Abu Hurayra
Abu Hurayra | |
|---|---|
أبُو هُرَيْرَة | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | c. 603 Al-Jabur, Arabia (present-day Al Bahah, Saudi Arabia) |
| Died | 679 (aged 75–76) Medina, Umayyad Caliphate (present-day Saudi Arabia) |
| Resting place | Al-Baqi Cemetery, Medina, Saudi Arabia |
| Era | |
| Main interest(s) | Hadith |
| Known for | Narrating the highest number of hadith |
| Occupation |
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| Relations | Banu Daws clan, Zahran tribe |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Muslim leader | |
Influenced by
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| Military career | |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | Rashidun army |
| Commands | Governor of Bahrain |
| Arabic name | |
| Personal (Ism) | ʿAbd al-Raḥmān عَبْد ٱلرَّحْمَٰن |
| Patronymic (Nasab) | Ibn Ṣakhr ٱبْن صَخْر |
| Teknonymic (Kunya) | Abū Hurayra أبُو هُرَيْرَة |
| Toponymic (Nisba) | Al-Dawsī al-Zahrānī ٱلدَّوْسِيّ ٱلزَّهْرَانِيّ |
Abū Hurayra ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ṣakhr al-Dawsī al-Zahrānī (Arabic: أبُو هُرَيْرَة عَبْد ٱلرَّحْمَٰن بْن صَخْر ٱلدَّوْسِيّ ٱلزَّهْرَانِيّ; c. 603–679), commonly known as Abu Hurayra (Arabic: أبُو هُرَيْرَة; lit. 'father of a kitten'), was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and considered the most prolific hadith narrator. Born in al-Jabur, Arabia to the Banu Daws clan of the Zahran tribe, he was among the first people to convert to Islam, and later became a member of the Suffah after the migration of Muhammad.
Under Muhammad, Abu Hurayra was sent as a muezzin to al-Ala al-Hadhrami in Bahrain. During the reign of the Rashidun caliph Umar (r. 634-644), he briefly served as a governor of Bahrain.
He memorized over 5,000 hadiths, which later produced more than 500,000 narrator chains, making him an example followed by Sunni Hadith scholars today. The four major Sunni madhahib have all used hadith narrated by Abu Hurayra in major jurisprudential decisions. However, non-Sunni scholars, including several Shia scholars, have regarded Abu Hurayra as unreliable and a teller of lies.