It is narrated from Muhammad bin Umarah bin Amr bin Hazm that he sat in a gathering in which Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) was present, and more than ten elderly men from among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) were also seated there. Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) began narrating to them the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); some of those Companions would not recognise a hadith and some would recognise it, until he had done this several times. On that day I came to know that Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) was the person with the best memory of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

Abu Anas Malik bin Abi Amir narrates: I was with Sayyiduna Talhah bin Ubaydullah (may Allah be pleased with him) when a man came in and said: "O Abu Muhammad! By Allah, we do not know whether this Yemeni (Abu Hurayrah) knows more about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) than you people, or what the matter is. He says things on behalf of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say" - meaning Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "By Allah! We have no doubt that he heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) what we did not hear, and came to know what we did not know. For we were wealthy people with houses and families; we would come to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at the two ends of the day and then go back. Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), however, was poor, with neither wealth, nor family, nor children; his hand was always in the hand of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he went wherever he (peace and blessings be upon him) went. So we have no doubt that he came to know what we could not know and heard what we could not hear, and none of us ever accused him of attributing to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) something he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.