Last Tuesday, an elderly man, Ghassan Yunis Abu Ayman, most famously known as ‘Abu Hurairah,' which translates into ‘the father of kittens,' died due to coronavirus complications.

Abu Ayman suffered from complications for three months after contracting the virus.

Abu Ayman was known for tending to the cats and birds of Al-Aqsa Mosque’s compound in Occupied Jerusalem for almost three decades.

In Islam, Abu Hurairah (Abd Al-Rahman ibn Sakhr Al-Dausi Al-Zahrani) was one of the most prolific narrators of hadith, and a companion of Prophet Muhammad. 

In 2016, he told Al-Jazeera, “I see the cats coming towards me from every direction and they walk with me until I reach the grounds of the Dome of the Rock.”

Palestinians and worshippers in East Jerusalem mourned the ‘father of kittens,' after he won the hearts of citizens worldwide for showing compassion to the small animals of the compound.

Ghassan Yunis Abu Ayman has won hearts everywhere for feeding cats & birds

"I see the cats coming towards me from every direction & they walk with me"

https://t.co/4bzRAN3LUU via @MiddleEastMnt

— claudia-gertrud krings ???? i am a legal drug lady (@cgkrings) January 23, 2021

Al-Hajj Al-Murabit Ghassan Yunis “Abu Ayman”, nicknamed “Abu Huarirat Al-Aqsa”,
from the town of Ara in the occupied interior of Palestine, who died the yesterday of his infection with the Coronavirus.

..

— Ḋѵ (@MalwikaMargono) January 20, 2021

Hajj Al-Murabit, Ghassan Yunis "Abu Ayman", from the town of Ara, north of occupied Palestine, dies of COVID-19. https://t.co/uy4MujSAgU

— zilicc ???????????? (@ZiliaCastrillon) January 18, 2021