The Prophet said, "Isn't the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?" The women said, "Yes." He said, "This is because of the deficiency of a woman's mind."

The Prophet was asked, "Who are the best people?" He replied: The people of my generation, and then those who will follow (come after) them, and then those who will come after the later; after that there will come some people whose witness will precede their oaths and their oaths will go ahead of their witness." Ibrahim (a sub-narrator) said, "When we were young, our elder friends used to prohibit us from taking oaths by saying, 'I bear witness swearing by Allah, or by Allah's Covenant."'

The Prophet said, "The people of my generation are the best, then those who follow them, and then whose who follow the latter. After that there will come some people whose witness will go ahead of their oaths, and their oaths will go ahead of their witness." Ibrahim (a sub-narrator) said, "We used to be beaten for taking oaths by saying, 'I bear witness by the Name of Allah or by the Covenant of Allah."

The Prophet said, "The best people are those living in my generation, and then those who will follow them, and then those who will follow the latter. Then there will come some people who will bear witness before taking oaths, and take oaths before bearing witness." (Ibrahim, a sub-narrator said, "They used to beat us for witnesses and covenants when we were still children.")

The Prophet. said, "The biggest of the great sins are: To join others in worship with Allah, to be undutiful to one's parents, and to give a false witness." He repeated it thrice, or said, "....a false statement," and kept on repeating that warning till we wished he would stop saying it. (See Hadith No.7, Vol. 8)

Allah's Apostle said thrice, "Shall I not inform you of the biggest of the great sins?" We said, "Yes, O Allah's Apostle" He said, "To join partners in worship with Allah: to be undutiful to one's parents." The Prophet sat up after he had been reclining and added, "And I warn you against giving forged statement and a false witness; I warn you against giving a forged statement and a false witness." The Prophet kept on saying that warning till we thought that he would not stop.

Allah's Apostle mentioned the greatest sins or he was asked about the greatest sins. He said, "To join partners in worship with Allah; to kill a soul which Allah has forbidden to kill; and to be undutiful or unkind to one's parents." The Prophet added, "Shall I inform you of the biggest of the great sins? That is the forged statement or the false witness." Shu`ba (the sub-narrator) states that most probably the Prophet said, "the false witness."

A delegation of the tribe of `Abdul Qais came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! We are from the tribe of Rabi`a, and the infidels of the tribe of Mudar stands between us and you; so we cannot come to you except during the Sacred Months. Please order us to do something (religious deeds) which we may carry out and also invite to it our people whom we have left behind." The Prophet said, "I order you to do four things and forbid you four others: (I order you) to have faith in Allah, and confess that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, (and the Prophet gestured with his hand like this (i.e. one knot) and to offer prayers perfectly and to pay the Zakat, and to pay onefifth of the booty in Allah's Cause. And I forbid you to use Dubba', Hantam, Naqir and Muzaffat (all these are the names of utensils used for preparing alcoholic drinks)."

Once Allah's Apostle went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) of `Id-al-Adha or Al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said, "O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women)." They asked, "Why is it so, O Allah's Apostle ?" He replied, "You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you." The women asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?" He said, "Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?" They replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn't it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?" The women replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her religion."

The Prophet said, "Plague is the cause of martyrdom of every Muslim (who dies because of it).

Allah's Apostle said, "(Death from) plague is martyrdom for every Muslim."

I have given a pledge of allegiance to Allah's Apostle for to testify that None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and Muhammad is His Apostle, to offer prayers perfectly, to pay Zakat, to listen to and obey (Allah's and His Prophet's orders), and to give good advice to every Muslim.

Allah's Apostle said: Islam is based on (the following) five (principles):

1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is Allah's Apostle.

2. To offer the (compulsory congregational) prayers dutifully and perfectly.

3. To pay Zakat (i.e. obligatory charity) .

4. To perform Hajj. (i.e. Pilgrimage to Mecca)

5. To observe fast during the month of Ramadan.

A man from the tribe of Bani Aslam came to Allah's Apostle and Informed him that he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and bore witness four times against himself. Allah's Apostle ordered him to be stoned to death as he was a married Person.

The Prophet was asked about the great sins He said, "They are:-- (1 ) To join others in worship with Allah, (2) To be undutiful to one's parents. (3) To kill a person (which Allah has forbidden to kill) (i.e. to commit the crime of murdering). (4) And to give a false witness."

The Prophet said, "The biggest of Al-Ka`ba'ir (the great sins) are (1) to join others as partners in worship with Allah, (2) to murder a human being, (3) to be undutiful to one's parents (4) and to make a false statement," or said, "to give a false witness."

A funeral procession passed in front of the Prophet and the people praised the deceased. The Prophet said, "It has been affirmed (Paradise)." Then another funeral procession passed by and the people talked badly of the deceased. The Prophet said, "It has been affirmed (Hell)." Allah's Apostle was asked, "O Allah's Apostle! You said it has been affirmed for both?" The Prophet said, "The testimony of the people (is accepted), (for) the believer are Allah's witnesses on the earth."

The Prophet said, "Nobody who dies and finds good from Allah (in the Hereafter) would wish to come back to this world even if he were given the whole world and whatever is in it, except the martyr who, on seeing the superiority of martyrdom, would like to come back to the world and get killed again (in Allah's Cause)."

A man from the tribe of Bani Aslam came to the Prophet while he was in the mosque and said, "I have committed illegal sexual intercourse." The Prophet turned his face to the other side. The man turned towards the side towards which the Prophet had turned his face, and gave four witnesses against himself. On that the Prophet called him and said, "Are you insane?" (He added), "Are you married?" The man said, 'Yes." On that the Prophet ordered him to be stoned to the death in the Musalla (a praying place). When the stones hit him with their sharp edges and he fled, but he was caught at Al- Harra and then killed

When we collected the fragramentary manuscripts of the Qur'an into copies, I missed one of the Verses of Surat al-Ahzab which I used to hear Allah's Apostle reading. Finally I did not find it with anybody except Khuza`ima Al-Ansari, whose witness was considered by Allah's Apostle equal to the witness of two men. (And that Verse was:) 'Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah.'

Allah's Apostle said, "It is essential to have the consent of a virgin (for the marriage). I said, "A virgin feels shy." The Prophet; said, "Her silence means her consent." Some people said, "If a man falls in love with an orphan slave girl or a virgin and she refuses (him) and then he makes a trick by bringing two false witnesses to testify that he has married her, and then she attains the age of puberty and agrees to marry him and the judge accepts the false witness and the husband knows that the witnesses were false ones, he may consummate his marriage."

The Prophet said, "A virgin should not be married till she is asked for her consent; and the matron should not be married till she is asked whether she agrees to marry or not." It was asked, "O Allah's Apostle! How will she (the virgin) express her consent?" He said, "By keeping silent." Some people said that if a virgin is not asked for her consent and she is not married, and then a man, by playing a trick presents two false witnesses that he has married her with her consent and the judge confirms his marriage as a true one, and the husband knows that the witnesses were false ones, then there is no harm for him to consummate his marriage with her and the marriage is regarded as valid.

Abu Dawud said: Ghimr means malice and enimity ; qani (dependant), a subordinate servant like a special servant.

`Umar said, O Allah! Grant me martyrdom in Your cause, and let my death be in the city of Your Apostle."

Zaid bin Thabit said, "When the Qur'an was compiled from various written manuscripts, one of the Verses of Surat Al-Ahzab was missing which I used to hear Allah's Apostle reciting. I could not find it except with Khuza`ima bin Thabjt Al-Ansari, whose witness Allah's Apostle regarded as equal to the witness of two men. And the Verse was:-- "Among the believers are men who have been true to what they covenanted with Allah." (33.23)

The delegates of the tribe of `Abdul-Qais came and said, "O Allah's Apostle! We are from the tribe of Rabi`a, and there is the infidels of the tribe of Mudar intervening between you and us, so we cannot come to you except in the Sacred Months. So please order us some instructions that we may apply it to ourselves and also invite our people whom we left behind us to observe as well." The Prophet said, "I order you (to do) four (things) and forbid you (to do) four: I order you to believe in Allah, that is, to testify that None has the right to be worshipped but Allah (the Prophet pointed with his hand); to offer prayers perfectly; to pay Zakat; to fast the month of Ramadan, and to pay the Khumus (i.e. one-fifth) of the war booty to Allah and I forbid you to use Ad-dubba', An-Naqir, Al-Hantam and Al-Muzaffat (i.e. utensils used for preparing alcoholic drinks)." (See Hadith No. 50, Vol. 1).

Allah's Apostle said on the Day of (the battle of) Hunain, "Whoever has killed an infidel and has a proof or a witness for it, then the salb (arms and belongings of that deceased) will be for him." I stood up to seek a witness to testify that I had killed an infidel but I could not find any witness and then sat down. Then I thought that I should mention the case to Allah's Apostle I (and when I did so) a man from those who were sitting with him said, "The arms of the killed person he has mentioned, are with me, so please satisfy him on my behalf." Abu Bakr said, "No, he will not give the arms to a bird of Quraish and deprive one of Allah's lions of it who fights for the cause of Allah and His Apostle." Allah's Apostle I stood up and gave it to me, and I bought a garden with its price, and that was my first property which I owned through the war booty. The people of Hijaz said, "A judge should not pass a judgment according to his knowledge, whether he was a witness at the time he was the judge or before that" And if a litigant gives a confession in favor of his opponent in the court, in the opinion of some scholars, the judge should not pass a judgment against him till the latter calls two witnesses to witness his confession. And some people of Iraq said, "A judge can pass a judgement according to what he hears or witnesses (the litigant's confession) in the court itself, but if the confession takes place outside the court, he should not pass the judgment unless two witnesses witness the confession." Some of them said, "A judge can pass a judgement depending on his knowledge of the case as he is trust-worthy, and that a witness is Required just to reveal the truth. The judge's knowledge is more than the witness." Some said, "A judge can judge according to his knowledge only in cases involving property, but in other cases he cannot." Al-Qasim said, "A judge ought not to pass a judgment depending on his knowledge if other people do not know what he knows, although his knowledge is more than the witness of somebody else because he might expose himself to suspicion by the Muslims and cause the Muslims to have unreasonable doubt. "

"Once a delegation of `Abdul Qais came to Allah's Apostle and said, "We belong to such and such branch of the tribe of Rabi'ah and we can only come to you in the sacred months. Order us to do something good so that we may take it from you and also invite to it those whom we have left behind (at home)." So he said, "I order you to do four things and forbid you from four things: To believe in Allah" - and then he explained it to them "to testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am Allah's Apostle, to establish the prayers (at the stated times), to pay the Zakat (obligatory charity), to hand me the Khumus (fifth) if you acquire spoils of war. And I forbid from (using) Dubba, Hantam, Muqaiyyar, and Naqir (all these were utensils used for the preparation of alcoholic drinks).

The delegation of `Abdul Qais came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle We belong to the tribe of Rabi`a. The infidels of Mudar tribe intervened between us and you so that we cannot come to you except in the Sacred Months, so please order us some things we may act on and invite those left behind to act on. The Prophet said, "I order you to observe four things and forbid you from four things: (I order you) to believe in Allah, i.e. to testify that None has the right to be worshipped except Allah." The Prophet pointed with finger indicating one and added, "To offer prayers perfectly: to give Zakat, and to give one-fifth of the booty you win (for Allah's Sake). I forbid you to use Ad-Dubba', An-Naquir, Al-Hantam and Al-Muzaffat, (Utensils used for preparing alcoholic liquors and drinks).

The delegates of `Abd-ul-Qais came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! We are from the tribe of Rabi`a and the infidels of Mudar tribe stand between us and you, so that we cannot come to you except in the Sacred Months. Therefore we would like you to give us some instructions which we may follow and convey to our people staying behind us." The Prophet said, "I order you to observe four things and forbid you (to do) four things: (I order you) to believe in Allah testifying that None has the right to be worshipped except Allah; to offer the prayer perfectly; to pay the Zakat; and to give one-fifth of the war booty to Allah. And I forbid you to use Ad-Dubba, Al-Hantam, An-Naqir and Al- Muzaffat." (These are names of utensils in which alcoholic drinks were served.)

The Prophet (saws) sent Mu`adh to Yemen and said, "Invite the people to testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and I am Allah's Apostle, and if they obey you to do so, then teach them that Allah has enjoined on them five prayers in every day and night (in twenty-four hours), and if they obey you to do so, then teach them that Allah has made it obligatory for them to pay the Zakat from their property and it is to be taken from the wealthy among them and given to the poor."