He was from Yemeni tribe of Daws. He became a Muslim in the early days of 7 Hijri at the hands of Tufayl ibn Amr, the chief of his tribe. When he emigrated to Madina, the Holy Prophet was busy with the Khaybar campaign. He joined him in Khaybar. The Holy Prophet changed his name from Abdul Shams, to Abdul Rahman, saying: "A man is not the slave of either the sun or moon."

Hazrat Abu Huraira was very poor and modest. One day the Holy Prophet saw him cradling a cat and nicknamed him "Abu Hirr" (the father or owner of a cat). People soon began to call him Abu Huraira. However, he liked to be called Abu Hirr, since this title was given to him by the Holy Prophet.

He lived with his non-Muslim mother. Always praying her conversion, one day he asked the Holy Prophet to pray for this. He did so, and before he lowered his arms, Hazrat Abu Huraira ran to his house, so sure was he that the Holy Prophet's prayer would be accepted. When he arrived, his mother stopped him at the door so that she could finish ghusl (total ritual ablution). She then opened the door and declared her conversion. After this, Hazrat Abu Huraira requested the Holy Prophet to pray that believers should love him and his mother. The Holy Prophet did so. Therefore, love of Hazrat Abu Huraira is a mark of belief.

This Companion had an extra-ordinarily keen memory. He slept the first third of night, prayed and did his daily supererogatory recitations in the second third, and went over the Traditions (Hadith) he had memorized in order never to forget them in the last third. He memorized more than 5,000 Hadith. He never missed a discourse of the Holy Prophet, sought to learn his Hadith, and was a lover of knowledge.

One day he prayed: "O God, grant me knowledge I will never forget." The Holy Prophet heard him and said: "O God, amen." On another day, he told the Holy Prophet: "O Messenger of God, I don't want to forget something that I hear from you." The Holy Prophet asked him to take off his cloak and spread it on the ground, which Hazrat Abu Huraira did. The Holy Prophet then prayed and emptied his hands onto the cloak as if he had filled them with something from the Unseen. He ordered Hazrat Abu Huraira to fold up the cloak and hold it to his chest, which he did. After narrating this incident, Hazrat Abu Huraira used to say: "I folded it up and held it to my chest. I swear by God that [since then] I have not forgotten anything I heard from the Holy Prophet."

Hazrat Abu Huraira paid no heed to the world. He usually fasted 3 or 4 days successively because of poverty. Once he was very hungry, Hazrat Umar passed by him and he asked him about an "aya't" but he didn't understant what Abu Huraira meant. Then the Holy Prophet passed by and realized that he was hungry and said: "Abu Hurairah!", he replied "At your command" and followed him until they entered The Holy Prophet's house. The Prophet found a bowl of milk and asked his family: "From where did you get this?" "Someone sent it to you" they replied. The Prophet Drank some milk from that bowl & then said to Hazrat Abu Huraira: "O Abu Hurairah, go to the Ahl-as-Suffah and invite them." Abu Hurairah did as he was told and they all drank from the milk, but the bowl was still not empty from the milk.

Hazrat Abu Huraira patiently endured such hardship for the sake of Hadith. To those who sometimes warned him that he was narrating too many Hadith, he replied sincerely: "While my Emigrant brothers were busy in the bazaar and my Helper brothers with farming, I tried to keep my soul and body together to keep company with the Holy Prophet." Sometimes he said: "Were it not for the verse: Those who conceal the clear signs and the guidance that We have sent down, after We have shown them clearly in the Book, they shall be cursed by God and the curses, I would narrate nothing."

Some claim that other Companions were opposed to Hazrat Abu Huraira's narrating. This claim is groundless. Many Companions, among them Hazrat Abu Ayyub Ansari, Hazrat Abdullah ibn Umar, Hazrat Abdullah ibn Abbas, Hazrat Jabir ibn Abdullah Ansari, Hazrat Anas ibn Malik, and Hazrat Wasila ibn Aslam, narrated Hadith from him. Some asked Hazrat Abu Ayyub Ansari why he narrated from Hazrat Abu Huraira despite his earlier conversion, to which he would reply: "He heard from the Holy Prophet many things we did not hear."

Many leading Tabi'en also received numerous hadith from him, including Hazrat Hasan Basri, Hazrat Zayd ibn Aslam, Hazrat Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib (who married Hazrat Abu Huraira's daughter so that he could benefit from him more), Hazrat Sa'id ibn Yasar, Hazrat Sa'id al-Makburi, Hazrat Sulayman ibn Yasar, Hazrat Sha'bi, Hazrat Muhammad ibn Abi Bakkar, and Hazrat Qasim ibn Muhammad (who is accepted as a link in the chain of Naqshbandi spiritual guides).

Hazrat Abu Huraira, despite claims to the contrary by such Orientalists as Goldziher and their Muslim followers like Ahmad Amin, Abu Rayya, and Ali Abd al-Razzaq, was never anti-Ali and pro-Umayyad. He should have supported Hazrat Ali in the internal conflicts so that sedition would be crushed, but chose to remain neutral, for: "Seditions will appear, during which the one who sits [silent] is better than the one who stands (to participate); the one who stands is better than him who walks [to participate], and the one who walks is better than him who runs (in them)." This Hadith might not have been related to the internal conflicts during Hazrat Ali's caliphate, but Hazrat Abu Huraira thought that it was and so remained neutral. During the battle of Siffin between Hazrat Ali & Amir Mawiya, he used to sit on a hill & quietly watched them battling against each other. But he always performed his prayers in the leadership of Hazrat Ali.

On one occasion Hazrat Abu Huraira told the other Sahaba (The Companions of the Holy Prophet) that from the Messenger of God, I've learned two kinds of knowledge, the first kind of knowledge I've exposed to you people (i.e. Hadith). Sahaba (The Companions of the Holy Prophet) asked: And what is the 2nd kind of knowledge that you've learned from the Holy Prophet? Hazrat Abu Huraira replied: "If I would expose that, you people will cut my neck". It showes that besides the Ilm-e-Hadith, Hazrat Abu Huraira also learned the Ilm-e-Batin (The hidden knowledge or spiritual knowledge) from the Holy Prophet Mohammad (Sallallaho Alaihi Wa Sallam).