—concerning the large number of reports you think I have over-narrated.” She replied, “Perhaps so.”⦗1⦘

When they wished to bury al-Ḥasan in the Prophet’s Chamber, a dispute broke out.

Muhammad ibn Saʿd said: Muhammad ibn ʿUmar informed us; Kathīr ibn Zayd narrated to us, from al-Walīd ibn Rabāḥ, who said: I heard Abū Hurayrah say to Marwān:

“By Allah, you are no governor; someone else is the governor. Leave him be”—meaning when they wanted to bury al-Ḥasan beside the Messenger of Allah—“for you are interfering in what does not concern you. All you seek by this is to win the approval of someone who is absent from you,” meaning Muʿāwiyah.

Marwān turned on him angrily and said, “Abū Hurayrah, people are saying that you narrate far too many ḥadith from the Messenger of Allah, even though you arrived only a short time before his death.”

He replied, “By Allah, I came while the Messenger of Allah was at Khaybar, and at that time I was already past thirty. I remained with him until he died: I would accompany him through the apartments of his wives, serve him, go on campaign with him, perform the pilgrimage with him, and pray behind him. By Allah, I was the most knowledgeable of people concerning his ḥadith.”⦗2⦘

Ibn Isḥāq narrated, from Muhammad ibn Ibrāhīm, from Abū Anas Mālik ibn Abī ʿĀmir, who said:

A man came to Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbayd Allāh and asked, “Abū Muḥammad, what do you say about this Yemeni—meaning Abū Hurayrah? Is he more knowledgeable of the Messenger of Allah’s ḥadith than you, for we hear from him things we do not hear from you, or is he attributing to the Messenger of Allah what he never said?”