The Prophet (p.b.u.h) used to teach us the way of doing Istikhara (Istikhara means to ask Allah to guide one to the right sort of action concerning any job or a deed), in all matters as he taught us the Suras of the Qur'an. He said, "If anyone of you thinks of doing any job he should offer a two rak`at prayer other than the compulsory ones and say (after the prayer): -- 'Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi'ilmika, Wa astaqdiruka bi-qudratika, Wa as'alaka min fadlika Al-`azlm Fa-innaka taqdiru Wala aqdiru, Wa ta'lamu Wala a'lamu, Wa anta 'allamu l-ghuyub. Allahumma, in kunta ta'lam anna hadha-lamra Khairun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa'aqibati `Amri (or 'ajili `Amri wa'ajilihi) Faqdirhu wa yas-sirhu li thumma barik li Fihi, Wa in kunta ta'lamu anna hadha-lamra shar-run li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa'aqibati `Amri (or fi'ajili `Amri wa ajilihi) Fasrifhu anni was-rifni anhu. Waqdir li al-khaira haithu kana Thumma ardini bihi.' (O Allah! I ask guidance from Your knowledge, And Power from Your Might and I ask for Your great blessings. You are capable and I am not. You know and I do not and You know the unseen. O Allah! If You know that this job is good for my religion and my subsistence and in my Hereafter--(or said: If it is better for my present and later needs)--Then You ordain it for me and make it easy for me to get, And then bless me in it, and if You know that this job is harmful to me In my religion and subsistence and in the Hereafter--(or said: If it is worse for my present and later needs)--Then keep it away from me and let me be away from it. And ordain for me whatever is good for me, And make me satisfied with it). The Prophet added that then the person should name (mention) his need.

Ibn Maslamah and Ibn 'Isa reported from Muhammad b. al-Munkadir on the authority of Jabir.

"I told her (`Aisha): (Regarding the above narration), they (Apostles) were betrayed (by Allah)." She said: Allah forbid or said similarly.

Who, from among Ka`b's sons, was the guide of Ka`b when he became blind: I heard Ka`b bin Malik narrating the story of (the Ghazwa of) Tabuk in which he failed to take part. Ka`b said, "I did not remain behind Allah's Apostle in any Ghazwa that he fought except the Ghazwa of Tabuk, and I failed to take part in the Ghazwa of Badr, but Allah did not admonish anyone who had not participated in it, for in fact, Allah's Apostle had gone out in search of the caravan of Quraish till Allah made them (i.e. the Muslims) and their enemy meet without any appointment. I witnessed the night of Al-`Aqaba (pledge) with Allah's Apostle when we pledged for Islam, and I would not exchange it for the Badr battle although the Badr battle is more popular amongst the people than it (i.e. Al-`Aqaba pledge). As for my news (in this battle of Tabuk), I had never been stronger or wealthier than I was when I remained behind the Prophet in that Ghazwa. By Allah, never had I two she-camels before, but I had then at the time of this Ghazwa. Whenever Allah's Apostle wanted to make a Ghazwa, he used to hide his intention by apparently referring to different Ghazwa till it was the time of that Ghazwa (of Tabuk) which Allah's Apostle fought in severe heat, facing, a long journey, desert, and the great number of enemy. So the Prophet announced to the Muslims clearly (their destination) so that they might get prepared for their Ghazwa. So he informed them clearly of the destination he was going to. Allah's Apostle was accompanied by a large number of Muslims who could not be listed in a book namely, a register." Ka`b added, "Any man who intended to be absent would think that the matter would remain hidden unless Allah revealed it through Divine Revelation. So Allah's Apostle fought that Ghazwa at the time when the fruits had ripened and the shade looked pleasant. Allah's Apostle and his companions prepared for the battle and I started to go out in order to get myself ready along with them, but I returned without doing anything. I would say to myself, 'I can do that.' So I kept on delaying it every now and then till the people got ready and Allah's Apostle and the Muslims along with him departed, and I had not prepared anything for my departure, and I said, I will prepare myself (for departure) one or two days after him, and then join them.' In the morning following their departure, I went out to get myself ready but returned ...

"Hint your intention of marrying' is made by saying (to the widow) for example: "I want to marry, and I wish that Allah will make a righteous lady available for me.' " Al-Qasim said: One may say to the widow: 'I hold all respect for you, and I am interested in you; Allah will bring you much good, or something similar 'Ata said: One should hint his intention, and should not declare it openly. One may say: 'I have some need. Have good tidings. Praise be to Allah; you are fit to remarry.' She (the widow) may say in reply: I am listening to what you say,' but she should not make a promise. Her guardian should not make a promise (to somebody to get her married to him) without her knowledge. But if, while still in the Iddat period, she makes a promise to marry somebody, and he ultimately marries her, they are not to be separated by divorce (i.e., the marriage is valid).

As-Salami: Allah's Apostle used to teach his companions to perform the prayer of Istikhara for each and every matter just as he used to teach them the Suras from the Qur'an He used to say, "If anyone of you intends to do some thing, he should offer a two rak`at prayer other than the compulsory prayers, and after finishing it, he should say: O Allah! I consult You, for You have all knowledge, and appeal to You to support me with Your Power and ask for Your Bounty, for You are able to do things while I am not, and You know while I do not; and You are the Knower of the Unseen. O Allah If You know It this matter (name your matter) is good for me both at present and in the future, (or in my religion), in my this life and in the Hereafter, then fulfill it for me and make it easy for me, and then bestow Your Blessings on me in that matter. O Allah! If You know that this matter is not good for me in my religion, in my this life and in my coming Hereafter (or at present or in the future), then divert me from it and choose for me what is good wherever it may be, and make me be pleased with it." (See Hadith No. 391, Vol. 8)

Once I went out at night and found Allah's Apostle walking all alone accompanied by nobody, and I thought that perhaps he disliked that someone should accompany him. So I walked in the shade, away from the moonlight, but the Prophet looked behind and saw me and said, "Who is that?" I replied, "Abu Dhar, let Allah get me sacrificed for you!" He said, "O Abu Dhar, come here!" So I accompanied him for a while and then he said, "The rich are in fact the poor (little rewarded) on the Day of Resurrection except him whom Allah gives wealth which he gives (in charity) to his right, left, front and back, and does good deeds with it. I walked with him a little longer. Then he said to me, "Sit down here." So he made me sit in an open space surrounded by rocks, and said to me, "Sit here till I come back to you." He went towards Al-Harra till I could not see him, and he stayed away for a long period, and then I heard him saying, while he was coming, "Even if he had committed theft, and even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse?" When he came, I could not remain patient and asked him, "O Allah's Prophet! Let Allah get me sacrificed for you! Whom were you speaking to by the side of Al-Harra? I did not hear anybody responding to your talk." He said, "It was Gabriel who appeared to me beside Al-Harra and said, 'Give the good news to your followers that whoever dies without having worshipped anything besides Allah, will enter Paradise.' I said, 'O Gabriel! Even if he had committed theft or committed illegal sexual intercourse?' He said, 'Yes.' I said, 'Even if he has committed theft or committed illegal sexual intercourse?' He said, 'Yes.' I said, 'Even if he has committed theft or committed illegal sexual intercourse?' He said, 'Yes.' "

`Abdullah bin `Umar said to me, "Do you know what my father said to your father once?" I said, "No." He said, "My father said to your father, 'O Abu Musa, will it please you that we will be rewarded for our conversion to Islam with Allah's Apostle and our migration with him, and our Jihad with him and all our good deeds which we did, with him, and that all the deeds we did after his death will be disregarded whether good or bad?' Your father (i.e. Abu Musa) said, 'No, by Allah, we took part in Jihad after Allah's Apostle , prayed and did plenty of good deeds, and many people have embraced Islam at our hands, and no doubt, we expect rewards from Allah for these good deeds.' On that my father (i.e. `Umar) said, 'As for myself, By Him in Whose Hand `Umar's soul is, I wish that the deeds done by us at the time of the Prophet remain rewardable while whatsoever we did after the death of the Prophet be enough to save us from Punishment in that the good deeds compensate for the bad ones.' " On that I said (to Ibn `Umar), "By Allah, your father was better than my father!"

When Allah's Apostle came to Medina, Abu Bakr and Bilal got fever, and I went to both of them and said, "O my father, how do you feel? O Bilal, how do you feel?" Whenever Abu Bakr's fever got worse, he would say, "Every man will meet his death once in one morning while he will be among his family, for death is really nearer to him than his leather shoe laces (to his feet)." And whenever fever deserted Bilal, he would say aloud, "Would that I know whether I shall spend a night in the valley (of Mecca) with Idhkhir and Jalil (i.e. kinds of grass) around me, and whether I shall drink one day the water of Mijannah, and whether I shall see once again the hills of Shamah and Tafil?" Then I went to Allah's Apostle and told him of that. He said, "O Allah, make us love Medina as much as or more than we used to love Mecca, O Allah, make it healthy and bless its Sa' and Mud (i.e. measures), and take away its fever to Al-Juhfa."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az- Zubayr that Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qari said that he had heard Umar ibn al-Khattab say, "I heard Hisham ibn Hakim ibn Hizam reciting Surat al-Furqan (Sura 25) differently from me, and it was the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who had recited it to me. I was about to rush up to him but I granted him a respite until he had finished his prayer. Then I grabbed him by his cloak and took him to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, 'Messenger of Allah, I heard this man reciting Surat al- Furqan differently from the way you recited it to me.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Let him go.' Then he said, 'Recite, Hisham,' and Hisham recited as I had heard him recite. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'It was sent down like that.' Then he said to me, 'Recite' and I recited the sura, and he said, 'It was sent down like that. This Qur'an was sent down in seven (different) ways, so recite from it whatever is easy for you .' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ibrahim ibn Abdullah ibn Hunayn from his father Abdullah ibn Hunayn that Abdullah ibn Abbas and al-Miswar ibn Makhrama once had a disagreement at al-Abwa. Abdullah said that some one in ihram could wash his head, and al Miswar ibn Makhrama maintained that some one in ihram could not wash his head.

Abdullah ibn Hunayn continued, "Abdullah ibn Abbas sent me to Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, and I found him doing ghusl between the posts of a well, screened by a garment. I greeted him and hesaid, 'Who is that?' I replied, 'I am 'Abdullah ibn Hunayn. 'Abdullah ibn Abbas sent me to you to ask how the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to wash his head when he was in ihram.' "

He continued, "Abu Ayyub put his hand on the garment and pulled it down until I could see his head. He said to the man who was pouring out the water for him, 'Pour,' and he poured some over his head. Then he passed his hands over his head from the front to the back and then to the front again, and then said, 'I saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, doing it like this.' "

`Abdullah bin Al-Abbas and Al-Miswar bin Makhrama differed at Al-Abwa'; Ibn `Abbas said that a Muhrim could wash his head; while Al-Miswar maintained that he should not do so. `Abdullah bin `Abbas sent me to Abu Aiyub Al-Ansari and I found him bathing between the two wooden posts (of the well) and was screened with a sheet of cloth. I greeted him and he asked who I was. I replied, "I am `Abdullah bin Hunain and I have been sent to you by Ibn `Abbas to ask you how Allah's Apostle used to wash his head while in the state of lhram." Abu Aiyub Al-Ansari caught hold of the sheet of cloth and lowered it till his head appeared before me, and then told somebody to pour water on his head. He poured water on his head, and he (Abu Aiyub) rubbed his head with his hands by bringing them from back to front and from front to back and said, "I saw the Prophet doing like this."

That the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "Whoever takes a false oath to deprive a Muslim of his wealth, he will meet Allah while He is angry with him."

Al-Ash'ath bin Qais said: "It is about me, by Allah! There was a dispute about some land between myself and a man from the Jews who denied my ownership of it, so I took him to the Prophet (saws). The Messenger of Allah (saws) said to me: 'Do you have any proof ?' I said: 'No'. So he said to Jew: 'Take an oath.' I said: 'O Messenger of Allah! If he takes an oath then my property will be gone!' So Allah, Most High revealed: Verily those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah's Covenant and their oaths.. until the end of the Ayah."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] There are narrations on this topic from Wa'il bin Hujr, Abu Musa, Abu Umamah bin Tha'labah Al-Ansari, and 'Imran bin Husain. The Hadith of Ibn Mas'ud is a Hasan Sahih Hadith.

I was present with the Messenger of Allah at the battle of Hunayn. We travelled on a hot day when the heat was extreme. We halted under the shade of a tree. When the sun passed the meridian, I put on my coat of mail and rode on my horse. I came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) who was in a tent.

I said: Peace, Allah's mercy and His blessings be upon you! The time of departure has come.

He said: Yes. He then said: Rise, Bilal. He jumped out from beneath a gum-acacia tree and its shade was like that of a bird.

He said: I am at your service and at your pleasure, and I make myself a sacrifice for you.

He said: Put the saddle on the horse for me. He then took out a saddle, both sides of which were stuffed with palm-leaves; it showed no arrogance and pride. So he rode and we also rode. He then mentioned the rest of the tradition.

Abu Dawud said: Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri did not transmit any tradition except this one. This is a tradition of an expert transmitted by Hammad b. Salamah.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu Hazim ibn Dinar that Abu Idris al-Khawlani said, "I entered the Damascus mosque and there was a young man with a beautiful mouth and white teeth sitting with some people. When they disagreed about something, they referred it to him and proceeded from his statement. I inquired about him, and it was said, 'This is Muadh ibn Jabal.' The next day I went to the noon-prayer, and I found that he had preceded me to the noon prayer and I found him praying."

Abu Idris continued, "I waited for him until he had finished the prayer. Then I came to him from in front of him and greeted him and said, 'By Allah! I love you for Allah!' He said, 'By Allah?' I said, 'By Allah.' He said, 'By Allah?' I said, 'By Allah.' He said, 'By Allah?' I said, 'By Allah.' "

He continued, "He took me by the upper part of my cloak and pulled me to him and said, 'Rejoice! I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, said, 'My love is obliged for those who love each other in Me, and those who sit with each other in Me, and those who visit each other in Me, and those who give to each other generously in Me.' " ' "

It was said, "O Allah's Apostle! We know how to greet you, but how to invoke Allah for you?" The Prophet said, "Say: Allahumma salli ala Muhammadin wa'ala `Ali Muhammaddin, kama sallaita 'ala all Ibrahim, innaka Hamidun Majid."

The Prophet said, "There will emerge from the East some people who will recite the Qur'an but it will not exceed their throats and who will go out of (renounce) the religion (Islam) as an arrow passes through the game, and they will never come back to it unless the arrow, comes back to the middle of the bow (by itself) (i.e., impossible). The people asked, "What will their signs be?" He said, "Their sign will be the habit of shaving (of their beards and their heads). (Fath-ul-Bari, Page 322, Vol. 17th)

The Prophet said, "By Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not believe!" It was said, "Who is that, O Allah's Apostle?" He said, "That person whose neighbor does not feel safe from his evil."

"I heard Ibn 'Abbas saying: 'Umar bin Al-Khattab narrated to me that he said: "It was said: 'O Messenger of Allah! So-and-so has been martyred.' He said: "No! I saw him in the fire of garment he pilfered from the spoils of war.' He said: 'Stand up O 'Umar! Call out that no one enters paradise except the believers.' Three times."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Sahih Gharib.

When Ibrahim, the son of the Prophet (saws) died, he prayed over him at the place where he used to sit.

Abu Dawud said: I recited to Sa'id b. Ya'qub al-Taliqani saying: Ibn al-Mubarak transmitted to you from Ya'qub b. al-Qa'qa' on the authority of 'Ata that the Prophet (saws) prayed over his son Ibrahim when he was seventeen days old.

The garlic and onions were mentioned before the Messenger of Allah (saws). He was told: The most severe of them is garlic. Would you make it unlawful? The Prophet (saws) said: Eat it, and he who eats it should not come near this mosque until its odour goes away.

There gathered near the House (i.e. the Ka`ba) two Quraishi persons and a person from Thaqif (or two persons from Thaqif and one from Quraish), and all of them with very fat bellies but very little intelligence. One of them said, "Do you think that Allah hears what we say?" Another said, "He hears us when we talk in a loud voice, but He doesn't hear us when we talk in a low tone." The third said, "If He can hear when we talk in a loud tone, then He can also hear when we speak in a low tone." Then Allah, the Honorable, the Majestic revealed: 'And you have not been screening against yourself lest your ears, and eyes and your skins should testify against you....' (41.22-23)

This hadith has been narrated through another chain as well.

When Khalid al-Qasri was made ruler (of Hijaz and Kufah), he doubled the measure of sa'. The sa' then measured sixteen rotls.

Abu Dawud said: Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Khattab was slain by Negroes in confinement. He said while signing with his hand: "in this way". Abu Dawud extended his hand and turned his palms towards earth and said: I saw him in the dream and asked him: How did Allah deal with you ? He replied: He admitted to Paradise. I said: Your detention did not harm you.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Said ibn al-Musayyab had said that Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "If a man marries a woman who is insane, or has leprosy or white leprosy, without being told of her condition by her guardian, and he has sexual relations with her, she keeps her bride-price in its entirety. Her husband has damages against her guardian."

Malik said, "The husband has damages against her guardian when the guardian is her father, brother, or one who is deemed to have knowledge of her condition. If the guardian who gives her in marriage is a nephew, a mawla or a member of her tribe who is not deemed to have knowledge of her condition, there are no damages against him, and the woman returns what she has taken of her bride-price, and the husband leaves her whatever amount is thought to be fair."

The Prophet said, "Whoever takes a false oath to deprive somebody of his property will meet Allah while He will be angry with him." Allah revealed: 'Verily those who purchase a little gain at the cost of Allah's covenant, and their oaths.' ........(3.77) Al-Ashath came (to the place where `Abdullah was narrating) and said, "What has Abu `Abdur- Rahman (i.e. `Abdullah) been telling you? This verse was revealed concerning me. I had a well in the land of a cousin of mine. The Prophet asked me to bring witnesses (to confirm my claim). I said, 'I don't have witnesses.' He said, 'Let the defendant take an oath then.' I said, 'O Allah's Apostle! He will take a (false) oath immediately.' Then the Prophet mentioned the above narration and Allah revealed the verse to confirm what he had said." (See Hadith No. 692)

I had a hanging lock of hair. My mother said to me: I shall not cut it, for the Messenger of Allah (saws) used to stretch it our and hold it.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from his father that he said to Umar ibn al-Khattab, "There is a blind she- camel behind the house,'' soUmar said, "Hand it over to a household so that they can make (some) use of it." He said, "But she is blind." Umar replied, "Then put it in a line with other camels." He said, "How will it be able to eat from the ground?" Umar asked, "Is it from the livestock of the jizya or the zakat?" and Aslam replied, "From the livestock of the jizya." Umar said, "By AIIah, you wish to eat it." Aslam said, "It has the brand of the jizya on it." So Umar ordered it to be slaughtered. He had nine platters, and on each of the platters he put some of every fruit and delicacy that there was and then sent them to the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the one he sent to his daughter Hafsa was the last of them all, and if there was any deficiency in any of them it was in Hafsa's portion.

"He put meat from the slaughtered animal on the platters and sent them to the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he ordered what was left of the meat of the slaughtered animal to be prepared. Then he invited the Muhajirun and the Ansar to eat it."

Malik said, "I do not think that livestock should be taken from people who pay the jizya except as jizya."

Allah's Apostle used to visit Um Haram bint Milhan she was the wife of 'Ubada bin As-Samit. One day the Prophet visited her and she provided him with food and started looking for lice in his head. Then Allah's Apostle slept and afterwards woke up smiling. Um Haram asked, "What makes you smile, O Allah's Apostle?" He said, "Some of my followers were presented before me in my dream as fighters in Allah's Cause, sailing in the middle of the seas like kings on the thrones or like kings sitting on their thrones." (The narrator 'Is-haq is not sure as to which expression was correct). Um Haram added, 'I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Invoke Allah, to make me one of them;" So Allah's Apostle invoked Allah for her and then laid his head down (and slept). Then he woke up smiling (again). (Um Haram added): I said, "What makes you smile, O Allah's Apostle?" He said, "Some people of my followers were presented before me (in a dream) as fighters in Allah's Cause." He said the same as he had said before. I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Invoke Allah to make me from them." He said, "You are among the first ones." Then Um Haram sailed over the sea during the Caliphate of Muawiya bin Abu Sufyan, and she fell down from her riding animal after coming ashore, and died.

`Uqba bin `Amr said to Hudhaifa, "Won't you relate to us of what you have heard from Allah's Apostle ?" He said, "I heard him saying, "When Al-Dajjal appears, he will have fire and water along with him. What the people will consider as cold water, will be fire that will burn (things). So, if anyone of you comes across this, he should fall in the thing which will appear to him as fire, for in reality, it will be fresh cold water." Hudhaifa added, "I also heard him saying, 'From among the people preceding your generation, there was a man whom the angel of death visited to capture his soul. (So his soul was captured) and he was asked if he had done any good deed.' He replied, 'I don't remember any good deed.' He was asked to think it over. He said, 'I do not remember, except that I used to trade with the people in the world and I used to give a respite to the rich and forgive the poor (among my debtors). So Allah made him enter Paradise." Hudhaifa further said, "I also heard him saying, 'Once there was a man on his death-bed, who, losing every hope of surviving said to his family: When I die, gather for me a large heap of wood and make a fire (to burn me). When the fire eats my meat and reaches my bones, and when the bones burn, take and crush them into powder and wait for a windy day to throw it (i.e. the powder) over the sea. They did so, but Allah collected his particles and asked him: Why did you do so? He replied: For fear of You. So Allah forgave him." `Uqba bin `Amr said, "I heard him saying that the Israeli used to dig the grave of the dead (to steal their shrouds).

While I was sitting with some people from Quraish, a man with very rough hair, clothes, and appearance came and stood in front of us, greeted us and said, "Inform those who hoard wealth, that a stone will be heated in the Hell-fire and will be put on the nipples of their breasts till it comes out from the bones of their shoulders and then put on the bones of their shoulders till it comes through the nipples of their breasts the stone will be moving and hitting." After saying that, the person retreated and sat by the side of the pillar, I followed him and sat beside him, and I did not know who he was. I said to him, "I think the people disliked what you had said." He said, "These people do not understand anything, although my friend told me." I asked, "Who is your friend?" He said, "The Prophet said (to me), 'O Abu Dhar! Do you see the mountain of Uhud?' And on that I (Abu Dhar) started looking towards the sun to judge how much remained of the day as I thought that Allah's Apostle wanted to send me to do something for him and I said, 'Yes!' He said, 'I do not love to have gold equal to the mountain of Uhud unless I spend it all (in Allah's cause) except three Dinars (pounds). These people do not understand and collect worldly wealth. No, by Allah, Neither I ask them for worldly benefits nor am I in need of their religious advice till I meet Allah, The Honorable, The Majestic." '

Abu Bakr came to my father who was at home and purchased a saddle from him. He said to `Azib. "Tell your son to carry it with me." So I carried it with him and my father followed us so as to take the price (of the saddle). My father said, "O Abu Bakr! Tell me what happened to you on your night journey with Allah's Apostle (during Migration)." He said, "Yes, we travelled the whole night and also the next day till midday. when nobody could be seen on the way ( because of the severe heat) . Then there appeared a long rock having shade beneath it, and the sunshine had not come to it yet. So we dismounted there and I levelled a place and covered it with an animal hide or dry grass for the Prophet to sleep on (for a while). I then said, 'Sleep, O Allah's Apostle, and I will guard you.' So he slept and I went out to guard him. Suddenly I saw a shepherd coming with his sheep to that rock with the same intention we had when we came to it. I asked (him). 'To whom do you belong, O boy?' He replied, 'I belong to a man from Medina or Mecca.' I said, 'Do your sheep have milk?' He said, 'Yes.' I said, 'Will you milk for us?' He said, 'Yes.' He caught hold of a sheep and I asked him to clean its teat from dust, hairs and dirt. (The sub-narrator said that he saw Al-Bara' striking one of his hands with the other, demonstrating how the shepherd removed the dust.) The shepherd milked a little milk in a wooden container and I had a leather container which I carried for the Prophet to drink and perform the ablution from. I went to the Prophet, hating to wake him up, but when I reached there, the Prophet had already awakened; so I poured water over the middle part of the milk container, till the milk was cold. Then I said, 'Drink, O Allah's Apostle!' He drank till I was pleased. Then he asked, 'Has the time for our departure come?' I said, 'Yes.' So we departed after midday. Suraqa bin Malik followed us and I said, 'We have been discovered, O Allah's Apostle!' He said, Don't grieve for Allah is with us.' The Prophet invoked evil on him (i.e. Suraqa) and so the legs of his horse sank into the earth up to its belly. (The subnarrator, Zuhair is not sure whether Abu Bakr said, "(It sank) into solid earth.") Suraqa said, 'I see that you have invoked evil on me. Please invoke good on me, and by Allah, I will cause those who are seeking after you to return.' The Prophet invoked good on him and he was saved. Then, whenever he ...

I asked Aba Salama, "Which Sura of the Qur'an was revealed first?" He replied, "O you, wrapped-up' (Al-Muddaththir)." I said, "I have been informed that it was, 'Read, in the Name of your Lord who created (i.e. Surat Al-Alaq)...similar to the narration related by `Ali bin Al-Mubarak, 444 above).

A group of Jews came to Allah's Apostle and said, "As-samu 'Alaika " (Death be on you), and I understood it and said to them, "Alaikum AsSamu wa-l-la'na (Death and curse be on you)." Allah's Apostle said, "Be calm! O `Aisha, for Allah loves that one should be kind and lenient in all matters." I said. "O Allah's Apostle! Haven't you heard what they have said?" Allah's Apostle said, "I have (already) said (to them), 'Alaikum (upon you).' "

The Prophet said, "I saw myself (in a dream) entering Paradise, and behold! I saw Ar-Rumaisa', Abu Talha's wife. I heard footsteps. I asked, Who is it? Somebody said, 'It is Bilal ' Then I saw a palace and a lady sitting in its courtyard. I asked, 'For whom is this palace?' Somebody replied, 'It is for `Umar.' I intended to enter it and see it, but I thought of your (`Umar's) Ghira (and gave up the attempt)." `Umar said, "Let my parents be sacrificed for you, O Allah's Apostle! How dare I think of my Ghira (self-respect) being offended by you?

`Ali was told that Ibn `Abbas did not see any harm in the Mut'a marriage. `Ali said, "Allah's Apostle forbade the Mut'a marriage on the Day of the battle of Khaibar and he forbade the eating of donkey's meat." Some people said, "If one, by a tricky way, marries temporarily, his marriage is illegal." Others said, "The marriage is valid but its condition is illegal."

Ibn `Abbas was asked whether he had joined the Prophet in the `Id prayer. He said, "Yes. And I could not have joined him had I not been young. (The Prophet came out) till he reached the mark which was near the house of Kathir bin As-Salt, offered the prayer, delivered the Khutba and then went towards the women. Bilal was accompanying him. He preached to them and advised them and ordered them to give alms. I saw the women putting their ornaments with their outstretched hands into Bilal's garment. Then the Prophet along with Bilal returned home.