“And the servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth modestly, and when the ignorant address them [harshly], they say [words of] peace”
َQuran 25:63

One amazing exploit of Abu Hurayra is to walk on water.
Or so they claim !

There is no record of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, walking on water.
He walked modestly on the earth.

Many miracles of Isa (Jesus), peace be upon him, and his mother Mariam (Mary),peace be upon her, are recorded in the Quran.
However, there is none of him walking on water.
Isa and his mother walked modestly on the earth.

The Quran even recorded the parting of the sea for Musa (Moses), peace upon him.
However, there is none of him walking on water.
He walked modestly on the earth.

Abu Hurayra took part in the state machinery of Muawiya, the ruler in his time.
He did so well that he was a forerunner in story telling.
He served his master well and he gained fame.
He had such an imagination and rhetoric skills that he captivated his audience for generations to come.
He was an artist.
He was the lead of the Hollywood of his time.

What follows is what Tabarani [Born 260 Hijra / 821 CE – Died 360 Hijra / 918 CE] narrated in his collections of hadith and also what was narrated by other collectors.

In the translation of the original Arabic text, I tried to capture its meanings as best as I could.
I make no claim that it is perfect.

Abu Hurayra narrated:
“When the Prophet, peace be upon him, sent Al-Alaa bin Al-Hathramiy to Bahrain, I went with him.
I saw three things [that he has done] and I do no know which one of them is the most amazing.
We came to a sea shore and he said: “Mention the name [i.e. say the name of God] and walk into the sea !”
He [Abu Hurayra] said: “We mentioned the name.
We walked into the sea and we crossed it.
The only thing that the water touched is the bottom of our camels’ feet.
And when we came back we walked into an open stretch of land.
We had no water so we complained about it to him.
He prayed two rakaas [i.e. a short prayer] and then made a supplication.
Shortly afterwards, we saw a big cloud that rained plenty of water upon us.
And when he died, we buried him in the sand.
After we traveled for a short distance, we said to each other: “A beast might come and eat him!”
So we went back but we could not find him.”

It is even claimed that Al-Alaa bin Al-Hathramiy’s army was made up of four thousand soldiers.

It is of no surprise to me to hear this type of stories from a salafi or wahabi.
However, when you hear it from a person who claims to follow a sufi order then it is heart breaking.

They fell for it hook, line and sinker.

“The miracle is not to fly in the air,
or to walk on the water,
but to walk on the earth.”
Chinese proverb