There is an assumption among many people that the number of Abu Hurayra’s (r) narrations is more than 5000. Many contemporary scholars have gone through Abu Hurayra’s (r) narrations found in the nine books, which are considered the antecedents to Hadith literature (ummahāt kutub al-ḥadīth). They are:
1) Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhāri
2) Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
3) Jāmiʿ by al-Tirmidhi
4) Sunan by Abu Dāwūd
5) Sunan by al-Nasāʾi
6) Sunan by Ibn Māja,
7) Musnad by Imām Aḥmad
8) al-Muwaṭṭaʾ by Imām Mālik
9) Sunan by al-Dārimi
After a careful enumeration of his hadiths, it becomes clear that the actual number of his narrations, excluding repeated hadiths, does not exceed 1475, which is inclusive to both authentic and unauthentic narrations. Moreover, most of these narrations have also been transmitted in this way by other companions of the Prophet. Only for approximately 110 hadiths can it be said that Abu Hurayra (r) is the sole narrator. Most of these hadiths deal with al-targhīb (bringing about hope) and al-tarhīb (instilling fear), etiquettes and manners (akhlāq), and stories.
According to a thorough search of Abu Hurayra’s (r) authentic narrations in the work Kitāb al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr wa Ziyādatuh by al-Suyūṭi, paired with al-Albāni’s authentication (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ), using the Islamic library Maktaba Shamila, he has only narrated 935 hadiths. This number is inclusive to some repeated narrations corroborations, which some of these may even contain weaknesses. This indicates that the confirmed number of Abu Hurayra’s (r) authentic narrations does not reach 1000. This is because the work Kitāb al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr wa Ziyādatuh, paired with al-Albāni’s authentication, is considered the most comprehensive summarization of the authentic Prophetic narrations, containing 8202 hadiths.
These hadiths are extracted from the most important hadith works, such as but not limited to:
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhāri
- Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
- Sunan by al-Tirmidhi
- Sunan by Abu Dāwūd
- Sunan by al-Nasāʾi
- Sunan by Ibn Māja
- Musnad by Aḥmad
- al-Mustadrak ʿala al-Ṣaḥīḥayn by al-Ḥākim
- Kitāb al-Adab wa all-Mufrad by al-Bukhāri
- Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān
- Muʿjam al-Ṣaghīr al-Ṭabarāni
- Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ al-Ṭabarāni
- Muʿjam al-Kabīr al-Ṭabarāni
- unan by Saʿīd bin Manṣūr
- Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Ṣanʿāni
16 Muṣannaf ibn Abi Shayba
- Musnad Abu Yaʿla
- al-Sunan al-Dāraquṭni
- al-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi
- Shuʿab al-Īmān by al-Bayhaqi
Further, Kitāb al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr wa Ziyādatuh comprises of narrations that allude to the seven companions of the Prophet that are known for transmitting many hadiths. Undoubtedly, Abu Hurayra (r) is among them, as mentioned by the author of Kitāb al-Jāmiʿ , for his narrations are approximately 935 as mentioned earlier. Respectively, the following is the number of narrations, in descending order from highest to lowest, for each of the remaining six narrators, along with their names, from the seven that are known to have narrated many hadiths:
- Abu Hurayra (r) – narrated 935 hadiths.
- Anas bin Mālik (r) – narrated 546 hadiths.
- ʿAbdullāh bin ʿUmar (r) – narrated 480 hadiths.
- ʿAbdullāh bin ʿAbbās (r) – narrated 450 hadiths.
- Jābir bin ʿAbdullāh al-Anṣāri (r) – narrated 400 hadiths.
- ʿĀʾishah Umm al-Muʾminīn (ra) – narrated 392 hadiths.
- Abu Saʿīd al-Khudri (r) – narrated 312 hadiths.
According to this approximate count of the narrations for each companion, we find that Abu Hurayra (r) has by far narrated the most from the Prophet, Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him. However, it is well short of 5000, the number assumed by many.
That leaves us with a question, how did this assumption of 5000 narrations come around?
Simply, this assumption is based on the statement of the well-known scholar Ibn Ḥazm about the Musnad of Imam Baqi b. Makhlad. So, this number, as previously mentioned, is inclusive of both the authentic and unauthentic narrations, as well as repeated narrations, which have been transmitted by either the same text (matn) and chain of narration (sanad) or same text with a different chain of narration.
Now even if the authentic traditions of Abu Hurayra (r) were to reach this number, then this would not be surprising (statistically speaking) because it is known that Abu Hurayra (r) continuously accompanied the Prophet, Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, for about four years with an addition of a few months. 1400 days and more than 200 Fridays fall in this period. Thus, the questions arise as to how much the Prophet spoke and how many Friday sermons (khuṭba) he delivered during this period and afterwards? How much did Abu Hurayra (r) hear from sayings of the Prophet during this time? And finally, how many of the Prophet’s actions Abu Hurayra (r) observed during this time? Narrations are not limited to the Prophet’s (s) sayings (qawlī), but rather also include his actions (fiʿlī), his explanations, and descriptions of his characteristics and attributes. Abu Hurayra (r) was very zealous in memorizing the Prophetic narrations, to the extent he even transmitted about the Prophet (s) by means of other companions after the Prophet’s (s) passed away.
Finally, most of the narrations of Abu Hurayra (r) were not only transmitted by him but also by many other honorable companions of the Prophet (s). The number of authentic (ṣaḥīḥ) and acceptable (ḥasan) traditions transmitted solely by Abu Hurayra (r) is roughly 110.
Translated with some modifications from: Muḥammad ʿAli bin Jamīl al-Maṭari: The Number of Abu Hurayra’s Traditions – An enumeration. (https://www.alukah.net/library/0/72967/)
