Refuting False Stories and Proving the Great Status of Abu Hurayrah (RA)

Refutation of Objections Against Abu Hurayrah (RA) and Proofs of His Great Status


Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), vol. 2, p. 261

❖ Question​

A person narrated two incidents:

1. That ʿUmar (RA) rebuked Abu Hurayrah (RA) for narrating something different from what he witnessed with the Prophet ﷺ, accusing him of attributing falsehood to the Prophet ﷺ, and even threatening execution if he were someone else.
2. That Abu Hurayrah (RA) said he did not narrate many aḥādīth during ʿUmar’s life out of fear for his life.

Are these incidents authentic?

❖ Answer​

Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!


Both incidents are without chain, baseless, and fabricated — they are not established in any reliable source with a sound isnād.

✿ Evidence of ʿUmar’s Trust in Abu Hurayrah (RA)​

1. Ḥadīth Regarding Tattooing​

ʿUmar (RA) once asked the Companions if anyone had heard the Prophet ﷺ speak about tattooing. Abu Hurayrah (RA) stood and said:


“O Amīr al-Muʾminīn! I heard the Prophet ﷺ say:
‘Do not tattoo and do not be tattooed.’”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 5946)


This shows ʿUmar (RA) trusted his narration completely.

2. Incident with Ḥassān ibn Thābit (RA)​

When Ḥassān recited poetry in the mosque and ʿUmar looked displeased, Ḥassān replied:


“I used to recite poetry in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ.”


Then he asked Abu Hurayrah (RA):


“By Allah, did you hear the Prophet ﷺ say: ‘Reply on my behalf, O Allah, support him with the Holy Spirit’?”


Abu Hurayrah (RA) replied: “Yes.” (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 2485/15)

3. Statement of Ibn ʿUmar (RA)​

Ibn ʿUmar (RA) said to Abu Hurayrah (RA):


“O Abu Hurayrah! You were the most attached to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the best at preserving his ḥadīth.”
(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, 3836, ṣaḥīḥ)

✿ Esteem from Other Companions​

• Abu Bakr (RA) appointed Abu Hurayrah (RA) as announcer during Ḥajjat al-Wadāʿ (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 369) — a position also given to ʿAlī (RA) by the Prophet ﷺ.
• ʿĀʾishah (RA) affirmed: “Abu Hurayrah has spoken the truth” (Ibn Saʿd, 4/332, ṣaḥīḥ chain).

✿ Duʿāʾ of the Prophet ﷺ for Abu Hurayrah (RA)​

“O Allah, make this servant (Abu Hurayrah) and his mother beloved to Your believing servants, and make the believers beloved to them.” (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 2491)


Abu Hurayrah (RA) said:


“Every believer who hears of me loves me without having seen me.”

✿ The Second Incident — “Fear of Execution” — Is Also Fabricated​

• Report via Ibn ʿAjlān: Munqaṭiʿ; narrator is mudallis.
• Report via Ṣāliḥ ibn Abī al-Akhḍar: Weak and rejected.
• Report via al-Zuhrī: Munqaṭiʿ; al-Zuhrī never heard from Abu Hurayrah (RA).

Only one authentic report exists:
ʿUmar (RA) told Abu Hurayrah (RA) to reduce frequent narration as a precaution against fitnah — and this applied to other Companions as well. (Tārīkh Abī Zurʿah al-Dimashqī, 1475, ṣaḥīḥ)

✿ Abu Hurayrah’s Unmatched Memory​

Māruwān ibn al-Ḥakam tested him a year later with the same narrations he had recorded, and Abu Hurayrah (RA) repeated them word for word (al-Mustadrak, 3/510 — authenticated by al-Ḥākim and al-Dhahabī).

✿ A Karāmah of Abu Hurayrah (RA)​

A man who rejected his ḥadīth was suddenly terrified by a large snake falling from the mosque roof (al-Muntaẓam by Ibn al-Jawzī, 17/106, ṣaḥīḥ).

✿ Scholarly Works Defending Abu Hurayrah (RA)​

• Difāʿ ʿan Abī Hurayrah – ʿAbd al-Munʿim Ṣāliḥ al-ʿAlī al-ʿIzzī
• al-Anwār al-Kāshifah – Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yaḥyā al-Muʿallimī

Over 700 narrators transmitted from him, with some counts exceeding 800.


اللهم! Fill our hearts with love for Abu Hurayrah (RA). Āmīn.



ھٰذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب