It is a sign of having knowledge that, when you do not know something, you say: 'Allah knows better.' Allah said to his Prophet: 'Say: No wage do I ask of you for this (Qur'an), nor am I one of the pretenders (a person who pretends things which do not exist)' (38.86) When the Quraish troubled and stood against the Prophet he said, "O Allah! Help me against them by afflicting them with seven years of famine like the seven years of Joseph." So they were stricken with a year of famine during which they ate bones and dead animals because of too much suffering, and one of them would see something like smoke between him and the sky because of hunger. Then they said: Our Lord! Remove the torment from us, really we are believers. (44.12) And then it was said to the Prophet (by Allah), "If we remove it from them. they will revert to their ways (of heathenism)." So the Prophet invoked his Lord, who removed the punishment from them, but later they reverted (to heathenism), whereupon Allah punished them on the day of the Battle of Badr, and that is what Allah's Statement indicates: 'Then watch for the day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke plainly visible...we will indeed (then) exact retribution.' (44.10).

When the delegation of `Abdul Qais came to the Prophet, he said, "Welcome, O the delegation who have come! Neither you will have disgrace, nor you will regret." They said, "O Allah's Apostle! We are a group from the tribe of Ar-Rabi`a, and between you and us there is the tribe of Mudar and we cannot come to you except in the sacred months. So please order us to do something good (religious deeds) so that we may enter Paradise by doing that, and also that we may order our people who are behind us (whom we have left behind at home) to follow it." He said, "Four and four:" offer prayers perfectly , pay the Zakat, (obligatory charity), fast the month of Ramadan, and give one-fifth of the war booty (in Allah's cause), and do not drink in (containers called) Ad-Duba,' Al-Hantam, An-Naqir and Al-Muzaffat."

Allah's Apostle said, "There will be none among you but his Lord will talk to him, and there will be no interpreter between him and Allah. He will look to his right and see nothing but his deeds which he has sent forward, and will look to his left and see nothing but his deeds which he has sent forward, and will look in front of him and see nothing but the (Hell) Fire facing him. So save yourself from the (Hell) Fire even with half a date (given in charity)." Al-A`mash said: `Amr bin Murra said, Khaithama narrated the same and added, '..even with a good word.' "

The Prophet said to Abu Talha, "I recommend that you divide (this garden) amongst your relatives." Abu Talha said, "O Allah's Apostle! I will do the same." So Abu Talha divided it among his relatives and cousins. Ibn 'Abbes said, "When the Qur'anic Verse: "Warn your nearest kinsmen." (26.214) Was revealed, the Prophet started calling the various big families of Quraish, "O Bani Fihr! O Bani Adi!". Abu Huraira said, "When the Verse: "Warn your nearest kinsmen" was revealed, the Prophet said (in a loud voice), "O people of Quraish!"

The Prophet (saws) said: If anyone says in the morning or in the evening: "O Allah! Thou art my Lord; there is no god but Thee, Thou hast created me, and I am Thy servant and hold to Thy covenant and promise as much as I can; I seek refuge in Thee from the evil of what I have done: I acknowledge Thy favour to me, and I acknowledge my sin; pardon me, for none but Thee pardons sins, and dies during the daytime or during the night." he will go to Paradise.

That she asked the Prophet , 'Have you encountered a day harder than the day of the battle) of Uhud?" The Prophet replied, "Your tribes have troubled me a lot, and the worse trouble was the trouble on the day of 'Aqaba when I presented myself to Ibn `Abd-Yalail bin `Abd-Kulal and he did not respond to my demand. So I departed, overwhelmed with excessive sorrow, and proceeded on, and could not relax till I found myself at Qarnath-Tha-alib where I lifted my head towards the sky to see a cloud shading me unexpectedly. I looked up and saw Gabriel in it. He called me saying, 'Allah has heard your people's saying to you, and what they have replied back to you, Allah has sent the Angel of the Mountains to you so that you may order him to do whatever you wish to these people.' The Angel of the Mountains called and greeted me, and then said, "O Muhammad! Order what you wish. If you like, I will let Al-Akh-Shabain (i.e. two mountains) fall on them." The Prophet said, "No but I hope that Allah will let them beget children who will worship Allah Alone, and will worship None besides Him."

Allah's Apostle said, "There will be none among you but his Lord will speak to him, and there will be no interpreter between them nor a screen to screen Him."

Allah's Apostle said, "Allah will gather all the people on the Day of Resurrection and they will say, 'Let us request someone to intercede for us with our Lord so that He may relieve us from this place of ours.' Then they will go to Adam and say, 'You are the one whom Allah created with His Own Hands, and breathed in you of His soul, and ordered the angels to prostrate to you; so please intercede for us with our Lord.' Adam will reply, 'I am not fit for this undertaking, and will remember his sin, and will say, 'Go to Noah, the first Apostle sent by Allah' They will go to him and he will say, 'I am not fit for this undertaking', and will remember his sin and say, 'Go to Abraham whom Allah took as a Khalil. They will go to him (and request similarly). He will reply, 'I am not fit for this undertaking,' and will remember his sin and say, 'Go to Moses to whom Allah spoke directly.' They will go to Moses and he will say, 'I am not fit for this undertaking,' and will remember his sin and say, 'Go to Jesus.' They will go to him, and he will say, 'I am not fit for this undertaking, go to Muhammad as Allah has forgiven his past and future sins.' They will come to me and I will ask my Lord's permission, and when I see Him, I will fall down in prostration to Him, and He will leave me in that state as long as (He) Allah will, and then I will be addressed. 'Raise up your head (O Muhammad)! Ask, and your request will be granted, and say, and your saying will be listened to; intercede, and your intercession will be accepted.' Then I will raise my head, and I will glorify and praise my Lord with a saying(i.e. invocation) He will teach me, and then I will intercede, Allah will fix a limit for me (i.e., certain type of people for whom I may intercede), and I will take them out of the (Hell) Fire and let them enter Paradise. Then I will come back (to Allah) and fall in prostration, and will do the same for the third and fourth times till no-one remains in the (Hell) Fire except those whom the Qur'an has imprisoned therein." (The sub-narrator, Qatada used to say at that point, "...those upon whom eternity (in Hell) has been imposed.") (See Hadith No. 3, Vol 6).

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).

I never felt so jealous of any woman as I did of Khadija, though she had died three years before the Prophet married me, and that was because I heard him mentioning her too often, and because his Lord had ordered him to give her the glad tidings that she would have a palace in Paradise, made of Qasab and because he used to slaughter a sheep and distribute its meat among her friends.

`Aisha said, "Allah's Apostle used to take the permission of that wife with whom he was supposed to stay overnight if he wanted to go to one other than her, after this Verse was revealed:-- "You (O Muhammad) can postpone (the turn of) whom you will of them (your wives) and you may receive any (of them) whom you will; and there is no blame on you if you invite one whose turn you have set aside (temporarily). (33.51) I asked Aisha, "What did you use to say (in this case)?" She said, "I used to say to him, "If I could deny you the permission (to go to your other wives) I would not allow your favor to be bestowed on any other person."

Allah's Apostle said, "We are more liable to be in doubt than Abraham when he said, 'My Lord! Show me how You give life to the dead." . He (i.e. Allah) slid: 'Don't you believe then?' He (i.e. Abraham) said: "Yes, but (I ask) in order to be stronger in Faith." (2.260) And may Allah send His Mercy on Lot! He wished to have a powerful support. If I were to stay in prison for such a long time as Joseph did I would have accepted the offer (of freedom without insisting on having my guiltless less declared).

One day while the Prophet was sitting in the company of some people, (The angel) Gabriel came and asked, "What is faith?" Allah's Apostle replied, 'Faith is to believe in Allah, His angels, (the) meeting with Him, His Apostles, and to believe in Resurrection." Then he further asked, "What is Islam?" Allah's Apostle replied, "To worship Allah Alone and none else, to offer prayers perfectly to pay the compulsory charity (Zakat) and to observe fasts during the month of Ramadan." Then he further asked, "What is Ihsan (perfection)?" Allah's Apostle replied, "To worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you must consider that He is looking at you." Then he further asked, "When will the Hour be established?" Allah's Apostle replied, "The answerer has no better knowledge than the questioner. But I will inform you about its portents.

1. When a slave (lady) gives birth to her master.

2. When the shepherds of black camels start boasting and competing with others in the construction of higher buildings. And the Hour is one of five things which nobody knows except Allah.

The Prophet then recited: "Verily, with Allah (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour--." (31. 34) Then that man (Gabriel) left and the Prophet asked his companions to call him back, but they could not see him. Then the Prophet said, "That was Gabriel who came to teach the people their religion." Abu 'Abdullah said: He (the Prophet) considered all that as a part of faith.

`Umar saw a silk suit being sold, so he said, "O Allah's Apostle! Why don't you buy it so that you may wear it when delegates come to you, and also on Fridays?" The Prophet said, "This is worn only by him who has no share in the Hereafter." Afterwards the Prophet sent to `Umar a silk suit suitable for wearing. `Umar said to the Prophet, "You have given it to me to wear, yet I have heard you saying about it what you said?" The Prophet said, "I sent it to you so that you might either sell it or give it to somebody else to wear."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) used to say: "O Allah, I seek refuge in Thee from four things: Knowledge which does not profit, a heart which is not submissive, a soul which has an insatiable appetite, and a supplication which is not heard."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz decided in a case to make a reduction for crop damage.

Malik said, "That is what we do in the situation."

Malik added, "Crop damage is whatever causes loss of a third or more for the purchaser. Anything less is not counted as crop damage."

Malik related to me that he had heard that Marwan ibn al-Hakam gave a decision about a slave who was injured that the person who injured him had to pay what he had diminished of the value of the slave.

Malik said, "What is done in our community is that for the head wound of a slave that bares the bone, there is a twentieth of his price. The head wound which splinters the bone is three twentieths of his price. Both the wound to the brain and the belly wound are a third of his price. Besides these four, any other types of injury that decrease the price of the slave are considered after the slave is better and well, and one sees what the value of the slave is after his injury and what his value whole was before he had the injury. Then the one who injured him pays the difference between the two values."

While I was praying, the Prophet passed by and called me, but I did not go to him till I had finished my prayer. When I went to him, he said, "What prevented you from coming?" I said, "I was praying." He said, "Didn't Allah say" "O you who believes Give your response to Allah (by obeying Him) and to His Apostle." (8.24) Then he added, "Shall I tell you the most superior Sura in the Qur'an before I go out of the mosque?" When the Prophet intended to go out (of the Mosque), I reminded him and he said, "That is: "Al hamdu-li l-lahi Rabbil-`alamin (Surat-al-fatiha)' which is the seven oft repeated verses (Al-Mathani) and the Grand Qur'an which has been given to me."

Allah's Apostle addressed the people, and after praising and glorifying Allah, he said, "What do you suggest me regarding those people who are abusing my wife? I have never known anything bad about her." The sub-narrator, `Urwa, said: When `Aisha was told of the slander, she said, "O Allah's Apostle! Will you allow me to go to my parents' home?" He allowed her and sent a slave along with her. An Ansari man said, "Subhanaka! It is not right for us to speak about this. Subhanaka! This is a great lie!"

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z Zinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "A man said to his family that he had never done a good action, and that when he died they were to burn him and then scatter half of him on the land and half of him on the sea, and by Allah, if Allah destined it for him He would punish him with a punishment which He had not punished anyone else with in all the worlds. When the man died, they did as he had told them. Then Allah told the land to collect everything that was in it, and told the sea to collect everything that was in it, and then He said to the man, 'Why did you do this?' and he said, 'From fear of You, Lord, and You know best.' "

Abu Hurayra added, "And He forgave him."

Allah's Apostle addressed the people saying, "Allah has given option to a slave to choose this world or what is with Him. The slave has chosen what is with Allah." Abu Bakr wept, and we were astonished at his weeping caused by what the Prophet mentioned as to a Slave ( of Allah) who had been offered a choice, (we learned later on) that Allah's Apostle himself was the person who was given the choice, and that Abu Bakr knew best of all of us. Allah's Apostle added, "The person who has favored me most of all both with his company and wealth, is Abu Bakr. If I were to take a Khalil other than my Lord, I would have taken Abu Bakr as such, but (what relates us) is the Islamic brotherhood and friendliness. All the gates of the Mosque should be closed except the gate of Abu Bakr."

Once a meal was brought to `Abdur-Rahman bin `Auf and he was fasting. He said, "Mustab bin `Umar was martyred and he was better than I and was shrouded in his Burd and when his head was covered with it, his legs became bare, and when his legs were covered his head got uncovered. Hamza was martyred and was better than I. Now the worldly wealth have been bestowed upon us (or said a similar thing). No doubt, I fear that the rewards of my deeds might have been given earlier in this world." Then he started weeping and left his food.

Yahya related to me from Malik from al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ya'qub that he heard Abu's-Sa'ib, the mawla of Hisham ibn Zuhra, say he had heard Abu Hurayra say, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Whoever prays a prayer without reciting the umm al-Qur'an in it, his prayer is aborted, it is aborted, it is aborted, incomplete.' So I said, 'Abu Hurayra, sometimes I am behind the imam.'Hepulled my forearm and said, 'Recite it to yourself, O Persian, for I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say that Allah the Blessed, the Exalted, said, "I have divided the prayer into two halves between me and my slave. One half of it is for Me and one half of it is for IVly slave, and My slave has what he asks." ' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Recite." The slave says, 'Praise be to AIIah, the Lord of theWorlds.' Allah the Blessed, the Exalted, says, 'My slave has praised Me.' The slave says, 'The Merciful, the Compassionate.' Allah says, 'My slave has spoken well of Me.' The slave says, 'Master of the Day of the Deen.' Allah says, 'My slave has glorified Me.' The slave says, 'You alone we worship and You alone we askforhelp.'Allahsays,'This ayat is between Me and My slave, and for My slave is what he asks. 'The slave says, 'Guide us in the straight Path, the Path of those whom You have blessed, not of those with whom You are angry, nor those who are in error. ' Allah says, 'These are for My slaves, and for my slave is what he asks . ' " ' "

Ibn 'Abbas reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) was the most generous of people in charity, but he was generous to the utmost in the month of Ramadan. Gabriel (peace be upon him) would meet him every year during the month of Ramadin until it ended, and Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) recited to him the Qur'an; and when Gabriel met him Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) was most generous in giving charity like the blowing wind.

"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 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.)

Ibn `Umar said, "I went to Hafsa while water was dribbling from her twined braids. I said, 'The condition of the people is as you see, and no authority has been given to me.' Hafsa said, (to me), 'Go to them, and as they (i.e. the people) are waiting for you, and I am afraid your absence from them will produce division amongst them.' " So Hafsa did not leave Ibn `Umar till we went to them. When the people differed. Muawiya addressed the people saying, "'If anybody wants to say anything in this matter of the Caliphate, he should show up and not conceal himself, for we are more rightful to be a Caliph than he and his father." On that, Habib bin Masalama said (to Ibn `Umar), "Why don't you reply to him (i.e. Muawiya)?" `Abdullah bin `Umar said, "I untied my garment that was going round my back and legs while I was sitting and was about to say, 'He who fought against you and against your father for the sake of Islam, is more rightful to be a Caliph,' but I was afraid that my statement might produce differences amongst the people and cause bloodshed, and my statement might be interpreted not as I intended. (So I kept quiet) remembering what Allah has prepared in the Gardens of Paradise (for those who are patient and prefer the Hereafter to this worldly life)." Habib said, "You did what kept you safe and secure (i.e. you were wise in doing so).

Aisha said, "Barirah came to me and said, 'My people (masters) have written the contract for my emancipation for nine Awaq ) of gold) to be paid in yearly installments, one Uqiyya per year; so help me." Aisha said (to her), "If your masters agree, I will pay them the whole sum provided the Wala will be for me." Barirah went to her masters and told them about it, but they refused the offer and she returned from them while Allah's Apostles was sitting. She said, "I presented the offer to them, but they refused unless the Wala' would be for them." When the Prophet heard that and `Aisha told him about It, he said to her, "Buy Barirah and let them stipulate that her Wala' will be for them, as the Wala' is for the manumitted." `Aisha did so. After that Allah's Apostle got up amidst the people, Glorified and Praised Allah and said, "What is wrong with some people who stipulate things which are not in Allah's Laws? Any condition which is not in Allah's Laws is invalid even if there were a hundred such conditions. Allah's Rules are the most valid and Allah's Conditions are the most solid. The Wala is for the manumitted."

Abu Musa said, "We went out in the company of the Prophet for a Ghazwa and we were six persons having one camel which we rode in rotation. So, (due to excessive walking) our feet became thin and my feet became thin and my nail dropped, and we used to wrap our feet with the pieces of cloth, and for this reason, the Ghazwa was named Dhat-ur-Riqa as we wrapped our feet with rags." When Abu- Musa narrated this (Hadith), he felt regretful to do so and said, as if he disliked to have disclosed a good deed of his.

When there was said about me what was said which I myself was unaware of, Allah's Apostle got up and addressed the people. He recited Tashah-hud, and after glorifying and praising Allah as He deserved, he said, "To proceed: O people Give me your opinion regarding those people who made a forged story against my wife. By Allah, I do not know anything bad about her. By Allah, they accused her of being with a man about whom I have never known anything bad, and he never entered my house unless I was present there, and whenever I went on a journey, he went with me." Sa`d bin Mu`adh got up and said, "O Allah's Apostle Allow me to chop their heads off". Then a man from the Al-Khazraj (Sa`d bin 'Ubada) to whom the mother of (the poet) Hassan bin Thabit was a relative, got up and said (to Sa`d bin Mu`adh), "You have told a lie! By Allah, if those persons were from the Aus Tribe, you would not like to chop their heads off." It was probable that some evil would take place between the Aus and the Khazraj in the mosque, and I was unaware of all that. In the evening of that day, I went out for some of my needs (i.e. to relieve myself), and Um Mistah was accompanying me. On our return, Um Mistah stumbled and said, "Let Mistah. be ruined" I said to her, "O mother Why do you abuse your Son" On that Um Mistah became silent for a while, and stumbling again, she said, "Let Mistah be ruined" I said to her, "Why do you abuse your son?" She stumbled for the third time and said, "Let Mistah be ruined" whereupon I rebuked her for that. She said, "By Allah, I do not abuse him except because of you." I asked her, "Concerning what of my affairs?" So she disclosed the whole story to me. I said, "Has this really happened?" She replied, "Yes, by Allah." I returned to my house, astonished (and distressed) that I did not know for what purpose I had gone out. Then I became sick (fever) and said to Allah's Apostle "Send me to my father's house." So he sent a slave with me, and when I entered the house, I found Um Rum-an (my mother) downstairs while (my father) Abu Bakr was reciting something upstairs. My mother asked, "What has brought you, O (my) daughter?" I informed her and mentioned to her the whole story, but she did not feel it as I did. She said, "O my daughter! Take it easy, for there is never a charming lady loved by her husband who has other wives but that they feel jealous of her and speak badly of her." But ...

A man asked Allah's Apostle about the Luqata. He said, "Make public announcement of it for one year, then remember the description of its container and the string it is tied with, utilize the money, and if its owner comes back after that, give it to him." The people asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What about a lost sheep?" Allah's Apostle said, "Take it, for it is for you, for your brother, or for the wolf." The man asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What about a lost camel?" Allah's Apostle got angry and his cheeks or face became red, and said, "You have no concern with it as it has its feet, and its watercontainer, till its owner finds it."