In Defense

of
‘AbdurRah
maan bin
Sakhr ad-
Dawsee
His Status in the
Scales of Justice

Sa’eed R. Purcell/ ‫أبو سهيلة سعيد‬

‫بن ردرك برسل األمريكي الحنبلي‬
With the help of all of Allaah's Names; [including] the Entirely Merciful, the
Especially Merciful.

Certainly, all praise and thanks is due to Allaah. We praise and

thank Him, we seek His help and assistance, and we seek His
forgiveness. We take refuge with Allaah from the evil which is
within our very souls, and from the sinfulness of our actions.
Whomever it is that Allaah guides, no one can mislead him after
that, and whomever it is that Allaah sends astray, no one can guide
him after that. I bear witness (without any hesitation) that there is
absolutely nothing that deserves to be worshipped and adored,
except for Allaah; He is One, without partners. I also bear witness
that Muhammad bin 'Abdullaah (blessings and peace be upon him)
is His slave, worshipper, and messenger.

َ‫اللهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُون‬

َّ ‫يَاأَيُّهَا َّالذِينَ ءَامَنُوا اتَّقُوا‬

Allaah says what means, "O you who have believed, fear Allaah as
He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in
submission to Him]." (Aal 'Imraan 3: 102)

‫يَاأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمُ َّالذِي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا‬
‫علَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا‬
َ َ‫رِجَالًا كَثِيرًا وَنِسَاءً وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءَلُونَ بِهِ وَالْأَرْحَامَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَان‬

Allaah says what means, "O mankind, fear your Lord, who created
you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from
both of them many men and women. And fear Allaah, through
whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allaah is ever,
over you, an Observer." (An-Nisaa' 4: 1)

ْ‫رْ َلكُم‬//ِ‫الَكُمْ وَيَغْف‬//َ‫لِحْ لَكُمْ َأعْم‬//‫ُص‬

ْ ‫اللهَ وَقُولُوا َقوْلًا سَدِيدًا ي‬َّ ‫يَاأَيُّهَا َّالذِينَ ءَامَنُوا اتَّقُوا‬
‫اللهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ فَازَ فَوْزًا عَظِيمًا‬
َّ ِ‫ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَمَنْ يُطِع‬
 Allaah says what means, "O you, who have believed, fear Allaah
and speak words of appropriate justice. He will [then] amend for
you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys
Allaah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great
attainment." (Al-Ahzaab 33: 70&71)

Thereafter: the truest speech is the Book of Allaah. The best

guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (blessings and peace be
upon him). The worst matters are those newly invented and
introduced into this religion; and every matter which is newly
invented and introduced in this religion is an innovation. All
innovation is misguidance, and all misguidance is in the Fire.

I intend, with this paper, to draw out the evidence which absolves
Aboo Hurayrah of the accusations against him regarding his narration of
Ahaadeeth. It is my hope to expose through this endeavor the hyperbole
that is used and the outright hatred and bias which appears to be driving
many of the rejectionists. The main groups which have rejected the
narrations of this noble Sahaabee are as follows: some from among the
Shee’ah, some from among the Hanafees, and some from among the
orientalists. I will try to address some of their criticisms and provide
responses to them. At the outset I must ask Allaah for help in doing my
subject justice, and in adhering to the truth in all matters.

To start with, I’d like to explore the reason why Aboo Hurayrah
(may Allaah be pleased with him) narrated so many Ahaadeeth. There’s a
very important athar in this regard collected by at-Tirmithee (may Allaah
show him mercy). It goes like this;
A man came to Talhah bin ‘Ubayd-ullaah (may Allaah be
pleased with him) and asked, “O Aboo Muhammad (i.e.
Talhah), do you see this Yemeni (i.e. Aboo Hurayrah)? Is he
 more knowledgeable of the Ahaadeeth of Allaah’s
Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) than you? We
hear from him what we don’t hear from you, or does he
attribute to Allaah’s Messenger what he didn’t say?” Talhah
said, “As for his having heard from Allaah’s Messenger what
we didn’t hear from him, then that’s because he was poor,
having nothing, a guest of Allaah’s Messenger, his hand was
in the hand of Allaah’s Messenger. We used to be people of
houses and wealth, and we used to come to Allaah’s
Messenger at the two ends of the day. I don’t doubt that he
heard from Allaah’s Messenger what we didn’t hear, and you
won’t find anyone in who there’s good attributing to Allaah’s
Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) what he didn’t
say.” [Hassan Ghareeb; Jaami’ at-Tirmithee, trans. Abu
Khaliyl, 6/466-7 #3837] (Al-Haakim declared it Saheeh
according to the conditions of al-Bukhaaree & Muslim, and
al-Haafith Ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalaanee declared it Hassan in Fath
al-Baaree1).

The reason this athar is so important is that it’s a corroboration for

the explanation given by Aboo Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with
him) himself. Talhah (may Allaah be pleased with him) not only explains
the reason for his preeminence in narration, but also absolves him from
the accusation of lying. By itself this should be reasonably sufficient to
prove his innocence, but I’ll try to provide some more.

Another athar which imparts the excellence of Aboo Hurayrah (may

Allaah be please with him) in narrating is the following:
Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with both he and his
father) said to Aboo Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with
him), “You used to stick to Allaah’s Messenger most out of
all of us, and you used to best memorize his Ahaadeeth out of
1
See the explanation of this hadeeth in Tuhfat al-Ahwathee
 us.” [Hassan; Jaami’ at-Tirmithee, trans. Abu Khaliyl, 6/466
#3836] (Al-Haakim declared it Saheeh and ath-Thahabee
agreed with him)

This athar is another clear proof of the fact that Aboo Hurayrah (may
Allaah be please with him) spent far more time with Allaah’s Messenger
(blessings and peace be upon him) than any other companion; according to
some account, as much as four years . It also testifies to his superior ability at
memorization. This and other details should remove all doubt from those who
are still in a state of confusion regarding this matter.

Some very direct examples of the estimation the Sahaabah, most notably
the Khaleefah, held Aboo Hurayrah in were his various posts in Bahrayn. We’ll
use ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) as an indication of the esteem his
knowledge and wisdom was held in. When ‘Umar initially sent Qudaamah bin
Math’oon (may Allaah be pleased with him) to Bahrayn, he sent Aboo Hurayrah
as well “who was appointed a judge in Bahrayn as well as being given some
other duties.”2 As if this wasn’t enough to establish their high esteem for him,
when Qudaamah was dismissed “’Umar issued a decree appointing Aboo
Hurayrah as governor of Bahrayn.”3 This is a clear indication that the Khaleefah
and the Muslim Ummah generally, had great respect and trust for the
knowledge and fiqh of this great Sahaabee.

In short, there is strong evidence to show that the opinion of the greatest
generation every raised for mankind (i.e. the Sahaabah) regarding this man was
that he was the most accomplished of them in gathering and narrating the
Ahaadeeth of Allaah’s Messenger. There are some reports that lead people to
believe he was condemned and censured by some of the Sahaabah, but this is
responded to very simply (after quoting some of the evidences above). The

2
‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab: His Life & Times, Dr. ‘Alee Muhammad as-Sallaabee, vol. 2, pg. 31

3
Ibid. ppg. 31-2
following observation of Dr. Muhammad Mustafaa al-A’thamee is a wonderfully
concise response:

“In a period of three years he (Aboo Hurayrah) observed and learnt

some 1500 traditions, which are a mixture of verbal and practical
Sunnah. This doesn’t seem to be a large number, although both in
his life-time as well as in the later period he was charged with
having transmitted a vast number of Ahaadeeth. Yet all those who
have criticized him, have praised him one time or another.” 4

In closing, I’d like to make one final observation. Besides the clear esteem
and reliance the Sahaabah had on the knowledge and fiqh of Aboo Hurayrah,
there’s a general issue which needs to be mentioned. Throughout the Qur’aan
Allaah praises the Sahaabah generally. To malign even one of them is to imply
that what Allaah says in these Aayaat is untrue; and to deny even one letter of
the Qur’aan is clear Kufr. By extension, impugning the character of any of the
Sahaabah both undermines the very vehicle by which the noble religion was
preserved, as well as implies that the wisdom and perception of Allaah’s
Messenger is seriously questionable. And accusing/implying such things about
our beloved Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) is also Kufr. If we were
to begin to so carelessly abandon our Prophetic heritage, we would surely
expose ourselves to even greater corruption and degradation that we are
already suffering. I pray that Allaah protects us from that and that He
establishes our hearts upon His Deen (and His Obedience). Lastly, but not
leastly, I remind myself and all of my readers … Allaah, the Exalted, truly knows
best!
Freed from all imperfections are You, O Allaah, and You are praised! I
bear witness that nothing deserves to be worshipped or adored except
for You. I seek Your Forgiveness and turn in repentance to You. Aameen.

4
Studies in Early Hadith Literature, M.M. Azami, pg. 37