Born in al-Jabur, Arabia to the Banu Daws clan of the Zahran tribe, he was among the first people to accept Islam, and later became a member of the Suffah after the migration of Muhammad. Under the reign of the Rashidun caliph Umar, he also served as a scholar, hadith narrator, military governor of Bahrain, and soldier.
Acknowledged by Muslim scholars for his notable photographic memory, he memorized massive numbers of over 5,000 hadiths, which later produced more than 500,000 narrator chains, making him an example followed by Hadith scholars today.
Life
Ancestry
Abu Hurairah's personal name (ism) is unknown, and so is his father's.[note 1] The most popular opinion, voiced by Al-Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, is that it was 'Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Ṣakhr (عبد الرحمن بن صخر).[1][2][3][4][5] According to Al-Dhahabi, Abu Hurairah hailed from the prominent Banu Daws clan of the Arab tribe of Zahran, and was born in the region of Al-Bahah.[2] Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani traced the lineage of the Banu Daws to Azd, a Nabatean ancestor of the southern Arabs, through Zahran.[6]Al-Qalqashandi reported the Zahran as a descendant of Khalid ibn Nasr,[7] while Ibn Hazm reported Zahran was a descendant of Malik ibn Nasr, a Qahtanite.[8]Hadith narrations record Muhammad as having a favorable view of the Banu Daws, who viewed them on par with his tribe, the Quraysh, the Ansar of Medina, and Banu Thaqif.[9]
Conversion to Islam and life in Medina
Abu Hurairah embraced Islam through Tufayl ibn 'Amr, the chieftain of his tribe in 629, 7AH. Tufayl had returned to his village after meeting Muhammad in Mecca and converting to Islam in its early years.[2] Abu Hurairah was one of the first to accept Islam from his tribe, unlike the majority of Tufayl's tribesmen who embraced Islam later. Abu Hurairah accompanied Tufayl to Madina to meet Muhammad who renamed him Abdurrahman.[10] It was said that he found a stray kitten, so he took it in his sleeve, which is the reason he was named Abu Hurairah (father of the kitten).[2][10]
Abu Hurairah was father-in-law of the prominent tabi' (pl.tabi'un) Said ibn al-Musayyib (d. 715), who confessed that he had married Abu Hurairah's daughter in order to get closer with her father and learn the hadith he possessed.[11]Hammam ibn Munabbih (d. 748), another prominent tabi' and disciple of Abu Hurairah compiled the hadith narrated to him by Abu Hurairah in his hadith collection Sahifah Hammam ibn Munabbih, one of the earliest hadith collections in history.[17] There is little mention of the family of Abu Huraira, but it is known that he had a wife named Basra bint Ghazwan.[2]
After Muhammad, later years and death
According to Ahmad ibn Hanbal, after the death of Muhammad, Abu Hurairah participated in the Ridda Wars under the first Rashidun caliph, Abu Bakr.[18] After Abu Bakr's death, during Umar's reign, Abu Hurairah actively participated in the Muslim conquest of Persia.[19] Later, he became governor of Bahrayn.[2][20] During this time, Abu Hurairah is noted to have become wealthy, amassing close to 10,000 gold dinars through breeding horses and spoils of war, which he brought to Medina. This raised Umar's suspicion, who accused him of corruption. Abu Hurairah was later found innocent and Umar asked him again to govern Bahrayn once again, an offer he turned down.[21] After leaving the governorship, Abu Hurairah returned to Medina and worked as a qadi (judge), issuing fatāwā (sing. fatwa).[2][11]: 357 Abu Hurairah was one of the defenders of the third Rashidun caliph, Uthman, during his assassination.[10] Abu Hurairah continued to work as mufti after Uthman's death.[2] In the early Umayyad era, Abu Hurairah was tasked with assessing the authenticity of the hadith circulated within the caliphate.[11][22]
The hadith reported by Abu Hurairah are diverse, being used by Islamic scholars specializing in hadith, 'aqīdah, fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), ijtihād, tafsīr (Quranic exegesis), and Islamic eschatology.
Abu Hurairah was among the few companions of Muhammad who issued jurisprudential rulings or fatāwā (sing. fatwa),[33] and he was personally requested by his contemporary companion Ibn Abbas to do so.[2] As the Sunni madhahib (sing. madhhab, schools of jurisprudence) were structurally based on the rulings or narrations from companions of Muhammad, the ruling jurisprudence for the four main Sunni madhahib heavily relied on Abu Hurairah's fatāwā and his numerous narrations.[34]Taqi al-Din al-Subki compiled the fatāwā of Abu Hurairah in his book, Fatawa Abu Hurairah.[17] Abu Hurairah was one of the six prominent companions of Muhammad involved in jurisprudential rulings during the Rashidun era, the others being Ali, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, Abu Darda, Saʽid al-Khudri, and Abu Shafiah.[35] Abd al-Rahman Jaziri, a professor at Al-Azhar University, has concluded that on certain issues, the four madhahib reached ijmā' (consensus) on Abu Hurairah's ruling.[36]
The four major Sunnimadhahib, have all used hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah in major jurisprudential decisions.[34][37][38][39]Muwatta Imam Malik, the hadith collection of the founder of the Maliki madhhab, Malik ibn Anas, contains various hadiths narrated by Abu Hurairah wherein they form the basis for jurisprudential rulings.[40]Bulugh al-Maram, a hadith collection by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani pertaining to the Shafi'i madhhab also contains many hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah.[41]Al-Nawawi's Al-Arba'ūn an-Nawawiyyah also contain narrations from Abu Hurairah.[42] According to Muhammad ibn al-Uthaymeen in his commentary of Al-Nawawi's Riyāḍ as-Ṣaliḥīn, Abu Hurairah's ijtihad formed the basis for Al-Nawawi's rulings of wudu.[43]
Bilal Philips, a Salafi preacher from Canada who was known for his preaching activity to three thousand US army veteran of the first Gulf War after the successful victory of Saudi-US coalition,[44] also listed several quotations from Abu Hurairah in his earlier work, Salvation Through of Repentance , regarding various matters of Islamic teaching, included Qadr Night and Friday prayers.[45]
Abu Hurairah is credited with narrating at least 5,374 hadith.[50][51][52][53] Abu Hurairah continued collecting hadith after the death of Muhammad from Abu Bakr, Umar, Aisha, Fadl ibn Abbas, Usama ibn Zayd, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, and Ka'b al-Ahbar.[2][10][54] It is said by Abu Hurairah himself the only one who surpassed him regarding hadith were Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn al-As, another companion who serve as writer assistant of Muhammad and author of "Al-Sahifah al-Sadiqah", the first Hadith book in history.[55] However, according to his own admission, Abu Hurairah said that Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn al-As possessed a greater number of narrations than himself, since Abd Allah diligently wrote every hadith he heard, while Abu Hurairah relied on his extraordinary memory.[56]
According to Al-Albani in his book, Silsalat al-Hadith ad-Da'ifah, the madhhab of Abu Hurairah was taken as a guideline for hadith scholars to evaluate the validity of a hadith.[60]
Criticism
Shaykh Mahmud Abu Rayyah (d.1970), the youngest brother of Hassan al-Banna and also the author of Aḍwā alā al-sunna al-Muhammadiyya (Illuminations on the Sunnah of Muḥammad). One of the works he produced was on raising doubts about the reliability of Abu Hurarirah.[61][62]
According to Yasin Jibouri, several Shia scholars such as Ja'far al-Iskafi regarded Abu Hurayra as telling lies.[63] Same goes with Abu Rayyah, independent writer from Egypt who quoted medieval Shia source in his report regarding Abu Hurairah.[64] Certain Shia writers are known for doubting his authority as a narrator.[63] As Abdullah Saeed points out the writing from Abu Rayyah that Caliph Umar bin Khattab is recorded to repeatedly threaten Abu Hurayrah, noted at the time as a blatant self-promoter, with serious consequences due to his frequent misquote of the Prophet's words.[65]
However, researchers have found that the Sunni scholarly community unanimously regarded Abu Hurairah as trustworthy both classical medieval and modern contemporaries, and they thought the allegation of the hadith falsification by Abu Hurairah were coming solely from Shia traditions, which not found in Kutub al-Sittah and other major Hadith works, as medieval scholars such as Dhahabi said that the criticism towards Abu Hurairah are not accepted even during the early times of Islam for several reasons, including because those who criticise Abu Hurairah themselves are known as Mudallis (defected or untrustworthy narrators) according to Jarh wa Ta'dil (biographical evaluation study) and Asbab wurud (chronological study of Hadith).[2] Which generally agreed by later era counterparts, which further adds that Jarh wa Ta'dil rulings only valid to evaluate Tabi'un or generations above them, while Sahabah generation are free and exempt from Jarh wa Ta'dil and accepted without exception, as long they are confirmed and identified by chroniclers as Sahabah.[66]
Safia Aoude and Ali al-Tamimi also highlighted, the narration of Umar threatening Abu Hurairaha, which quoted by Abdullah Saeed, were also came solely from a writer which influenced by Abu Rayyah,[67][68] Particularly from anonymous writer who has pen name "O. Hashem" who write his criticism towards Abu Hurairah in his book, Saqifah.[20] Several Sunni thinkers and scholars such as has been Mustafa al-Siba'i, Shuaib Al Arna'ut, along with director of Maktabah al-Haram al-Makki ash-Shariff(Library of the Great Mosque of Mecca) Abdur-Rahman al-Mu'allimee al-Yamani,[69] has criticized the sources which O. Hashem quoted only using falsified and inauthentic hadith according to standard of Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, and Al-Dhahabi criterion of biography evaluation, while also questioning O. Hashim scholarly credibility as they though O. Hashem were driven by Shiite biased view on his critics.[20] While Muhammad ibn al-Uthaymeen dismissing such criticism towards Abu Hurairah which came from Shia traditions as he said they are simply "a collection of error traditions".[70]
According to Burhanuddin from Indonesia's Ministry of Religious Affairs, the scholars observation from Siba'i, Abdul Mun'im Shalih Al-'Ali, Dhiya'urrahman Al A'Dzamy, Muhammad Abu Syahbah, Shalahuddin Maqbul Ahmad, and Abdullah ibn Abdil Aziz An-Nashir, has found out the reason Abu Rayyah, has such inorganized method in his writing were because the background of Abu Rayyah though not came from proper academic learning, instead he was just influenced by the writings of Goldziher.[71]
Badri Khairuman from Kalijaga Islamic University, on the other side, has pointed out that Abu Rayyah critic towards Abu Hurairah were flawed according to the main principles of Biographical evaluation traditions and accusing Abu Rayyah relying on single source of 12th AD twelver Shia scholar, Allamah Al-Hilli.[66] Furthermore, the case of accusation of Abu Hurairah were nullified according to Badri, as Badri reasons it is impossible if Umar does not trust Abu Hurairah, while on the fact Umar were nominating Abu Hurairah twice as governor of Bahrayn and entrusting him to produce Fatwa in eastern Arabia, while on the last years of Umar, the caliph appoint Abu Hurairah as judge in Medina, the citadel of caliphate.[72] Badri concludes his thesis that the phenomena of Abu Rayyah writing came from the elementary and very small Abu Rayyah knowledge regarding the structural Hadith studies with proper methodology.[66] While scholar, Abdur-Rahman al-Mu'allimee al-Yamani gave short remarks that Abu Rayyah assessment towards Abu Hurairah came from biased view, not proper methodology of Hadith study.[73][74]
^While there is uncertainty surrounding Abu Hurairah and his father's personal name, most Islamic scholars including Al-Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani are of the opinion that Abdurrahman was his personal name, while Sakhr was his father's.
^Bin Muslim Bin Ibrahim Al-Sahari Al-Awtabi, Salamah. kitab al'ansab li al-sahari [genealogical book of desert] (in Arabic). Maktaba Shamila. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
^Luthfi bin Muhammad Yasin, Abu Firas (2017). "Kedatangan Utusan Bani Daus" [The Arrival of the Messenger of Bani Daus]. Almanhaj (in Indonesian). Solo, Central Java, Indonesia. Retrieved 17 December 2021. Daus dinisbahkan kepada Daus bin Udtsan (عُدثان) bin Abdullah bin Zahran. Nasabnya bersambung ke Azad[1]. Qalqasyandi menyebut nasab lengkapnya dengan Daus bin Udtsan bin Abdullah bin Zahran bin Ka'b bin Harits bin Ka'b bin Abdullah bin Khalid bin Nashr.[2]. Bani ini adalah kaum Abu Hurairah[3]. Tidak dijelaskan tempat asal kaum ini, hanya disebutkan bahwa mereka berasal dari Yaman[4]. KEISLAMAN DAUS Tokoh penting yang berperan penting dalam keislaman Bani Daus adalah Tufail bin Amru ad-Dausi. Tufail dijuluki sebagai Dzun-Nur (pemilik cahaya, pen.). Julukan itu karena ketika ia datang kepada Rasûlullâh di Makkah dan kemudian masuk Islam, Rasululah mengutusnya kepada kaumnya sendiri. Tufail mengatakan: " Wahai Rasûlullâh, jadikan pada diriku ayat (karamah, pen.)". Rasûlullâh mengatakan: "Ya Allah, jadikan baginya cahaya." Maka muncullah cahaya diantara kedua matanya. Amru mengatakan: "Wahai Rabbku, aku takut kaumku mengatakan bahwa cahaya itu musibah bagiku, maka cahaya itu berpindah ke tepi cambuknya dan cahaya itu meneranginya di malam yang gelap gulita
^Luthfi bin Muhammad Yasin, Abu Firas (2017). "Kedatangan Utusan Bani Daus-Bab keutamaan Banu Daws" [The Arrival of the Messenger of Bani Daus-the appraisal for Banu Daws]. Almanhaj (in Indonesian and Arabic). Solo, Central Java, Indonesia. Retrieved 17 December 2021. 1. Sabda Rasûlullâh Shallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ جَاءَ الطُّفَيْلُ بْنُ عَمْرٍو إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ إِنَّ دَوْسًا قَدْ هَلَكَتْ عَصَتْ وَأَبَتْ فَادْعُ اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِمْ فَقَالَ اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ دَوْسًا وَأْتِ بِهِم Dari shahabat Abu Hurairah Radhiyallahu anhu ia berkata: Tufail dan shahabatnya dari Kabilah Daus datang kepada Rasûlullâh dan mereka mengatakan: Wahai Rasûlullâh sesungguhnya Kabilah Daus telah kufur dan enggan (menerima Islam) maka berdoalah agar mereka celaka. Abu Hurairah mengatakan: binasalah Daus[9], maka Rasûlullâh mengatakan: Ya Allah, berilah hidayah kepada Kabilah Daus dan datangkanlah mereka (kepada Rasûlullâh)[10]. 2. Sabda Rasûlullâh Shallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam : عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ أَنَّ أَعْرَابِيًّا أَهْدَى لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بَكْرَةً فَعَوَّضَهُ مِنْهَا سِتَّ بَكَرَاتٍ فَتَسَخَّطَهَا، فَبَلَغَ ذَلِكَ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَحَمِدَ اللَّهَ وَأَثْنَى عَلَيْهِ ثُمَّ قَالَ: إِنَّ فُلَانًا أَهْدَى إِلَيَّ نَاقَةً فَعَوَّضْتُهُ مِنْهَا سِتَّ بَكَرَاتٍ فَظَلَّ سَاخِطًا، لَقَدْ هَمَمْتُ أَنْ لَا أَقْبَلَ هَدِيَّةً إِلَّا مِنْ قُرَشِيٍّ أَوْ أَنْصَارِيٍّ أَوْ ثَقَفِيٍّ أَوْ دَوْسِيٍّ Dari Abu Hurairah Radhiyallahu anhu : seorang badui menghadiahkan pada Rasûlullâh Shallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam seekor unta betina kecil, Rasûlullâh Shallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam kemudian ganti memberinya enam ekor unta betina kecil. Namun badui tadi malah tidak rela dengan pemberian tersebut. Kabar tersebut sampai pada Rasûlullâh Shallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam maka Nabi n membaca tahmid dan memuji-Nya kemudian bersabda: Sesungguhnya fulan memberiku hadiah seekor unta betina dan aku ganti memberinya enam ekor unta betina kecil namun ia tetap tidak rela dengan pemberian itu. Aku berharap untuk tidak menerima hadiah kecuali dia tidak tamak dengan balasan sebesar itu kecuali[11] dari seorang Qurays, atau Anshar, atau Tsaqif, atau Daus[12]. Hadist setelahnya di Sunan Tirmidzi (3946) menyebut bahwa orang tersebut berasal dari Bani Fazarah[13].
^ abcdeSa'id Mursi, Muhammad (2007). Ihsan, Muhammad (ed.). Tokoh-Tokoh Besar Islam Sepanjang Sejarah (in Indonesian). Translated by Khoirul Amru Harahap; Ahmad Faozan (First ed.). Cipinang Muara, East Jakarta, Indonesia: Pustaka Al-Kautsar. p. 129. ISBN978-979-592-900-0. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
^Al-Dhafiri, Aisha (2021). Shatnawi, Bushra (ed.). معلومات عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه (in Arabic). Mawdoo3. Retrieved 13 December 2021. A group of authors, Archives of the Ahl al-Hadith Forum, pg. 49. At the disposal إقرأ المزيد على موضوع.كوم
^ abMunandar Riswanto, Arif (2010). Khazanah Buku Pintar Islam 1 (in Indonesian). Mizan Pustaka. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
^ibn Hanbal, Ahmad. "Musnad Abu Bakar as-Siddiq". Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal. p. hadith no. 68. Retrieved 13 December 2021 – via Islamweb.
^bin Yusuf bin Ibrahim al-Sahmi al-Qurashi al-Jurjani, Abu al-Qasim Hamza (1987). Abd al-Mu`id Khan, Muhammad (ed.). كتاب تاريخ جرجان [Kitab at Tarikh al Jurjani] (in Arabic) (Fourth ed.). Beirut: Dar al 'Alam. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
^ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥalīm Ibn Taymīyah, Aḥmad (2009). Hassan Al-Ani, Salman; Ahmad Tel, Shadia (eds.). Kitab Al-Iman [Book of Faith] (Paperback). Islamic Book Trust. pp. 50, 197, 232. ISBN978-967-5062-29-2. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
^Al-Juzairi, Abdurrahman (2015). Fikih Empat Madzhab Jilid 6 [Islamic Jurisprudence According to the Four Sunni Schools] (Ebook) (in Indonesian). Translated by Saefuddin Zuhri; Rasyid Satari. Pustaka al Kautsar. p. 119. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
^Abdul Hakim, Luqman. ""Al-Sahifa al-Sadiqah" the oldest book in the hadith of the Prophet". Islam Online (in Arabic). Retrieved 17 December 2021. Musnad Ahmad: 202 hadiths out of 632 hadiths. Sunan Abi Dawud: 81 hadiths out of 232 hadiths. Sunan an-Nasa'i: 53 hadiths out of 128 hadiths. Sunan Ibn Majah : 65 hadiths out of 117. Jami' al-Tirmidhi: 35 hadiths out of 89 hadiths. [12] Abdul Razzaq's work: 69 hadiths Ibn Abi Shaybah's workbook: 122 hadiths Sunan al- Daraqutni : 127 hadiths Al-Mustadrak of the Ruler: 90 Hadiths Al-Muhalla by Ibn Hazm: 115 hadiths [13]
^Anas Fakhruddin, Mohammad (17 January 2021). "Abdullah bin 'Amr bin al-Ash, Sahabat yang Gemar Menulis Hadis". hadispedia.id (in Indonesian). El-Bukhari Institute. Retrieved 17 December 2021. أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ يَقُوْلُ: لَمْ يَكُنْ أَحَدٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ رَسُوْلِ اللهِ -صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ – أَكْثَرَ حَدِيْثاً مِنِّي، إِلاَّ مَا كَانَ مِنْ عَبْدِ اللهِ بنِ عَمْرٍو، فَإِنَّهُ يَكْتُبُ وَلاَ أَكْتُبُ "Abu Hurairah berkata, "Tidak ada salah seorang sahabat Rasulullah saw yang lebih banyak meriwayatkan hadis dibanding diriku kecuali Abdullah bin 'Amr, ia menulis hadis sedangkan aku tidak melakukannya".
^Ahmad Salus, Ali (2001). Ensiklopedi Sunnah dan Syiah Jilid 1(Ebook) (Prof. Dr) (in Indonesian). Translated by Bisri Abdus Samad; Asmun Solihan Zamakhsyari (First ed.). Pustaka Al-Kautsar/Dar at Taqwa. p. 269. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
^Ajaj al-Khatib, Muhammad (1982). Ibn Muhammad al-Qurashi, Tawfiq (ed.). كتاب أبو هريرة راوية الإسلام [The book of Abu Huraira, the narrator of Islam]. Cairo: Maktabah al Wahbah. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
^Hasrul (2016). "PEMIKIRAN HADIS MAHMUD ABU RAYYAH". UIN Syarif Hidayatullah (Thesis). Hunafa Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic University Jakarta. Retrieved 17 December 2021.