On the days of the conquest of Mecca, when Mecca was captured, Fatimah came and sat on the left side of the Messenger of Allah (saws), and Umm Hani was on his right side. A slave-girl brought a vessel which contained some drink; she gave it to him and he drank of it. He then gave it to Umm Hani who drank of it. She said: Messenger of Allah, I have broken my fast; I was fasting. He said to her: Were you making atonement for something? She replied: No. He said: Then it does not harm you if it was voluntary (fast).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that Sad al- Jari, the mawla of Umar ibn al-Khattab asked Abdullah ibn Umar about fish which had killed each other or which had died from severe cold . He said, "There is no harm in eating them.'' Sad said,' 'I then asked Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al As and he said the same."

Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab that he asked Salim ibn 'Abdullah ibn Umar about renting out fields. He said, "There is no harm in it for gold or silver." Ibn Shihab said, "I said to him, 'What do you think of the hadith which is mentioned from Rafi ibn Khadij?'" He said, ''Rafi has exaggerated. If I had a field, I would rent it out."

Yahya said that Malik was asked, "Can a woman eat with other than her relative or slave?" Malik said, "There is no harm in that if it is in a manner which is accepted for a woman to eat with men."

Malik said, "A woman sometimes eats with her husband and with others he dines with or with her brother in the same way. It is disapproved of for a woman to be alone with a man when there is no relationship between them by blood, marriage or suckling that would prevent him marrying her."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that al-Qasim ibn Muhammad and Urwa ibn az-Zubayr and Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar Rahman used to pray nawafil when travelling.

Yahya said that Malik was asked about voluntary prayers when travelling and he said, "There is no harm in them, either at night or during the day. I have heard that some of the people of knowledge used to do that."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi Hurayra asked Abdullah ibn Umar about eating what was cast up by the sea and he forbade him to eat it. Then Abdullah turned and asked for a Qur'an, and read, "The game of the sea and its flesh are halal for you." Nafi added, "Abdullah ibn Umar sent me to Abdar-Rahman Ibn Abi Hurayra to say that there was no harm in eating it."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: What is the harm if any of you has two garments, if he can provide them, for Friday (prayer) in addition to the two garments for his daily work? Amr reported from Ibn Habib from Musa ibn Sa'd from Ibn Habban from Ibn Salam who heard this (tradition) from the Messenger of Allah (saws) on the pulpit.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been reported by Yusuf b. 'Abd Allah b. Salam from the Prophet (saws) through a different chain of narrators.

I asked Hisham ibn Urwah about the cutting of a lote-tree when he was leaning against the house of Urwah. He said: Do you not see these doors and leaves? These were made of the lote-tree of Urwah which Urwah used to cut from his hand? He said: There is no harm in it.

Humayd's version adds: You have brought an innovation, O Iraqi! He said: The innovation is from you. I heard someone say at Mecca: The Messenger of Allah (saws) cursed him who cuts a lote-tree. He then mentioned the rest of the tradition to the same effect.

When Khalid al-Qasri was made ruler (of Hijaz and Kufah), he doubled the measure of sa'. The sa' then measured sixteen rotls.

Abu Dawud said: Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Khattab was slain by Negroes in confinement. He said while signing with his hand: "in this way". Abu Dawud extended his hand and turned his palms towards earth and said: I saw him in the dream and asked him: How did Allah deal with you ? He replied: He admitted to Paradise. I said: Your detention did not harm you.

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) used to teach us the way of doing Istikhara (Istikhara means to ask Allah to guide one to the right sort of action concerning any job or a deed), in all matters as he taught us the Suras of the Qur'an. He said, "If anyone of you thinks of doing any job he should offer a two rak`at prayer other than the compulsory ones and say (after the prayer): -- 'Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi'ilmika, Wa astaqdiruka bi-qudratika, Wa as'alaka min fadlika Al-`azlm Fa-innaka taqdiru Wala aqdiru, Wa ta'lamu Wala a'lamu, Wa anta 'allamu l-ghuyub. Allahumma, in kunta ta'lam anna hadha-lamra Khairun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa'aqibati `Amri (or 'ajili `Amri wa'ajilihi) Faqdirhu wa yas-sirhu li thumma barik li Fihi, Wa in kunta ta'lamu anna hadha-lamra shar-run li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa'aqibati `Amri (or fi'ajili `Amri wa ajilihi) Fasrifhu anni was-rifni anhu. Waqdir li al-khaira haithu kana Thumma ardini bihi.' (O Allah! I ask guidance from Your knowledge, And Power from Your Might and I ask for Your great blessings. You are capable and I am not. You know and I do not and You know the unseen. O Allah! If You know that this job is good for my religion and my subsistence and in my Hereafter--(or said: If it is better for my present and later needs)--Then You ordain it for me and make it easy for me to get, And then bless me in it, and if You know that this job is harmful to me In my religion and subsistence and in the Hereafter--(or said: If it is worse for my present and later needs)--Then keep it away from me and let me be away from it. And ordain for me whatever is good for me, And make me satisfied with it). The Prophet added that then the person should name (mention) his need.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from a man of the Ansar from Muadh ibn Sad or Sad ibn Muadh that a slave-girl of Kab ibn Malik was herding some sheep at Sal (a mountain near Madina). One of the sheep was about to die, so she went over to it and slaughtered it with a stone. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked about that, and he said, "There is no harm in it, so eat it."

Malik said, "I do not see that there is any harm in the Muslims eating whatever food they come across in enemy territory before the spoils are divided."

Malik said, "I think that any camels, cattle and sheep (taken as booty) are considered as food which the Muslims can eat in enemy territory. If they could not be eaten until the people had gathered for the division and the spoils had been distributed among them, that would be harmful for the army. I do not see any objection to eating such things within acceptable limits. I do not think, however, that anyone should store up any of it to take back to his family."

Malik was asked whether it was proper for a man who obtained food in enemy territory and ate some of it and made provision so that there was some of it left over to keep and eat with his family, or to sell before he had come to his country and make use of its price. He said, "If he sells it while he is on a military expedition, I think that he should put its price into the booty of the Muslims. If he takes it back to his country, I see no objection to his eating it and using it if it is a small insignificant thing."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Kathir ibn Farqad asked Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm about a man who sold food to be delivered at a future date to a man for gold and then with the gold, he bought dates before he had taken delivery of the gold. He disapproved of that and forbade it.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab the like of that.

Malik said, ''Said ibn al-Musayyab, Sulayman ibn Yasar, Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm, and Ibn Shihab forbade that a man sell wheat for gold and then buy dates with that gold before he had received the gold from the transaction in which he sold the wheat. There is no harm for someone to buy dates on delayed terms, on the strength of the gold for which he sold the wheat, from someone other than the person to whom he sold the wheat before taking possession of the gold, and to refer the one from whom he bought the dates to his debtor who bought the wheat, for the gold he is owed for the dates."

Malik said, "I asked more than one of the people of knowledge about that and they did not see any harm in it."

Yahya said that Malik spoke about an investor who made a qirad loan and stipulated to the agent that only certain goods should be bought with his money or he forbade certain goods which he named to be bought. He said, "There is no harm in an investor making a condition on an agent in qirad not to buy a certain kind of animal or goods which he specifies. It is disapproved of for an investor to make as a condition on an agent in qirad that he only buy certain goods unless the goods which he orders him to buy are in plentiful supply and do not fail either in winter or summer. There is no harm in that case."

Malik spoke about an investor who loaned qirad money and stipulated that something of the profit should be his alone without the agent sharing in it. He said, "That is not good, even if it is only one dirham unless he stipulates that half the profit is his and half the profit is the agent's or a third or a fourth or whatever. When he names a percentage, whether great or small, everything specified by that is halal. This is the qirad of the muslims."

He said, "It is also not good if the investor stipulates that one dirham or more of the profit is purely his, with out the agent sharing it and then what remains of the profit is to be divided in half between them. That is not the qirad of the Muslims."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father from A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If you are drowsy in prayer, sleep until sleep leaves you, because if you pray while you are drowsy, you do not know whether you may intend to ask for forgiveness but (in fact) ask for harm."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he used to hear the people of knowledge say,"There is no harm in fasting continuously as long as one breaks the fast on the days on which the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade fasting, namely, the days of Mina, the day of Adha and the day of Fitr, according to what we have heard."

Malik said, "This is what I like most out of what I have heard about the matter."

"When the Prophet (saws) ate, he would lick his three fingers, and he said: 'If one of you drops a piece (of food) then let him remove any harm (dirt) from it and eat it, and do not leave it for Ash-Shaitan.' And he would order us to finish (clean) the dish. And he said: 'Indeed you do not know in which part of your food is the blessing.'

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Gharib Sahih.