I never prayed behind any Imam a prayer lighter and more perfect than that behind the Prophet and he used to cut short the prayer whenever he heard the cries of a child lest he should put the child's mother to trial.

On the Day of the Conquest of Mecca, Allah's Apostle said, "Allah has made this town a sanctuary. Its thorny bushes should not be cut, its game should not be chased, and its fallen things should not be picked up except by one who would announce it publicly."

When the Ka`ba was rebuilt, the Prophet and `Abbas went to carry stones. `Abbas said to the Prophet "(Take off and) put your waist sheet over your neck so that the stones may not hurt you." (But as soon as he took off his waist sheet) he fell unconscious on the ground with both his eyes towards the sky. When he came to his senses, he said, "My waist sheet! My waist sheet!" Then he tied his waist sheet (round his waist).

Muslim al-Qurri heardlbn 'Abbas (Allah be pleased with them) saying that Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) entered into the state of Ihram for Umra and his Companions for Hajj. Neither Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) nor those among his Companions who had brought sacrificial animals with them put off Ihram, whereas the rest (of the pilgrims) did so. Talha b. Ubaidullah was one of those who had brought the sacrificial animals along with them so he did not put off Ihram.

Allah's Apostle got up on the day of the Conquest of Mecca and said, "Allah has made Mecca a sanctuary since the day He created the Heavens and the Earth, and it will remain a sanctuary by virtue of the sanctity Allah has bestowed on it till the Day of Resurrection. It (i.e. fighting in it) was not made lawful to anyone before me!, nor will it be made lawful to anyone after me, and it was not made lawful for me except for a short period of time. Its game should not be chased, nor should its trees be cut, nor its vegetation or grass uprooted, not its Luqata (i.e. Most things) picked up except by one who makes a public announcement about it." Al-Abbas bin `Abdul Muttalib said, "Except the Idhkhir, O Allah's Apostle, as it is indispensable for blacksmiths and houses." On that, the Prophet kept quiet and then said, "Except the Idhkhir as it is lawful to cut."

When the Prophet (saws) felt the need of relieving himself, he went far off where no one could see him.

It is part of the Sunnah that when a man sits down, he should take off his sandals and place them at his side.

The Prophet said, "No doubt, one had better take a rope (and cut) and tie a bundle of wood and sell it whereby Allah will keep his face away (from Hell-fire) rather than ask others who may give him or not."

Abu `Abdur-Rahman who was one of the supporters of `Uthman said to Abu Talha who was one of the supporters of `Ali, "I perfectly know what encouraged your leader (i.e. `Ali) to shed blood. I heard him saying: Once the Prophet sent me and Az-Zubair saying, 'Proceed to such-and-such Ar-Roudah (place) where you will find a lady whom Hatib has given a letter. So when we arrived at Ar-Roudah, we requested the lady to hand over the letter to us. She said, 'Hatib has not given me any letter.' We said to her. 'Take out the letter or else we will strip off your clothes.' So she took it out of her braid. So the Prophet sent for Hatib, (who came) and said, 'Don't hurry in judging me, for, by Allah, I have not become a disbeliever, and my love to Islam is increasing. (The reason for writing this letter was) that there is none of your companions but has relatives in Mecca who look after their families and property, while I have nobody there, so I wanted to do them some favor (so that they might look after my family and property).' The Prophet believed him. `Umar said, 'Allow me to chop off his (i.e. Hatib's) neck as he has done hypocrisy.' The Prophet said, (to `Umar), 'Who knows, perhaps Allah has looked at the warriors of Badr and said (to them), 'Do whatever you like, for I have forgiven you.' " `Abdur-Rahman added, "So this is what encouraged him (i.e. `Ali).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Humayd ibn Qays from Ata ibn Rabah that a bedouin came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when he was at Hunayn, and he was wearing a shirt with traces of yellow on it. He said, "Messenger of Allah, I have entered ihram for umra. What should I do?" The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, "Take off your shirt and wash off this yellowness and do in umra as you would do on hajj."

The Prophet said, "Before your time the angels received the soul of a man and asked him, 'Did you do any good deeds (in your life)?' He replied, 'I used to order my employees to grant time to the rich person to pay his debts at his convenience.' So Allah said to the angels; "Excuse him." Rabi said that (the dead man said), 'I used to be easy to the rich and grant time to the poor.' Or, in another narration, 'grant time to the well-off and forgive the needy,' or, 'accept from the well-off and forgive the needy.'

I slapped a freed slave of ours. My father called him and me and said: Take retaliation on him. We, the people of Banu Muqarrin, were seven during the time of the Prophet (saws),and we had only a female servant. A man of us slapped her. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Set her free. They said: We have no other servant than her. He said: She must serve them till they become well off. When they become well off, they should set her free.

The Prophet said, "Hurry up with the dead body for if it was righteous, you are forwarding it to welfare; and if it was otherwise, then you are putting off an evil thing down your necks."

The Prophet said, "A Muhrim should not wear a shirt, a turban, trousers, hooded cloaks, a garment touched with (perfumes) of saffron or wars, or Khuffs (socks made from thick fabric or leather) except if one has no sandals in which case he should cut short the Khuffs below the ankles."

The Prophet said, "Medina is a sanctuary from that place to that. Its trees should not be cut and no heresy should be innovated nor any sin should be committed in it, and whoever innovates in it an heresy or commits sins (bad deeds), then he will incur the curse of Allah, the angels, and all the people." (See Hadith No. 409, Vol 9).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that Abu Urwa ibn az-Zubayr used to take off his turban and wipe his head with water.

'Abdullah b. Shakhkhir narrated it on the authority of his father that he said prayer with the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him), and he spat and then rubbed it off with his left shoe.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been transmitted by 'Abd al-A'la from Ibn Ishaq who said: Abu Majidah is a man of Banu Sahm narrating from 'Umar b. al-Khattab.

Yahya related to me from Malik from his paternal uncle Abu Suhayl ibn Malik from his father that Kab al-Ahbar said to a man who took off his sandals, "Why have you taken off your sandals? Perhaps you have interpreted this ayat, 'Remove your sandals. You are in the pure valley of Tuwa?' (Sura 20 ayat 12) Do you know what the sandals of Musa were?"

Malik (the father of Abu Suhayl) said, "I do not know what the man answered." Kab said, "They were made from the skin of a dead donkey."

The Prophet said, "Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tales; and do not look for the others' faults and do not spy, and do not be jealous of one another, and do not desert (cut your relation with) one another, and do not hate one another; and O Allah's worshipers! Be brothers (as Allah has ordered you!")

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "It is better for anyone of you to take a rope (and cut) and bring a bundle of wood (from the forest) over his back and sell it and Allah will save his face (from the Hell-Fire) because of that, rather than to ask the people who may give him or not."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Khusayfa that he had asked Sulayman ibn Yasar whether zakat was due from a man who had wealth in hand but also owed a debt for the same amount, and he replied, "No."

Malik said, "The position that we are agreed upon concerning a debt is that the lender of it does not pay zakat on it until he gets it back. Even if it stays with the borrower for a number of years before the lender collects it, the lender only has to pay zakat on it once. If he collects an amount of the debt which is not zakatable, and has other wealth which is zakatable, then what he has collected of the debt is added to the rest of his wealth and he pays zakat on the total sum."

Malik continued, "If he has no ready money other than that which he has collected from his debt, and that does not reach a zakatable amount, then he does not have to pay any zakat. He must, however, keep a record of the amount that he has collected and if, later, he collects another amount which, when added to what he has already collected, brings zakat into effect, then he has to pay zakat on it."

Malik continued, "Zakat is due on this first amount, together with what he has further collected of the debt owed to him, regardless of whether or not he has used up what he first collected. If what he takes back reaches twenty dinars of gold, or two hundred dirhams of silver he pays zakat on it. He pays zakat on anything else he takes back afte rthat, whether it be a large or small amount, according to the amount."

Malik said, "What shows that zakat is only taken once from a debt which is out of hand for some years before it is recovered is that if goods remain with a man for trading purposes for some years before he sells them, he only has to pay zakat on their prices once. This is because the one who is owed the debt, or owns the goods, should not have to take the zakat on the debt, or the goods, from anything else, since the zakat on anything is only taken from the thing itself, and not from anything else."

Malik said, "Our position regarding some onewho owes a debt, and has goods which are worth enough to pay off the debt, and also has an amount of ready money which is zakatable, is that he pays the zakat on the ready money which he has to hand. If, however, he only has enough goods and ready money to pay off the debt, then he does not have to pay any zakat. But if the ready money that he has reaches a zakatable amount over and above the amount of the debt that he owes, then he must pay zakat on it."

The Prophet said to me, "Give up the prayer when your menses begin and when it has finished, wash the blood off your body (take a bath) and start praying."

The Prophet said, "The selling of wheat for wheat is Riba (usury) except if it is handed from hand to hand and equal in amount. Similarly the selling of barley for barley, is Riba except if it is from hand to hand and equal in amount, and dates for dates is usury except if it is from hand to hand and equal in amount. (See Riba-Fadl in the glossary).

Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever establishes the prayers on the night of Qadr out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's rewards (not to show off) then all his past sins will be forgiven."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Abbas used to have nose-bleeds and would leave to wash off the blood. He would then return and complete his prayer.

I asked the Prophet (saws) about the blood of menstruation on the clothe. He said: Erase it off with a piece of wood and then wash it away with water and the leaves of the lote-tree.