concerning the Verse: 'Do not prevent them' (2.232) Ma'qil bin Yasar told me that it was revealed in his connection. He said, "I married my sister to a man and he divorced her, and when her days of 'Idda (three menstrual periods) were over, the man came again and asked for her hand, but I said to him, 'I married her to you and made her your bed (your wife) and favored you with her, but you divorced her. Now you come to ask for her hand again? No, by Allah, she will never go back to you (again)!' That man was not a bad man and his wife wanted to go back to him. So Allah revealed this Verse: 'Do not prevent them.' (2.232) So I said, 'Now I will do it (let her go back to him), O Allah's Apostle."So he married her to him again.

A man of Banu Amir told that he asked the Prophet (saws) for permission (to enter the house) when he was in the house, saying: May I enter ? The Prophet (saws) said to his servant: Go out to this (man) and teach him how to ask permission to enter the house, and say to him: "Say : Peace be upon you. May I enter?" The man heard it and said: Peace be upon you! May I enter ? The Prophet (saws) permitted him and he entered.

Hamnah said my menstruation was great in quantity and severe. So I came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) for a decision and told him. I found him in the house of my sister, Zaynab, daughter of Jahsh.

I said: Messenger of Allah, I am a woman who menstruates in great quantity and it is severe, so what do you think about it? It has prevented me from praying and fasting.

He said: I suggest that you should use cotton, for it absorbs the blood. She replied: It is too copious for that. He said: Then take a cloth. She replied: It is too copious for that, for my blood keeps flowing. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: I shall give you two commands; whichever of them you follow, that will be sufficient for you without the other, but you know best whether you are strong enough to follow both of them.

He added: This is a stroke of the Devil, so observe your menses for six or seven days, Allah alone knows which it should be; then wash. And when you see that you are purified and quite clean, pray during twenty-three or twenty-four days and nights and fast, for that will be enough for you, and do so every month, just as women menstruate and are purified at the time of their menstruation and their purification.

But if you are strong enough to delay the noon (Zuhr) prayer and advance the afternoon ('Asr) prayer, to wash, and then combine the noon and the afternoon prayer; to delay the sunset prayer and advance the night prayer, to wash, and then combine the two prayers, do so: and to wash at dawn, do so: and fast if you are able to do so if possible.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Of the two commands this is more to my liking.¹

Abu Dawud said: 'Amr b. Thabit narrated from Ibn 'Aqil: Hamnah said: Of the two commands this is the one which is more to my liking.² In this version these words were not quoted as the statement of the Prophet (saws); it gives it as a statement of Hamnah.

Abu Dawud said: 'Amr b. Thabit was a Rafidi. This has been said by Yahya b. Ma'in.

Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad (b. Hanbal) say: I am doubtful about the tradition transmitted by Ibn 'Aqil.

At the time of the Fajr prayer the Prophet asked Bilal, "Tell me of the best deed you did after embracing Islam, for I heard your footsteps in front of me in Paradise." Bilal replied, "I did not do anything worth mentioning except that whenever I performed ablution during the day or night, I prayed after that ablution as much as was written for me."

The Prophet said, "Amongst the people preceding your age, there was a man whom Allah had given a lot of money. While he was in his death-bed, he called his sons and said, 'What type of father have I been to you? They replied, 'You have been a good father.' He said, 'I have never done a single good deed; so when I die, burn me, crush my body, and scatter the resulting ashes on a windy day.' His sons did accordingly, but Allah gathered his particles and asked (him), 'What made you do so?' He replied, "Fear of you.' So Allah bestowed His Mercy upon him. (forgave him).

(mother of the faithful believers) I bought a cushion with pictures on it. When Allah's Apostle saw it, he kept standing at the door and did not enter the house. I noticed the sign of disgust on his face, so I said, "O Allah's Apostle! I repent to Allah and H is Apostle . (Please let me know) what sin I have done." Allah's Apostle said, "What about this cushion?" I replied, "I bought it for you to sit and recline on." Allah's Apostle said, "The painters (i.e. owners) of these pictures will be punished on the Day of Resurrection. It will be said to them, 'Put life in what you have created (i.e. painted).' " The Prophet added, "The angels do not enter a house where there are pictures."

Somebody said to Usama, "Will you go to so-and-so (i.e. `Uthman) and talk to him (i.e. advise him regarding ruling the country)?" He said, "You see that I don't talk to him. Really I talk to (advise) him secretly without opening a gate (of affliction), for neither do I want to be the first to open it (i.e. rebellion), nor will I say to a man who is my ruler that he is the best of all the people after I have heard something from Allah s Apostle ." They said, What have you heard him saying? He said, "I have heard him saying, "A man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and thrown in the (Hell) Fire, so that his intestines will come out, and he will go around like a donkey goes around a millstone. The people of (Hell) Fire will gather around him and say: O so-and-so! What is wrong with you? Didn't you use to order us to do good deeds and forbid us to do bad deeds? He will reply: Yes, I used to order you to do good deeds, but I did not do them myself, and I used to forbid you to do bad deeds, yet I used to do them myself."

Yahya said that Malik had said from Da'ud ibn al-Husayn that he heard Abu Ghatafan ibn Tarif al-Muriyi say, "Zayd ibn Thabit al-Ansari and Ibn Muti had a dispute about a house which they shared. They went to Marwan ibn al-Hakam who was the Amir of Madina. Marwan decided that Zayd ibn Thabit must take an oath on the mimbar. Zayd ibn Thabit said, 'I swear to it where I am.' Marwan said, 'No, by Allah! only in the place of sorting out claims (i.e. the mimbar).' Zayd ibn Thabit began to take an oath that his right was true, and he refused to take an oath near the mimbar. Marwan ibn al-Hakam began to wonder at that."

Malik said, "I do not think that anyone should be made to take an oath near the mimbar for less than a fourth of a dinar, and that is three dirhams."

I heard Anas saying, "We traveled with the Prophet from Medina to Mecca and offered two rak`at (for every prayer) till we returned to Medina." I said, "Did you stay for a while in Mecca?" He replied, "We stayed in Mecca for ten days."

I went on an expedition with the Messenger of Allah (saws), and I was present with him at the conquest. He stayed eighteen days in Mecca and prayed only two rak'ahs (at each time of prayer). And he said: You who live in the town must pray four; we are travellers.

On the day of the battle of Uhud, a man came to the Prophet and said, "Can you tell me where I will be if I should get martyred?" The Prophet replied, "In Paradise." The man threw away some dates he was carrying in his hand, and fought till he was martyred .

The Prophet mentioned a man from the people of the past or those who preceded you. The Prophet said a sentence meaning: Allah had given him wealth and children. When his death approached, he said to his sons, "What kind of father have I been to you?" They replied, "You have been a good father." He told them that he had not presented any good deed before Allah, and if Allah should get hold of him He would punish him.' "So look!" he added, "When I die, burn me, and when I turn into coal, crush me, and when there comes a windy day, scatter my ashes in the wind." The Prophet added, "Then by Allah, he took a firm promise from his children to do so, and they did so. (They burnt him after his death) and threw his ashes on a windy day. Then Allah commanded to his ashes. "Be," and behold! He became a man standing! Allah said, "O My slave! What made you do what you did?" He replied, "For fear of You." Nothing saved him then but Allah's Mercy (So Allah forgave him).

That Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri said to his father. "I see you are fond of sheep and the desert, so when you want to pronounce the Adhan, raise your voice with it for whoever will hear the Adhan whether a human being, or a Jinn, or anything else, will bear witness, in favor on the Day of Resurrection." Abu Sa`id added, "I have heard this from Allah's Apostle ."

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "Seven people will be shaded by Allah under His shade on the day when there will be no shade except His. They are: (1) a just ruler; (2) a young man who has been brought up in the worship of Allah, (i.e. worship Allah (Alone) sincerely from his childhood), (3) a man whose heart is attached to the mosque (who offers the five compulsory congregational prayers in the mosque); (4) two persons who love each other only for Allah's sake and they meet and part in Allah's cause only; (5) a man who refuses the call of a charming woman of noble birth for an illegal sexual intercourse with her and says: I am afraid of Allah; (6) a person who practices charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given (i.e. nobody knows how much he has given in charity). (7) a person who remembers Allah in seclusion and his eyes get flooded with tears."

Allah's Apostle said, "We (Muslims) are the last (to come) but will be the foremost on the Day of Resurrection." The narrators of this Hadith said: Allah said (to man), 'Spend (in charity), for then I will compensate you (generously).' "

We were sitting with Allah's Apostle, he said, "While I was sleeping, I saw myself in Paradise. Suddenly I saw a woman performing ablution beside a palace. I asked, "For whom is this palace?" They (the angels) replied, "It is for `Umar bin Al-Khattab." Then I remembered `Umar's ghira and went back hurriedly." On hearing that, `Umar started weeping and said, " Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you. O Allah's Apostle! How dare I think of my Ghira being offended by you?

The Prophet (saws) sent a detachment. I gave a sword to a man from among them. When he came back, he said: Would that you saw us how the Messenger of Allah (saws) rebuked us, saying: When I sent out a man who does not fulfil my command, are you unable to appoint in his place one who will fulfil my command.

I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "If there was a river at the door of anyone of you and he took a bath in it five times a day would you notice any dirt on him?" They said, "Not a trace of dirt would be left." The Prophet added, "That is the example of the five prayers with which Allah blots out (annuls) evil deeds."

That he had married Um Yahya bint Abu Ihab. He said. "A black slave-lady came and said, 'I suckled you both.' I then mentioned that to the Prophet who turned his face aside." `Uqba further said, "I went to the other side and told the Prophet about it. He said, 'How can you (keep her as your wife) when the lady has said that she suckled both of you (i.e. you and your wife?)" So, the Prophet ordered him to divorce her.

Allah Apostle said in Hajjat-al-Wada`, "Which month (of the year) do you think is most sacred?" The people said, "This current month of ours (the month of Dhull-Hijja)." He said, "Which town (country) do you think is the most sacred?" They said, "This city of ours (Mecca)." He said, "Which day do you think is the most sacred?" The people said, "This day of ours." He then said, "Allah, the Blessed, the Supreme, has made your blood, your property and your honor as sacred as this day of yours in this town of yours, in this month of yours (and such protection cannot be slighted) except rightfully." He then said thrice, "Have I conveyed Allah's Message (to you)?" The people answered him each time saying, 'Yes." The Prophet added, 'May Allah be merciful to you (or, woe on you)! Do not revert to disbelief after me by cutting the necks of each other.'

The Prophet sent some cavalry towards Najd and they brought a man from the tribe of Banu Hanifa who was called Thumama bin Uthal. They fastened him to one of the pillars of the Mosque. The Prophet went to him and said, "What have you got, O Thumama?" He replied," I have got a good thought, O Muhammad! If you should kill me, you would kill a person who has already killed somebody, and if you should set me free, you would do a favor to one who is grateful, and if you want property, then ask me whatever wealth you want." He was left till the next day when the Prophet said to him, "What have you got, Thumama? He said, "What I told you, i.e. if you set me free, you would do a favor to one who is grateful." The Prophet left him till the day after, when he said, "What have you got, O Thumama?" He said, "I have got what I told you. "On that the Prophet said, "Release Thumama." So he (i.e. Thumama) went to a garden of date-palm trees near to the Mosque, took a bath and then entered the Mosque and said, "I testify that None has the right to be worshipped except Allah, and also testify that Muhammad is His Apostle! By Allah, O Muhammad! There was no face on the surface of the earth most disliked by me than yours, but now your face has become the most beloved face to me. By Allah, there was no religion most disliked by me than yours, but now it is the most beloved religion to me. By Allah, there was no town most disliked by me than your town, but now it is the most beloved town to me. Your cavalry arrested me (at the time) when I was intending to perform the `Umra. And now what do you think?" The Prophet gave him good tidings (congratulated him) and ordered him to perform the `Umra. So when he came to Mecca, someone said to him, "You have become a Sabian?" Thumama replied, "No! By Allah, I have embraced Islam with Muhammad, Apostle of Allah. No, by Allah! Not a single grain of wheat will come to you from Yamamah unless the Prophet gives his permission."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that his father said, "Abdullah ibn al-Arqam said, 'Show me a riding-camel which the amir al-muminim can give me to use.' I said, 'Yes. One of the sadaqa camels.' Abdullah ibn al-Arqam said, 'Would you want a stout man on a hot day to wash for you what is under his lower garment and its folds, and then give it to you to drink?' I was angry and said, 'May Allah forgive you! Why do you say such things to me?' Abdullah ibn al-Arqam said, 'Sadaqa is the impurities of people which they wash off themselves.' "

We proceeded from the Messenger of Allah (saws) and came to a clan of the Arabs.

They said: We have been told that you have brought what is good from this man. Have you any medicine or a charm, for we have a lunatic in chains?

We said: Yes. Then they brought a lunatic in chains. He said: I recited Surat al-Fatihah over him for three days, morning and evening. Whenever I finished it, I would collect my saliva and spit it out, and he seemed as if he were set free from a bond. He said: They gave me some payment, but I said: No, not until I ask the Messenger of Allah (saws).

He (the Prophet) said: Accept it, for, by my life, some accept it for a worthless charm, but you have done so for a genuine one.

When the time of the Battle of Uhud approached, my father called me at night and said, "I think that I will be the first amongst the companions of the Prophet to be martyred. I do not leave anyone after me dearer to me than you, except Allah's Apostle's soul and I owe some debt and you should repay it and treat your sisters favorably (nicely and politely)." So in the morning he was the first to be martyred and was buried along with another (martyr). I did not like to leave him with the other (martyr) so I took him out of the grave after six months of his burial and he was in the same condition as he was on the day of burial, except a slight change near his ear.

Malik related to me from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Qari that his father said, "A man came to Umar ibn al- Khattab from Abu Musa al-Ashari. Umar asked after various people, and he informed him. Then Umar inquired, 'Do you have any recent news?' He said, 'Yes. A man has become a kafir after his Islam.' Umar asked, 'What have you done with him?' He said, 'We let him approach and struck off his head.' Umar said, 'Didn't you imprison him for three days and feed him a loaf of bread every day and call on him to tawba that he might turn in tawba and return to the command of Allah?' Then Umar said, 'O Allah! I was not present and I did not order it and I am not pleased since it has come to me!' "

On a rainy day Ibn `Abbas said to his Mu'adh-dhin, "After saying, 'Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasulullah' (I testify that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle), do not say 'Haiya 'Alas-Salat' (come for the prayer) but say 'Pray in your houses'." (The man did so). But the people disliked it. Ibn `Abbas said, "It was done by one who was much better than I (i.e. the Prophet (p.b.u.h) ). No doubt, the Jumua prayer is compulsory but I dislike to put you to task by bringing you out walking in mud and slush."

Ibn `Abbas said to us, "Shall I tell you the story of Abu Dhar's conversion to Islam?" We said, "Yes." He said, "Abu Dhar said: I was a man from the tribe of Ghifar. We heard that a man had appeared in Mecca, claiming to be a Prophet. ! said to my brother, 'Go to that man and talk to him and bring me his news.' He set out, met him and returned. I asked him, 'What is the news with you?' He said, 'By Allah, I saw a man enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil.' I said to him, 'You have not satisfied me with this little information.' So, I took a waterskin and a stick and proceeded towards Mecca. Neither did I know him (i.e. the Prophet ), nor did I like to ask anyone about him. I Kept on drinking Zam zam water and staying in the Mosque. Then `Ali passed by me and said, 'It seems you are a stranger?' I said, 'Yes.' He proceeded to his house and I accompanied him. Neither did he ask me anything, nor did I tell him anything. Next morning I went to the Mosque to ask about the Prophet but no-one told me anything about him. `Ali passed by me again and asked, 'Hasn't the man recognized his dwelling place yet' I said, 'No.' He said, 'Come along with me.' He asked me, 'What is your business? What has brought you to this town?' I said to him, 'If you keep my secret, I will tell you.' He said, 'I will do,' I said to him, 'We have heard that a person has appeared here, claiming to be a Prophet. I sent my brother to speak to him and when he returned, he did not bring a satisfactory report; so I thought of meeting him personally.' `Ali said (to Abu Dhar), 'You have reached your goal; I am going to him just now, so follow me, and wherever I enter, enter after me. If I should see someone who may cause you trouble, I will stand near a wall pretending to mend my shoes (as a warning), and you should go away then.' `Ali proceeded and I accompanied him till he entered a place, and I entered with him to the Prophet to whom I said, 'Present (the principles of) Islam to me.' When he did, I embraced Islam 'immediately. He said to me, 'O Abu Dhar! Keep your conversion as a secret and return to your town; and when you hear of our victory, return to us. ' I said, 'By H him Who has sent you with the Truth, I will announce my conversion to Islam publicly amongst them (i.e. the infidels),' Abu Dhar went to the Mosque, where some people from Quraish were present, and said, 'O folk of Quraish ! I testify that None has the right to be worshipped except Allah, and I (also) testify that Muhammad is Allah's Slave and His Apostle.' (Hearing that) the Quraishi men said, 'Get at this Sabi (i.e. Muslim) !' They got up and beat me nearly to death. Al `Abbas saw me and threw himself over me to protect me. He then faced them and said, 'Woe to you! You want to kill a man from the tribe of Ghifar, although your trade and your communications are through the territory of Ghifar?' They therefore left me. The next morning I returned (to the Mosque) and said the same as I have said on the previous day. They again said, 'Get at this Sabi!' I was treated in the same way as on the previous day, and again Al-Abbas found me and threw himself over me to protect me and told them the same as he had said the day before.' So, that was the conversion of Abu Dhar (may Allah be Merciful to him) to Islam."

I married a woman and then a black lady came to us and said, "I have suckled you both (you and your wife)." So I came to the Prophet and said, "I married so-and-so and then a black lady came to us and said to me, 'I have suckled both of you.' But I think she is a liar." The Prophet turned his face away from me and I moved to face his face, and said, "She is a liar." The Prophet said, "How (can you keep her as your wife) when that lady has said that she has suckled both of you? So abandon (i.e., divorce) her (your wife).

For one year I wanted to ask `Umar about the two women who helped each other against the Prophet but I was afraid of him. One day he dismounted his riding animal and went among the trees of Arak to answer the call of nature, and when he returned, I asked him and he said, "(They were) `Aisha and Hafsa." Then he added, "We never used to give significance to ladies in the days of the Pre-lslamic period of ignorance, but when Islam came and Allah mentioned their rights, we used to give them their rights but did not allow them to interfere in our affairs. Once there was some dispute between me and my wife and she answered me back in a loud voice. I said to her, 'Strange! You can retort in this way?' She said, 'Yes. Do you say this to me while your daughter troubles Allah's Apostle?' So I went to Hafsa and said to her, 'I warn you not to disobey Allah and His Apostle.' I first went to Hafsa and then to Um Salama and told her the same. She said to me, 'O `Umar! It surprises me that you interfere in our affairs so much that you would poke your nose even into the affairs of Allah's Apostle and his wives.' So she rejected my advice. There was an Ansari man; whenever he was absent from Allah's Apostle and I was present there, I used to convey to him what had happened (on that day), and when I was absent and he was present there, he used to convey to me what had happened as regards news from Allah's Apostle . During that time all the rulers of the nearby lands had surrendered to Allah's Apostle except the king of Ghassan in Sham, and we were afraid that he might attack us. All of a sudden the Ansari came and said, 'A great event has happened!' I asked him, 'What is it? Has the Ghassani (king) come?' He said, 'Greater than that! Allah's Apostle has divorced his wives! I went to them and found all of them weeping in their dwellings, and the Prophet had ascended to an upper room of his. At the door of the room there was a slave to whom I went and said, "Ask the permission for me to enter." He admitted me and I entered to see the Prophet lying on a mat that had left its imprint on his side. Under his head there was a leather pillow stuffed with palm fires. Behold! There were some hides hanging there and some grass for tanning. Then I mentioned what I had said to Hafsa and Um Salama and what reply Um Salama had given me. Allah's Apostle smiled and stayed there for twenty nine days and then came down." (See Hadith No. 648, Vol. 3 for details)