I think about the Sahaba a lot. I wonder what they were like, and how they lived. I try to make sense out of why they killed each other, and if that means anything for me today. In short, I don’t turn away from the complexity of trying to understand the lives they lived. I believe in the miraculous stories, as well as the perseverance and sacrifice which changed the history of the world. But I don’t pretend that it was all some perfect little world where nobody ever did something really wrong, or misunderstood something of grave importance.
On occasion, I get a glimpse of them, in my imagination. Tonight, as I was reading Surah al-Inshiqaq in prayer, I remembered something I had read recently:
“Bukhari recorded from Abu Rafi’ that he prayed the Isha prayer behind Abu Hurairah, and the latter recited “idha al-sama’ inshaqqat (when the sky will rip apart)” and at the relevant verse, he prostrated. So, Sayyidna Abu Rafi’ asked him what type of prostration it was. Sayyidna Abu Hurairah replied: ‘I prostrated at this verse behind Abul Qasim [Rasul Allah] in a salah, and I will never cease prostrating during its recitation until I meet him on the Plain of Gathering.’” [taken from Ma'ariful Qur'an of Mufti Muhammad Shafi', English translation, vol. 8, p. 748]
Now, I don’t know much about Abu Hurairah, except the usual basic biographical sketch. I know that he is a controversial figure, disliked by the Shi’a as well as liberals, who blame him for transmitting false materials from the Prophet (may the peace and blessings of God be upon him). Yet, he is loved by the Sunnis, famous as the Sahabi who transmitted the most ahadith of all.
I don’t claim to know much. Years of study have made me realize that there is far more that I don’t know than I actually know. So I don’t claim to be able to comment on his reliableness as a transmitter. But tonight, I realized something important. Abu Hurairah was there. He stood next to the Prophet (may the peace and blessings of God be upon him), saw his blessed face, and heard his voice, the one which God choose to first speak His words into the ears of human beings. Abu Hurairah was there.
If Abu Hurairah still walked this earth, I would sell all my CDs and books, cancel all my plans to study, stop spending time with scholars and pious people and good everyday Muslims, and I would go to him. Just to be in the presence of someone who was in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of God be upon him)…it is too amazing, too beautiful, too overwhelming to even fathom.
I am sure Abu Hurairah had his faults. After all, he wasn’t a Prophet or a Messenger. But if he were here, today, there is no one on the planet whose suhba I would crave more, and whose voice I would rather hear.
And that is why I say, “radi Allahu anhu (may God be well pleased with him).”
ameen.
