Some of the Prophet’s companions were very close to him, but they do not feature among those who report a large number of Hadiths.
They have a reason for that which is explained by one of them, Abu Qatadah Al-Harith ibn Rib’iy of the Ansar. He was a man of great courage, and he fought in the Muslim army in all the Prophet’s expeditions, starting with the Battle of Uhud. The Prophet says of him: "The best of our horsemen is Abu Qatadah." Once in battle he was injured by an arrow hitting his face. The Prophet used his saliva to rub over the wound and it healed.
On more than one occasion, the Prophet prayed for him. He was traveling once alongside the Prophet when he noticed that the Prophet was overtaken by sleep and was leaning to one side. He moved closer to him and supported him. The Prophet woke up and said to him, "May God protect you as you have protected His Prophet." (Related by Muslim).
On one occasion, the Prophet said to him: "Whoever grows hair should take care of it and trim it." He also said to him: "Take care of your long hair and comb it frequently." This is a clear indication which suggests that people who claim that it is wrong to trim one’s beard may be mistaken.
Despite being close to the Prophet, Abu Qatadah did not report many Hadiths. In fact, all the Hadiths that he has reported amount to 170, which is a much smaller number than several others who reported the Prophet’s Hadiths. He was once asked by a woman: "Why do you not report the Prophet’s statements as other people report them?" He answered: "I heard the Prophet saying: ‘Whoever attributes something untrue to me should prepare for himself a position to recline in Hell’." As the Prophet said this, he was smoothing the earth with his hand. (Related by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad, and El-Shafie). This Hadith states the reason which made a number of the Prophet’s companions highly reluctant to quote him, for fear that they might replace a word here or there, or misquote him in some other way. If they were to attribute it to the Prophet and state that he said this, they feared that it might be counted as a lie. This would put them in the position the Prophet warns against. Needless to say, God knows that they intend no such a thing, and if they make a mistake, it would be a genuine mistake.
We know that God would not punish anyone for a genuine mistake, as the Prophet himself has made clear. Nevertheless, these companions of the Prophet were so reluctant to quote him for fear of making a mistake in such quotation. Some of them would quote him only very sparingly, as in the case of Abu Qatadah, who would have reported several times as many Hadiths as are related through him. Others would qualify any quotation they make from the Prophet by adding the phrase, "or he might have said something similar to this."
It is often the case that the Prophet’s companions might say a Hadith which they heard the Prophet saying, but without attributing it to him.
This means that the Hadith would be reported as if it was said by the companion reporting it, but scholars of Hadith would know that no one of the Prophet’s companions would have ever said anything relevant to the religion of Islam unless he had heard it from the Prophet. This is one of the reasons why Hadith scholars include such reports, particularly when a report involves a prohibition. No one would dare describe anything as forbidden without clear evidence from the Qur’an or the Sunnah, because the authority to forbid anything belongs only to God.
A Hadith that is clearly attributed to the Prophet is given on the authority of Abdullah ibn Mughaffal Al-Muzni who says: "The Prophet has warned against khathf, and said: ‘It neither kills game nor hurts an enemy, but it may blind an eye or break a tooth’." (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim and Al-Nassaie). We should first explain that khathf is a form of throwing little pebbles, by placing the pebble between the two index fingers, or between one’s thumb and index finger, or between the back of the middle finger and the inside of the thumb and shooting it. The is reported in other ways, one of which suggests that Abdullah ibn Mughaffal saw someone doing it, and he told him not to, and reported the Hadith to him.
The Prophet gives a clear explanation for his disapproval of this method of shooting pebbles. It certainly gives the pebble more speed than a normal throw, and this makes it more effective. But the Prophet explains that although it is a more powerful throw, it does not achieve either of the two legitimate purposes for which it may be done, namely killing game and hurting an enemy.
Somebody may suggest that it could help a hunter by injuring game, or even killing it, but even then it is not acceptable, since this is only in very narrow sense. Normally people would not resort to hunting by throwing little stones at game. Nor does it hurt the enemy, although it may be more painful than when one is hit by a pebble thrown normally.
The main disadvantage in this method is that if the pebble hits a person or an animal, it may make him blind or break his tooth. This is sufficient reason for discouraging it, even to the point of prohibition.
