadith and sirah, fiqh and ibadah, the n ame 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 transmitted to later
generations. His is the foremost name in the roll of hadith transmitters. Next
to him comes the names of such companions 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 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 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 h is place in the
Masjid with other of the Ahl as-Suffah. He was single, without wife or child.
With him however was his mother who was still a mushrik. 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 follow His 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 Isl am."
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 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 h is good
fortune 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 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 mine were 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: "Carry on with what
you were d oing."
"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 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 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 I slam.
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 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 Ab u 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 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 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 for knowledge. He was often
hungry and 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 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 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 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 l ed 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 a third o f 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 wea lth 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 b reeding 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 wh en 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 people to 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 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.
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