Abū Hurayrah
أبو هريرة
Abū Hurayrah (Father of the Kitten)
- Dates
- 603–680 CE / 21 BH–59 AH
- Relation to the Prophet ﷺ
- Companion; accepted Islam in 7 AH; spent the Prophet's ﷺ last three years in constant presence
- Hadith narrated
- 5,374
Narrated 5,374 hadith — more than any other companion. A walking archive of the Prophet's ﷺ final years.
Life
Abū Hurayrah was poor. He did not have land, he did not have a family in Madinah, and he slept on the dust of the Prophet's ﷺ mosque. He dedicated himself to one thing: listening. While other companions worked their fields or travelled to trade, Abū Hurayrah sat in the Prophet's ﷺ presence, memorising everything he said.
The Prophet ﷺ knew what he was doing and blessed it. He extended his cloak to Abū Hurayrah once and said: after today, you will not forget what I say. And he did not. Abū Hurayrah narrated 5,374 hadith, far more than any other companion. Modern scholars verified his reliability against the testimony of dozens of other narrators and found him meticulous.
Passages that mention Abū
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"just as one says a Heraclian dinar, meaning struck in his time and his state. Al-Waqidi said: Ibn Abi Sabra told us, from Suhayl ibn Abi Salih, from his father, from Abu Hurayra. Others related it by another route from Abu Hurayra, who said: "When Uthman had the codices copied, Abu Hurayra went in to him and said, 'You have done right and been granted success. I bear witness that I heard the Messenger of God, God's peace and blessings be upon him, say, "The strongest of my community in love for me are a people who will come after me, who believe in me though they have not seen me, who act by what is in the hanging leaves." And I said,"
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"Ibn Abi Hatim added: Abu Sakhr Humayd ibn Ziyad said: Ibn Qusayt informed me, while I was relating this hadith to him, that he heard Abu Hurayra say: He was cast upon the barren shore, and God caused a gourd plant to grow over him. We said: O Abu Hurayra, what is the yaqtina? He said: The gourd tree. Abu Hurayra said: And God made ready for him a wild mountain goat that fed on the creatures of the earth — or he said, on the tender growth of the earth. He said: It would spread its legs over him and give him its milk to drink every evening and every morning, until he grew strong again."
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"A man came to Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, and said, "I want to brother with you in Allah. He asked, "Do you know the right of brotherhood? The man said, "Inform me. Abu Hurayrah said, "That you do not consider your dinar and dirham more deserving than I. The man replied, "I have not reached this level yet. Abu Hurayrah said, "Then leave me." Ali ibn al-Husayn, may Allah be pleased with them, asked a man if anyone would put his hand into his brother's sleeve and bag and take what he wishes without permission."
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"Instead, you desired for it to be said that such a person is brave, and so it has been said. Abu Hurayrah said, "Then the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, struck my thigh and said, 'O Abu Hurayrah, those are the first of Allah's creation who will be judged on the Day of Judgment. The narrator of the hadith entered upon Mu'awiyah and related this to him, and he wept until he almost passed out."
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"authenticity due to the presence of certain narrators. Ahmad mentioned that one of the narrators lied against Wab bin Munabbi, and another narrator is also abandoned, as noted by Al-Darakutni. Al-Tabarani also narrated a similar account from Al-Husayn bin Ali, involving Gabriel and the angel of death, but this too is doubtful due to the presence of a questionable narrator. The Hadith of Aisha records that the messenger of Allah died between the rising of the forenoon and midday on Monday, as narrated by Ibn Abdul Bar. As news of the prophet's death spread, people thronged, and the messenger of Allah was covered by the angels with"
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"and no one sat with him during prayer without him shortening it to address them, asking, "Do you have a need?" Hadith: I was only sent as a mercy and not as a curser, recorded by Muslim from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah. Hadith: When asked to pray against someone, whether a Muslim, disbeliever, general, or specific, he refrained from cursing and instead prayed for them—recorded by the two scholars from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah where they said, "O Messenger of God, Daws has rejected and abstained, so invoke a curse upon them," and it was suggested Daws would be doomed, to which he responded, "O Allah, guide Daws and bring them.""
Also from this generation
- ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās
عبد الله بن عباس
The Prophet ﷺ made duʿāʾ for him: "O Allah, give him understanding of the religion and teach him interpretation." The duʿāʾ was answered.
- ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar
عبد الله بن عمر
The companion who most strictly imitated the Prophet's ﷺ smallest actions — down to where he stepped.
- ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd
عبد الله بن مسعود
The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever wants to recite the Qurʾan as fresh as it was revealed, let him recite as Ibn Masʿūd recites."