Allah's Apostle was fond of honey and sweet edible things and (it was his habit) that after finishing the `Asr prayer he would visit his wives and stay with one of them at that time. Once he went to Hafsa, the daughter of `Umar and stayed with her more than usual. I got jealous and asked the reason for that. I was told that a lady of her folk had given her a skin filled with honey as a present, and that she made a syrup from it and gave it to the Prophet to drink (and that was the reason for the delay). I said, "By Allah we will play a trick on him (to prevent him from doing so)." So I said to Sa`da bint Zam`a "The Prophet will approach you, and when he comes near you, say: 'Have you taken Maghafir (a bad-smelling gum)?' He will say, 'No.' Then say to him: 'Then what is this bad smell which i smell from you?' He will say to you, 'Hafsa made me drink honey syrup.' Then say: Perhaps the bees of that honey had sucked the juice of the tree of Al-`Urfut.' I shall also say the same. O you, Safiyya, say the same." Later Sa`da said, "By Allah, as soon as he (the Prophet ) stood at the door, I was about to say to him what you had ordered me to say because I was afraid of you." So when the Prophet came near Sa`da, she said to him, "O Allah's Apostle! Have you taken Maghafir?" He said, "No." She said. "Then what is this bad smell which I detect on you?" He said, "Hafsa made me drink honey syrup." She said, "Perhaps its bees had sucked the juice of Al-`Urfut tree." When he came to me, I also said the same, and when he went to Safiyya, she also said the same. And when the Prophet again went to Hafsa, she said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Shall I give you more of that drink?" He said, "I am not in need of it." Sa`da said, "By Allah, we deprived him (of it)." I said to her, "Keep quiet." '

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Abu Bakr ibn Sulayman ibn Abi Hathma said, "I have heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed two rakas of one of the two day-ti me prayers, dhuhr or asr, and said the taslim after two rakas. Dhu'sh-Shamalayn said to him, 'Has the prayer been shortened, Messenger of Allah, or have you forgotten?' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'The prayer has not been shortened and I have not forgotten.' Dhu'shShamalayn said, 'It was certainly one of those, Messenger of Allah.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, approached the people and said, 'Has Dh u'sh-Shamalayn spoken the truth?' They said, 'Yes, Messenger of Allah,' and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, completed what remained of the prayer, and then said, 'Peace be upon you.' "

Allah's Apostle used to like sweets and also used to like honey, and whenever he finished the `Asr prayer, he used to visit his wives and stay with them. Once he visited Hafsa and remained with her longer than the period he used to stay, so I enquired about it. It was said to me, "A woman from her tribe gave her a leather skin containing honey as a present, and she gave some of it to Allah's Apostle to drink." I said, "By Allah, we will play a trick on him." So I mentioned the story to Sauda (the wife of the Prophet) and said to her, "When he enters upon you, he will come near to you whereupon you should say to him, 'O Allah's Apostle! Have you eaten Maghafir?' He will say, 'No.' Then you say to him, 'What is this bad smell? ' And it would be very hard on Allah's Apostle that a bad smell should be found on his body. He will say, 'Hafsa has given me a drink of honey.' Then you should say to him, 'Its bees must have sucked from the Al-`Urfut (a foul smelling flower).' I too, will tell him the same. And you, O Saifya, say the same." So when the Prophet entered upon Sauda (the following happened). Sauda said, "By Him except Whom none has the right to be worshipped, I was about to say to him what you had told me to say while he was still at the gate because of fear from you. But when Allah 's Apostle came near to me, I said to him, 'O Allah's Apostle! Have you eaten Maghafir?' He replied, 'No.' I said, 'What about this smell?' He said, 'Hafsa has given me a drink of honey.' I said, 'Its bees must have sucked Al-`Urfut.' " When he entered upon me, I told him the same as that, and when he entered upon Safiya, she too told him the same. So when he visited Hafsa again, she said to him, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall I give you a drink of it (honey)?" He said, "I have no desire for it." Sauda said, Subhan Allah! We have deprived him of it (honey)." I said to her, "Be quiet!"

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father from Humran, the mawla of Uthman ibn Affan, that Uthman ibn Affan was once sitting on the Maqaid (the benches surrounding the Madina Mosque, or else a stone near Uthman ibn Affan's house where he sat to discuss with people), when the muadhdhin came and told him that it was time for the asr prayer. He called for water and did wudu. Then he said, "By Allah, I shall tell you something which I would not tell you if it were not in the Book of Allah. I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'If a man does wudu, and makes sure he does it correctly, and then does the prayer, he will be forgiven everything that he does between then and the time when he prays the next prayer.' "

Yahya said that Malik said, "I believe he meant this ayat - 'Establish prayer at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night. Good actions take away wrong actions. That is a reminder for those who remember.' " (Sura 11 ayat 114).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from his father that Umar ibn al-Khattab prayed two rakas with the people of Makka, and then, when he had finished, he said, "People of Makka, complete your prayer, becausewe are a group of travellers." Later, Umar prayed two rakas with them at Mina, but we have not heard that he said anything to them on that occasion.

Malik was asked whether the people of Makka should pray two rakas at Arafa or four, and whether the amir of the hajj, if he was a Makkan, should pray dhuhr and asr with four rakas or two, and also how the people of Makka who were living (at Mina) should pray, and he said, "The people of Makka should pray only two rakas at Arafa and Mina for as long as they stay there, and should shorten the prayer until they return to Makka. The amir of the hajj, if he is a Makkan, should also shorten the prayer at Arafa and during the days of Mina. Anyone who is living at Mina as a resident should do the full prayer at Mina, and similarly anyone who lives at Arafa and is a resident there should do the full prayer at Arafa."

The Prophet used to pray eleven rak`at in the late part of the night, and when dawn appeared, he would offer two rak`at and then lie on his right side till the Muadhdhin came to inform him (that the morning prayer was due).

Ibn 'Umar was once told that Said bin Zaid bin 'Amr bin Nufail, one of the Badr warriors, had fallen ill on a Friday. Ibn 'Umar rode to him late in the forenoon. The time of the Friday prayer approached and Ibn 'Umar did not take part in the Friday prayer.

The Prophet said, Gabriel came to me and gave me the glad tidings that anyone who died without worshipping anything besides Allah, would enter Paradise. I asked (Gabriel), 'Even if he committed theft, and even if he committed illegal sexual intercourse?' He said, '(Yes), even if he committed theft, and even if he Committed illegal sexual intercourse."

A man came to the Prophet and asked, "O Allah's Apostle! Which charity is the most superior in reward?" He replied, "The charity which you practice while you are healthy, niggardly and afraid of poverty and wish to become wealthy. Do not delay it to the time of approaching death and then say, 'Give so much to such and such, and so much to such and such.' And it has already belonged to such and such (as it is too late)."

I came to the Prophet while he was wearing white clothes and sleeping. Then I went back to him again after he had got up from his sleep. He said, "Nobody says: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah' and then later on he dies while believing in that, except that he will enter Paradise." I said, "Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft?" He said. 'Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft." I said, "Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft?" He said. 'Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft." I said, 'Even it he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft?' He said, "Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft, inspite of the Abu Dharr's dislike. Abu `Abdullah said, "This is at the time of death or before it if one repents and regrets and says "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah. He will be forgiven his sins."

The Prophet said, "I shall accept the invitation even if I were invited to a meal of a sheep's trotter, and I shall accept the gift even if it were an arm or a trotter of a sheep."

Hammam bin Al-Harith said, "I saw Jarir bin `Abdullah urinating. Then he performed ablution and passed his (wet) hands over his Khuffs (socks made from thick fabric or leather), stood up and prayed. He was asked about it. He replied that he had seen the Prophet doing the same." They approved of this narration as Jarir was one of those who embraced Islam very late.

When the people slept till so late that they did not offer the (morning) prayer, the Prophet said, "Allah captured your souls (made you sleep) when He willed, and returned them (to your bodies) when He willed." So the people got up and went to answer the call of nature, performed ablution, till the sun had risen and it had become white, then the Prophet got up and offered the prayer.

The Prophet said, "Gabriel said to me, 'Whoever amongst your followers die without having worshipped others besides Allah, will enter Paradise (or will not enter the (Hell) Fire)." The Prophet asked. "Even if he has committed illegal sexual intercourse or theft?" He replied, "Even then."

The Prophet said, "Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately, and receive good news because one's good deeds will not make him enter Paradise." They asked, "Even you, O Allah's Apostle?" He said, "Even I, unless and until Allah bestows His pardon and Mercy on me."

The Prophet said, "No good deeds done on other days are superior to those done on these (first ten days of Dhul Hijja)." Then some companions of the Prophet said, "Not even Jihad?" He replied, "Not even Jihad, except that of a man who does it by putting himself and his property in danger (for Allah's sake) and does not return with any of those things."