In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Abu-Hurayrah, the man who narrated thousands of Hadiths
Many Muslims and non-Muslims who study Islam are overwhelmed by the number of Ahadiths narrated by or attributed to Abu Hurayra. The corruption that entered traditional Islam came through many false hadiths. Thousands of these hadiths were narrated by Abu Hurayra. Next to QURAN, the word of God, Abu Hurayra is the second source for many religious matters for traditional Muslims.
Who is Abu Hurayra any way?
Islamic history books have enough about him to support the commandment in the Quran to accept no hadiths but the Quran. See Quran 7:185, 45:6, 77:50, 39:23, 50:45......etc.
Abu Hurayra, came from Yemen in the seventh year of Hijra and converted to Islam. He stayed in the company of the Prophet Muhammed less than two years
He narrated more than 5000 hadiths, about 5374 hadiths, from this two years company, (Compare this with the few hadiths narrated by Aisha, Abu Baker, or Omar after very long company of the prophet) .
" Taken from a book entitled Hadith Literature: It's Origin, Development, & Special Features by Muhammed Zubayr Siddiqui:
1. Abu Hurayra narrated 5374 hadiths
4. 'Aisha Umm al-Mu'minin, 2210 hadiths
10. Umar Ibn al-Khattab, 537 hadiths
11. Ali Ibn Abi Talib, 536 hadiths
31. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, 142 hadiths
First number indicates rank among all of those who narrated hadiths,...second number indicates number of Ahadith given.
Compare the numbers of Hadiths given by Abu Baker by that of Abu Hurayra while keeping in mind that Abu Baker accompanied our beloved Prophet for about 23 years, while Abu Hurayra accompanied the Prophet for less than 2 years. 142 hadiths for 5374 hadiths.
Most of Abu Hurayra's narrated hadiths are called the "Aahad" hadiths, i.e. hadiths only witnessed by one person, this one person was Abu Hurayra himself. ( where is the rule of two witnesses for the truth, disregarded for the sake of Abu Hurayra).
Some of the Prophets companions (Sahaba) accused him of being a liar, telling lies about the prophet just to make up more hadiths and gain some status. Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, the second guided Khalifa threatened Abu Hurayra to send him to exile if he does not stop telling hadiths about Muhammed, he did stop until Omar's assassination then started again.
He kept telling hadiths to please the Khalifa of the Muslims then, all the time, including the time he lived in the royal palace of Muawaya in Syria. Abu Hurayra told his audience that he is telling them hadiths that if he ever mentioned when Omar was alive, he would be given several lashes.
Abu Jaafar Al Iskafy mentioned that the Khalifa, Muawaya, chose some of the people, including Abu Hurayra to tell fabricated stories and hadiths about Ali Ibn Abu Talib, the Prophet's cousin, to degrade him. Abu Hurayra lived in Mu'aawiyah's royal palace then and served him including serving his political views. He produced some of the hadiths that demean Ali, insult him and at least make him in a lower grade to Abu Baker, Omar and Othman, only for the pleasure of Mu'aawiyah. Abu Hurayra's stomach was more important than the trtuh, then.
During Mu'aawiyah's rule, many hadiths, with the help of Abu Hurayra were invented that support the view that the Imam or Khalifa, should be obeyed just like God or the messenger. Contradicting the rule of the Quran that all the matters should be democratic by consultation.(Do not forget that Abu Hurayra was living in the Khalifa's royal palace at the time.)
Many of the hadiths that were narrated by Abu Hurayra contradict other hadiths, including his own narrated hadiths and other people's hadiths and contradict the Quran and contradict common sense.
Abu Hurayra narrated hadiths after Kaab Al Ahbar, who was a Jewish convert who tried to explain the Quran by using the corrupted books of the Jews. He produced some of the most outrageous hadiths that is full of contradiction to the Quran, taken from false stories in the Torah.
The Islamic historians told the story of Abu Hurayra after given the governorship of Bahrain by Omar, got very rich in two years, so Omar called him back and told him
" You, the enemy of Allah, you stole the money of Allah. I made you the Emir of Bahrain when you did not even have a pair of shoes, Where did you get all this money (400,000 Dirham)?? " The history indicates that Omar took 10,000 Dirham from him.(Abu Huraura admitted for only 20,000 Dirham)
Abu Hurayra was the one accused most of fabricating hadiths. Aisha, the Prophet's wife always accused him of telling inaccurate or incomplete stories and of fabricating hadiths that she never heard the prophet saying them.
AISHA AND ABU HURAYRA, ON THE ODDS;
In the famous book "Taa'oueel Mukhtalaf Alhadith " by Ibn Qutaiba Al-Dinory, the story of Aisha (the Prophet's wife) telling Abu Hurayra; " You tell ahadiths about the prophet Muhammed that we never heard them from him"
He answered (as Bukhary reported); "You (Aisha) were busy with your mirror and make up" She (Aisha) answered him; "It is you who were busy with your stomach and hunger. Your hunger kept you busy, you were running after the people in the allies, begging them for food, and they used to avoid you and get away from your way, and finally you would come back and pass out infront of my room and the people think you were crazy and step all over you."
If we apply the supposedly rigid criteria used to select those who narrated hadiths, Abu Hurayra will be the first one to fail the test and his hadiths will be the first to be counted among the fabrications.