Under 'Umar's Watchful Eye

After the Prophet's death, Abu Hurayrah took no easy path. 'Umar appointed him to a post in Bahrain, and later reports say that when 'Umar saw how much wealth he had gathered, he questioned him closely and took a large part of it for the treasury; when he later asked Abu Hurayrah to serve again, Abu Hurayrah declined. The chains of these reports are mixed, and the tone of the exchange is told in different ways.

Other reports say 'Umar told the Companions to narrate less from the Prophet ﷺ in his time, so that people would give their attention to the Qur'an and not mistake hadith for it. 'Umar's concern was for accuracy and focus. It was not directed at the honesty of Abu Hurayrah in particular.

In the years of 'Uthman and Mu'awiyah he lived in Madinah, where he taught and for a time served as its deputy governor. He stayed out of the civil strife, and he was a regular teacher whom students travelled to hear.