(The story is taken from the book - Companions of the Prophet, published by FEROZSONS, Lahore, in 2011). Companions of the Prophet - A COMPANION KNOWN AS HAFIZ-e-HADITH Abu Hurairah Abu Hurairah has narrated more than 5,000 Hadith out of which 325 are unanimously accepted by different Imams such as Bukhari, Muslim etc. Abdullah bin Umar, son of the second caliph, who himself was a very learned scholar of Hadith, always appreciated Abu Hurairah for his extraordinary knowledge of Hadith. Imam Shafei also mentioned that Abu Hurairah was a great Hafiz-e-Hadith (Memorizer of traditions of the Holy Prophet) amongst his contemporaries. Marwan bin Hukam, governor of Madinah, was once angry at Abu Hurairah for narrating so many Hadith when he (Abu Hurairah) had come to Madinah only five years before the Holy Prophet left the world. Explaining to Marwan he said: ‘When I came to Madinah, the Holy Prophet was in Khyber and I was thirty years old. From that time onward I stayed with him all the time and participated in all the battles after Ghazwa-e- Khyber. The reason for staying with the Holy Prophet was that I was very poor and there was no one else to resort to except the Holy Prophet. Most of the other sahaba had their business and families to attend to, whereas I had no source of income and no family except an old mother. Therefore, by staying all the time near the Holy Prophet, I know more Hadith than anyone else.’ Explaining further he said: ‘I was so fond of learning Hadith that once I complained to the Holy Prophet about my short memory to which he said: ‘Spread your shawl.’ When I did, the Holy Prophet put his hands on it and asked me to touch it to my chest. After that, I never forgot anything.’ Not fully satisfied, Marwan invited him to test his knowledge. He hid his scribe under his throne and asked him to write every word he said. As he asked him several Hadith, the scribe jotted down everything he said. The next year he called him again and asked him the same Hadith. He found no difference in them - the contents, even the words were exactly the same! Abu Hurairah’s real name was Abd Shams who lived in Yemen. The leader of his tribe ‘Daus’, Tufail bin Umro, who had already accepted Islam when he visited Makkah, returned to Madinah with some people of his tribe including Abd Shams in 7 Hijra. They accepted Islam. The Holy Prophet changed his name from Abd Shams to Abdul Rahman. He was a very poor man who came along with his old mother to stay in Madinah. Since he had no house and no income, he stayed with Ashab-e-Suffah (the people of the terrace in Masjid Nabvi) and always remained in the service of the Holy Prophet till he left the world. He loved learning knowledge and never hesitated to ask questions. Abu Hurairah was his title, the reason of which he explained himself: ‘I had a cat (in Arabic, cat is called Hurairah). It would always remain with me. Seeing my attachment to the cat, people started calling me Abu Hurairah.’ Explaining the event of conversion of his mother, since she had not accepted Islam, he said: ‘My mother always refused to accept Islam and one day when she uttered some bad words about the Holy Prophet, I went to the Holy Prophet and pleaded with him to pray for my mother. The Holy Prophet prayed. When I returned, my mother had already recited the Shehadah. Till the caliphate of Hazrat Umar, Abu Hurairah lived in poverty. When Hazrat Umar appointed him the Amir of Bahrain he became well off. However, he did not spend much time as the Amir of Bahrain and returned to Madinah. After the martyrdom of Hazrat Uthman he remained quiet and secluded. Even in the battle of Jamal (Camel) and Siffin he did not participate to avoid being the part of any fitna. However, during the period of Amir Muawiyah, Marwan bin Hukam, the governor of Madinah, would often make him deputy in his absence. Abu Hurairah’s life was divided into two parts. During the earlier part, he suffered extreme poverty and there was no one else to help him except the Holy Prophet. Often, he would faint with hunger but never asked for help. Once he was so much hungry that he sat down in a bazaar. When Hazrat Abu Bakr passed by, he asked him about a verse of the Holy Quran. He explained and went away. Then Hazrat Umar passed, he did the same. When the Holy Prophet passed and he asked him the meaning of the verse, the Holy Prophet immediately understood about his intent and fed him and all the Ashab-e- Suffah. In the later part of his life, he was well off but he never forgot those days when he would often faint with hunger. One of his specialties was that Allah had given him the wealth of knowledge and the ability to share it with rest of the Muslims. Before the prayer on Friday, he would narrate Hadith to the people until the Imam appeared. He was so much scared of Allah and accountability on the Day of Judgment that remembering it he would faint after uttering a shriek. He could never go for Hajj due to his old mother who was totally dependent on him and was unable to travel. He died in 57 Hijra at the age of seventy- eight and was buried in Jannat-ul-Baqee.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 08:08:14 +0000
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