ABU HURAIRAH

He was born in Yemen and remained there till the age of 31, when in the year 7 A.H. after the Battle of Khaibar, he came to Madinah and joined the destitute of Suffa, the people who do not have any house or relatives.

As per Abu Hurairah himself, he was in the company of the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) for 3 years. (Al-Bukhari page 182 of Sahih volume 2 section “Signs of Prophet hood in Islam”)

Without any comments, some of his reported traditions (ahadiths) are reproduced below:

                He reported that Allah (s.w.t.) had created Adam like his own shape.

                He reported that the Angel of Death used to come to people visibly, but when he came                 to Prophet Moses to take his life, Moses (a.s.) slapped him, gouged his eye, and sent                     him back on his sumpter to his God one-eyed. After this incident, the Angel of Death                   went to people invisibly.

                He reported that Hell will not be full until Allah (s.w.t.) puts His leg in it.

                He reported that Allah (s.w.t.) comes down to the lower sky every night and says:                        “Who prays to Me, so that I grant him.”

                He reported that Prophet Solomon (a.s.) said: “I will go to bed with 100 women                             tonight that every one of them will give birth to a boy, who will fight for the sake of                    Allah.”

 He reported that Prophet Muhammad (S) was sleeping and missed the Fajar (dawn) prayer.

The second caliph Omar ibn Khattab appointed Abu Hurairah as the governor (Wali) of Bahrain in the year 21 A.H. But in the year 23 A.H. he deposed Abu Huairah from the governorship on the charges of stealing 10,000 dinars from public treasury. Ibn Abd Rabbih al-Maliki mentioned in his book, al-Aqd al-Fareed in the first pages of volume 1, that caliph Omer called for Abu Hurairah and said to him: “You know well that I had appointed you as Wali of Bahrain and you were bare-footed and now came to my ears that you have bought horses for 1,600 dinars.” Abu Hurairah said: “We have some horses that bore and gifts that accumulated.” The caliph said: “I counted your livelihood and income and found that it is over than yours and you have to return it. Abu Hurairah said: “You can’t do that.” Omar said: “Yes, I can and I will beat you on the back.” Then Omar got up and beat him with his stick. Abu Hurairah said later: “Omar took the money from me but when I offered the Fajar (dawn) prayer, I asked Allah (s.w.t.) to forgive me!”

During the period when Bani Umayyad was ruling the Islamic world, because Abu Hurairah invented traditions (ahadiths) as wished by them, in turn they made him wealthy. They built him a palace in al-Aqeeq. He died in this palace. (Ibn Hajar in his Issaba, Ibn Qutayba in Ma’arif and Ibn Sa’d in Tabaqa’t)

 As per WIKIPEDIA, Abu Hurairah was with the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) for 2 years only. Even if we take 3 years as some of the narrators reported that he was the Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) for 3 years. In this 2 to 3 years, Abu Hurairah reported the traditions of the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) numbering 5,375. While the senior companions like the first caliph Abu Bakr reported only 142 traditions, while the second caliph Omar Ibn Khattab reported  537 traditions, the third caliph Osman bin Iffan reported 146 traditions, and Imam Ali (a.s.) reported 586 traditions making a combined total of 1,411 during their life time association with the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.)

Sources used:

WIKIPEDIA

Truth about Shias

Abu Hurairah                                                 by  Ayatollah Abdul Husayn Sharafiddin al-Musavi (r.a.)