The Polemics of Hadith Studies
WHY DO THE SECTARIANS and the anti-HADITH PROPAGANDISTS HATE ABU HURAIRA, r.a.?
He narrated Hadith teaching
Jihad
and supporting Muslim Unity
by
Kaukab Siddique
Syed Hasan Jarchavi has distributed an abusive attack on Abu Huraira,
r.a. written by a person named Awan. The attack fits in with the
overall pattern of attacks on this blessed SAHABI
(companion of the Prophet, pbuh). The sectarians attack him and then
the attacks are picked up by the anti-Hadith people in this ongoing
cycle of hate.
THE FACTS ABOUT ABU HURAIRA, r.a., beloved STUDENT OF MUHAMMAD, pbuh:
[Ed. note: r.a. = radi Allah unh =Allah be pleased with him.]
[pbuh = peace be on him. ]
There can be no doubt that Muhammad Mustafa, the final messenger of Allah,
pbuh, loved Abu Huraira, r.a. and in turn Abu Huraira, r.a., loved
Muhammad, pbuh, more than anyone or anything in the world.
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Abu Huraira, r.a., along with 70 others from the Banu Dos tribe, embraced
Islam
and did Hijrah to join forces with Muhammad, pbuh.
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Abu Huraira, r.a., left everything in the world to embrace the Prophet,
pbuh. He took his mother and his slave with him on the journey to
Madinah
leaving everything else behind. When he reached Madinah, he found that
the Prophet, pbuh, was in Khaibar, fighting a Jewish tribe.
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Abu Huraira, r.a., joined the Prophet, pbuh, in the final days of
the battle at Khaibar, in the 7th year of the Hijrah. His first act
on meeting the Prophet, pbuh, was TO FREE HIS SLAVE. Islam teaches
the freeing the slaves and Abu Huraira, r.a., started his life
with the Prophet, pbuh, by freeing his slave.
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The Prophet, pbuh, took Abu Huraira, r.a., with him on a series of
Jihad expeditions immediately after the battle of Khaibar. Some
eyewitness narrations of these expeditions by Abu Huraira, r.a.,
are available in Hadith and in early history books.The purpose
was to ward off attacks by Jewish and other tribes which were
moving to attack the Muslims. For instance there is a narration
by Abu Huraira about the expedition of Wadi al-Qurra in
Tabari's TARIKH, vol. 3. A very severe expedition was that
of Zaat ar-raqa'a. Some details in
Bukhari's Sahih
indicate that there were only one camel for six mujahideen. They rode
by turns and the rough terrain tore up the the feet of the Sahaba.
Abu Huraira, r.a., prayed Salatul Khauf with the Prophet, pbuh, on
this expedition.
[Bukhari's Sahih, vol. 2]
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Abu Huraira, r.a., then took part in major Islamic moves by the
Prophet's, pbuh, army, including the CONQUEST of MAKKA, 8 Hijri,
BATTLE of HUNAIN,, and in the expedition of TABOOK, 9 Hijri. Tabook
was very difficult and required a journey of 350 miles in severe
summer weather which challenged the Romans for 20 days and foiled
their attack plans.
[See Bukhari's Sahih, vol. 2, for Abu Huraira's participation.]
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After these major moves, the Prophet, pbuh, also sent out Abu Huraira,
r.a., in smaller raids to stop various threats. On one such occasion,
the Prophet, pbuh, said to Abu Huraira, r.a.: "I put you under
Allah's Trust and safeguard and He is the one whose Trust is
never wasted."
[ Sunan of Ibn Maja, vol.2]
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During the Caliphate of Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Usman
[Allah be pleased with all three],
Abu Huraira, r.a., continued to participate in Jihad. One of the
HISTORY CHANGING battles in Islamic history was the BATTLE OF YARMOUK
which brought down the power of the Roman empire. The historian Ibn
Asakir in his Tarikh Damishq writes that the Banu Azd, with its
sub group of the Banu Dos, with Abu Huraira, r.a., in its core, was
on the RIGHT WING of the Islamic army. The huge Roman army attacked
and the outnumbered Muslims would have been wiped out but for the
leadership of great companions of the Prophet, pbuh, such as Abu
Huraira. Ibn Asakir quotes Abu Huraira, r.a., as he rallied the
mujahideen. Abu Huraira said:
"O valiant believers! The hoories of Paradise are awaiting you.
Prepare yourself to meet them. Prepare to gain the approach to
Allah and to be accepted by Allah. At this time, no place is dearer
to Allah than the one where you are standing."
The ferocious Roman onslaught was beaten back. At that point, another
20,000 Romans attacked the small group led by Abu Huraira, r.a.
Khalid ibn al-Waleed, r.a., the overall commander of the Islamic
army noted the severe pressure on the right wing of his forces. He
launched an all out attack on the Romans and routed them. Yarmouk
changed the history of the Middle East for ever.
Other historians, Ibn Athir, Ibn Kathir, have noted the participation
of Abu Huraira in Jihad as far away as Jilan and Jurjan during the
Caliphate of 'Usman, r.a.
This beloved companion of the Prophet, pbuh, is under attack by the
sectarians and the Pervezis.
WHY DO THESE PEOPLE HATE ABU HURAIRA, r.a.?
-
For the sectarians there seems to be an element of jealousy that
Abu Huraira, r.a., came into the Islamic struggle in its final years
and equalled, if not surpassed , most companions of the Prophet, pbuh,
in many ways, and in particular in the narration of the Prophet's Hadith.
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Abu Huraira, r.a., remained neutral in the conflict between hazrat Ali
and Ameer Muawiya as well as in the confrontation between hazrat Ali
and 'Ayesha Siddiqa, r.a. Like Hasan,r.a., the elder son of Ali, r.a.,
Abu Huraira opposed the inter-Muslim conflicts.
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The sectarians believe that hazrat Ali spoke against Abu Huraira, r.a.
There is no such evidence. There are a couple of statements attributed
to Ali, r.a., against Abu Huraira, but these are fabrications
produced much after both Ali and Abu Huraira had passed away.
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In the sectarian attack just distributed by Syed Jarchavi, the person
named Awan claims that Abu Huraira, r.a., was "hired" by Muawiyya.
This is a figment of Awan's imagination. Most modern readers would
not know that during the rule of Ameer Muawiyya there was PEACE AND
UNITY in the Muslim realm. Imam Hasan had made peace with Ameer
Muawiyya and a spirit of cooperation existed among all segments of
society. There was no question of anyone "hiring" Abu Huraira, r.a.
WHY ARE THE ANTI-HADITH PEOPLE AGAINST ABU HURAIRA, r.a.?
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For G.A. Pervez and other anti-Hadith self-proclaimed scholars,
Abu Huraira, r.a., was a problem because he narrated more Hadith
of the Prophet, pbuh., than any other sahabi.
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If Abu Huraira, r.a., could be discredited then a big chunk of
Hadith could be discredited.
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The anti-Hadith people are basically dishonest. Although they oppose
Hadith and claim that they want the "Qur'an alone," they found some
Hadith narrations in which 'Ayesha, r.a., and Umar, r.a., looked
critically at a few of Abu Huraira's narrations. These couple of
instances of criticism were used by the Pervezis to create the
impression that ALL of Abu Huraira's narrations should be suspected.
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The anti-Hadith people then went on to fabricate some stories accusing
Abu Huraira's (r.a.) of dishonesty!
[to be continued, inshallah]
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2005-01-23 Sun 10:39ct
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