Part 60

Hence Al--Abbaas paid the ransom for himself and his friends and returned to Makkah. From that point onwards the Quraish lost their influence over him and their benefit from his insight and guidance. Therefore, Al-Abbaas took his money and luggage and joined the Prophet in Khaibar so as to have a place in the ranks of Islam and the believers. The Muslims loved, revered, and honored him, especially when they realized how much the Prophet (PBUH) loved and honored him when he said, "AlAbbaas was like a twin brother to my father. Consequently, if anyone annoyed Al-Abbaas, it would be as though he personally annoyed me."

Al-Abbaas had blessed offspring. ~Abd *Allah Ibn ‘Abbaas, the learned of the Muslim nation, was one of those blessed sons.

On Friday, the 14th of Rajab, A.H. 32, the people of Al- *Awaalii in Al-Madiinah heard a crier callling out, "May Allah have mercy on whoever saw A]-Abbaas Ibn “Abd Al-Muttalib." They realized at once that Al--Abbaas had died.

An unprecedented large congregation of people, such as AlMadiinah had not experienced before, accompanied the funeral procession to the graveyard. The Commander of the Faithful “Uthmaan (May Allah be pleased with him) performed the funeral prayer. The body of Abu Al-Fadl was laid in Al-Baqii'. He sleeps comforted and delighted among the faithful who have been true to their covenant with Allah.

(35) ABU HURAIRAH The Memory of the Revelation Era

It is true that a person's intelligence reckons against him, and those who own extraordinary gifts often pay the price at a time when they should receive a reward or thanks. The noble Companion Abu Hurairah is one of those. He had an unusual gift which was his strong memory.

He (May Allah be pleased with him) was good in the art of listening and his memory was good in the art of storing. He used to listen, understand, and memorize; then he hardly forgot one word, no matter how long his life lasted. That is why his gift made him memorize and narrate the Prophetic traditions (Hadiths) more than any of the Companions of the Messenger (PBUH).

During the period of Al-Wada‘iin, the writers who were specialized in telling lies about the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) misused Abu Hurairah's wide reputation for narrating about the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), and whenever they fabricated a hadith they used to say, "Abu Hurairah said. ..." By so doing they were attempting to make Abu Hurairah's reputation and status as a narrator about the Prophet (PBUH) questionable. However, because of the extraordinary efforts exerted by great reverent people who devoted their lives to serve the Prophetic Hadith and reject every falsehood, Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) was saved from the lies and fabrications that the vicious wanted to infiltrate into Islam through him and to make him bear their sins.

Now, when we hear a preacher, lecturer or the one who delivers the Friday sermon saying this transmitted expression, "Narrated by Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him): The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said,. . ."

Isay when you hear this name in that form, or when you meet it many times in books of hadith, biography, jurisprudence, and religious books generally, you have to know that you are meeting the most interesting personality of the Companions with regard to his ability and talents of listening because of the wonderful traditions and wise instructions that he memorized about the Prophet (PBUH), which was his great fortune and incomparable gift.

Having this gift (May Allah be pleased with him), he was naturally one of the Companions who were most capable of vividly reminding you of those days when the Messenger (PBUH) and his Companions were living and of transporting you to that horizon which witnessed the glorious deeds of the Prophet (PBUH) and his Companions who gave vitality and significance to life and led to the right path.

So if these lines have moved your curiosity to get introduced to Abu Hurairah and hear some things about him, here is what you want.

He was one of those who reflected the Islamic revolution and all the tremendous changes that it brought about. He changed from a workman to a master, from a lost man in the crowd to an Imam and

outstanding man, from a worshiper of accumulated stones to a believer in Allah, the One, the Irresistable.

He said: I was brought up as an orphan, and I emigrated as a poor man. I worked for Busrah Bint Ghazwaan for my daily food. | used to serve them when they dismounted, and walked near them when they rode. And now Allah has married her to me. All praise to Allah Who made the religion our support and made Abu Hurairah an Imam.

It was A.H. 7 when he went to the Prophet (PBUH), while the latter was in Khaibar, and embraced Islam. From the time he pledge allegiance to the Prophet (PBUH), he would not part from him

except to sleep. Thus were the four years in which he lived with the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) from the time he embraced Islam till the Prophet died. We say that those four years were very long, full of virtuous words, deeds, and listening.

By virtue of his good nature, Abu Hurairah was able to play a prominent role by which he could serve the religion of Allah. There were many war heroes among the Companions. There were many jurisprudents, propagators of the faith, and teachers, but the milieu and people lacked writing and scribes. In that time, mankind — not only Arabs — was not much concerned with writing. It was not a sign of development in any society. It was the same even in Europe not so long ago. Most of its kings, with Charlemagne at the top of the list, could not read or write, although they were intelligent and capable at the same time.

Let us go back to our talk about Abu Hurairah. He realized by his nature the need of the new society that Islam was building for those who would keep its legacy and teachings. There were scribes among the Companions who used to write, but they were few. Besides, some of them had no free time to be able to write every hadith that the Messenger uttered.

Abu Hurairah was not a scribe, but learned by heart, and he had this necessary free time, for he had no land to plant or commerce to take care of. Believing that he had embraced Islam late, he intended to compensate for what he had missed by accompanying and sitting with the Messenger (PBUH). Besides, he himself knew the gift Allah had bestowed on him, which was his broad, retentive memory, which became even broader and stronger after the Messenger (PBUH) had invoked Allah to bless it for him. Then why should he

not be one of those who took the burden of keeping this legacy and transmitting it to the coming generations ? Yes, this was the role that his talents made possible for him to play, and he had to play it without flagging.

Abu Hurairah was not one of the scribes, but, as we said, he had a strong memory that made him retain things in his mind very quickly. He had neither land to plant nor commerce to keep him busy; hence he used to not part from the presence of the Messenger, neither in travel nor at other times.

Thus, he devoted himself and his precise memory to memorizing the hadiths and instructions of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). When the Prophet (PBUH) died, Abu Hurairah kept narrating his traditions, which made some Companions wonder how he could know all those hadiths? When did he hear them?

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) shed light on this phenomenon, as if defending himself against the doubts of some of the Companions.

He said: You say that Abu Hurairah narrates much about the Prophet (PBUH) and that the Muhaajiruun who preceded him to Islam do not narrate those traditions. But my friends among the Muhaajiruun were busy with their contracts in the market, and my friends among the Ansaar were busy with their lands. I was a poor man, always sitting with the Messenger of Allah, so I was present when they were absent, and I memorized if they forgot. Besides, one day the Prophet (PBUH) said, "Whoever spreads his garment till I finish my speech, then collects it to his chest, will never forget whatever I've said!" Therefore, I spread my clothes and he directed his speech to me, then I collected it. By Allah, I did not forget what he said to me later on. By Allah, I would have narrated nothing at

all, but for a verse of Allah's Book: < Surely those who conceal the manifest Revelations and the guidance which We have revealed, after We have made it clear for the people in the Book, those it is who shall be cursed by GOD and by those who curse >

This was the way Abu Hurairah explained the reason for being unique in narrating so many hadiths about the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). First, he had the time to accompany the Prophet more than any one else. Second, he had a strong memory blessed by the Messenger so it became stronger. Third, he did not narrate because he was fond of narrating but because spreading those traditions was the responsibility of his religion and life; otherwise he would be a concealer of the good and right, negligent of his duties, and would deserve the punishment of the negligent.

For these reasons he kept narrating, and nothing could stop or hinder him, even when “Umar, the Commander of the Faithful, told him, "Stop narrating about the Messenger of Allah, or I'll send you to the land of the Daws" — the land of his people. But this prohibition from the Commander of the Faithful was not an accusation of Abu Hurairah, but a support of a theory ‘Umar was adopting and stressing, that the Muslims during this very period should read and memorize nothing but the Qur'aan so that it would settle in their hearts and minds. The Qur'aan is Islam's book, constitution and dictionary. Narrating about the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) abundantly, especially in those years that followed his death (PBUH) when the Qur'aan was being compiled, caused unnecessary confusion. That is why “Umar used to say, "Get busy with the Qur'aan; it is Allah's words. He also used to say, "Narrate a little about the Messenger of Allah but for what can be followed."

When he sent Abu Muusaa Al-Ash‘ariy to Iraq, he said to him, "You are going to people where you can hear the sound of the