Ṣāliḥ ibn Abī al-Akhdar said, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, from Abū Salamah: I heard Abū Hurayrah say, “We were not able to say, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said…’ until ʿUmar had passed away (1).”

Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Dhuhlī said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated to us, from Maʿmar, from al-Zuhrī, who said: ʿUmar declared, “Cut down your narration from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ except in matters that are to be acted upon.” Al-Zuhrī continued: After that Abū Hurayrah would say, “Would I have been relating these aḥādīth to you while ʿUmar was still alive? By Allah, had I done so I would have been certain that the mikhfaqa (the whip) (2) would have landed on my back.” [ʿUmar used to say, “Busy yourselves with the Qur’an, for the Qur’an is the speech of Allah.” Thus when he sent Abū Mūsā to Iraq he told him, “You are coming to a people whose mosques hum with the Qur’an like the buzzing of bees, so leave them to what they are doing and do not occupy them with aḥādīth; I share that view with you.” This is well known from ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him)] (3).

Imām Aḥmad said: Hushaym narrated to us, from Yaʿlā ibn ʿAṭāʾ, from al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from Ibn ʿUmar: He passed by Abū Hurayrah while he was narrating from the Prophet ﷺ that he said, “Whoever follows a funeral procession and then prays over it receives one qīrāṭ; if he also witnesses the burial he receives two qīrāṭs—the qīrāṭ is greater than Mount Uḥud.” Ibn ʿUmar said to him, “Abū Hur, be careful what you relate from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” Abū Hurayrah thereupon rose, took him to ʿĀʾishah, and said, “Mother of the Believers, I adjure you by Allah—did you hear the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘Whoever follows a funeral and prays over it will have one qīrāṭ; if he witnesses its burial he will have two qīrāṭs’?” She replied, “By Allah, yes.” Abū Hurayrah then said, “Nothing kept me away from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—[neither the planting of al-wadi (4) nor trading in the markets; I sought from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ] (5) only a word he would teach me or a morsel he would feed me.” Ibn ʿUmar said to him, “Abū Hur, you were the most constant among us in keeping the company of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the most knowledgeable of his ḥadīth (6).”

Al-Wāqidī said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Nāfiʿ narrated to me, from his father: I was with Ibn ʿUmar at the funeral of Abū Hurayrah; he was walking in front of it, repeatedly invoking mercy for him, and saying, “He was one of those who preserved the ḥadīth of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for the Muslims (7).”

It has also been reported that ʿĀʾishah interpreted many ḥadīth transmitted by Abū Hurayrah and considered him mistaken in some of them; the authentic sources record that she reproached him for relating too many ḥadīth in a single session.