Al Jabour, Saudi Arabia
Coordinates: 20.302298, 41.242024
This is the historic village of Hz. Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه where he was born and spent his childhood.
Abd Al-Rahman ibn Sakhr Al-Azdi, well known as Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه was from Banu Daws tribe.
He was born 19 years before Hijrah, at Jabour village in Baha. His father’s name was Sakhr and mothers as Maimuna.
He came to Madinah in 7AH when the Prophet ﷺ had gone on Khyber campaign.
Narrations of Hadiths
Hz. Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه felt that he was very late in joining the Prophet’s ﷺ company so he stayed at the Prophet’s ﷺ Mosque and devoted himself to the service of the Holy Prophet for three years.
The main purpose of his stay was to learn the Qur’an and Hadith from the Prophet ﷺ. Subsequently, he noted 5,374 Hadiths from the Holy Prophet in about 1,000 days.
A total of 1,034 Hadiths have been attested by Imam Bukhari and included in his Jame Al Sahih.
Imam Muslim also included 391 Hadiths in his book from Hz. Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه.
His Parents
His father died when he was a child. His mother was a non-believer. Hz. Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه invited her to Islam but one day she repulsed him with bad words. He came weeping to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him to pray for her.
The Prophet ﷺ prayed for her and when Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه returned home he found his mother declaring she had embraced Islam.
His Learning and Memory
Hz. Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه was very keen to seek knowledge. He was not literate and so all his knowledge depended on oral transmission and memorization.
Once he told the Prophet ﷺ: “I hear many Hadiths from you but I forget them.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Spread your covering sheet.” Hz. Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه spread the sheet and the Prophet ﷺ moved both his hands (as if scooping something) and emptied them in the sheet and said, “Wrap it.”
Hz. Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه wrapped it around his body, and since then he never forgot a single Hadith.” This was a miracle. And he retained more than 5,000 Hadiths word for word, throughout his life.
Once Marwaan Ibn Al-Hakam wanted to examine Hz. Abu Hurairah’s رضي الله عنه memorizing ability. He invited him to sit with him and asked him to narrate Hadiths while a scribe sat behind a screen and was told to write whatever Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه said.
After a year, Marwaan invited Hz. Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه again and asked him to narrate the same Hadiths the scribe had written. It was confirmed that Hz. Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه had not forgotten a single word!
