Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard the people of knowledge say that when a man hit game and something else might have contributed to death, like water or an untrained dog, that game was not to be eaten unless it was beyond doubt that it was the arrow of the hunter that had killed it by reaching a vital organ, so that it did not have any life after that.

Yahya said that he heard Malik say that there was no harm in eating game when you did not see it die if you found the mark of your dog on it or your arrow in it as long as it had not remained overnight. If it had remained overnight, then it was disapproved of to eat it.

Allah's Apostle said, "Allah will say to the people of Paradise, 'O the people of Paradise!' They will say, 'Labbaik, O our Lord, and Sa`daik!' Allah will say, 'Are you pleased?" They will say, 'Why should we not be pleased since You have given us what You have not given to anyone of Your creation?' Allah will say, 'I will give you something better than that.' They will reply, 'O our Lord! And what is better than that?' Allah will say, 'I will bestow My pleasure and contentment upon you so that I will never be angry with you after for-ever.' "

That he gave the Prophet (saws) a gift or a camel, so the Prophet (saws) said: "Have you accepted Islam?" He said: "No." He said: "Then I have been prohibited from the Zabd (gift) of the idolaters."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Sahih. And the meaning of his saying: "I haven been prohibited from the Zabd (gifts) of the idolaters" is their gifts.

It has been reported about the Messenger (saws) that he used to accept the gifts of the idolaters while a dislike for that is mentioned in this Hadith.

And the implication is that this was after he used to accept from them, and then he later forbade their gifts.

The Prophet said, "While a man was riding a cow, it turned towards him and said, 'I have not been created for this purpose (i.e. carrying), I have been created for ploughing." The Prophet added, "I, Abu Bakr and `Umar believe in the story." The Prophet went on, "A wolf caught a sheep, and when the shepherd chased it, the wolf said, 'Who will be its guard on the day of wild beasts, when there will be no shepherd for it except me?' "After narrating it, the Prophet said, "I, Abu Bakr and `Umar too believe it." Abu Salama (a sub-narrator) said, "Abu Bakr and `Umar were not present then."

Yahya related to me, and I (myself) heard Malik say, "The best that I have heard about some one who has to fast for two consecutive months because of having killed someone by mistake or having pronounced the dhihar form of divorce, becoming very ill and having to break his fast, is that if he recovers from his illness and is strong enough to fast, he must not delay doing so. He continues his fast from where he left off.

Similarly, a woman who has to fast because of having killed some one by mistake should not delay resuming her fast when she has become pure after her period. She continues her fast from where she left off.

No one who, by the Book of Allah, has to fast for two consecutive months may break his fast except for a reason - illness or menstruation. He must not travel and break his fast."

Malik said, "This is the best that I have heard about the matter."

The tradition mentioned above (No. 4232) has also been transmitted through a different chain of narrators by Nasr ibn Asim al-Laythi who said: We came to al-Yashkuri with a group of the people of Banu Layth.

He asked: Who are these people? We replied: Banu Layth. We have come to you to ask you about the tradition of Hudhayfah. He then mentioned the tradition and said: I asked: Messenger of Allah, will there be evil after this good?

He replied: There will be trial (fitnah) and evil. I asked: Messenger of Allah, will there be good after this evil? He replied: Learn the Book of Allah, Hudhayfah, and adhere to its contents. He said it three times.

I asked: Messenger of Allah, will there be good after this evil? He replied: An illusory truce and a community with specks in its eye. I asked: Messenger of Allah, what do you mean by an illusory community?

He replied: The hearts of the people will not return to their former condition. I asked: Messenger of Allah, will there be evil after this good? He replied: There will be wrong belief which will blind and deafen men to the truth in which there will be summoners at the gates of Hell. If you, Hudhayfah, die adhering to a stump, it will be better for you than following any of them.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab, and he had heard from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad that they said, "When a free man marries a slave-girl and consummates the marriage, she makes him muhsan."

Malik said, "All (of the people of knowledge) I have seen said that a slave-girl makes a free man muhsan when he marries her and consummates the marriage."

Malik said, "A slave makes a free woman muhsana when he consummates a marriage with her and a free woman only makes a slave muhsan when he is freed and he is her husband and has had sexual relations with her after he has been set free. If he parts from her before he is free, he is not a muhsan unless he marries her after having been set free and he consummates the marriage."

Malik said, "When a slave-girl is married to a free man and then he separates from her before she is set free, his marriage to her does not make her muhsana. She is not muhsana until she has married after she has been set free and she has had intercourse with her husband. That gives her ihsan. If she is the wife of a freeman and then she is set free while she is his wife before he separates from her, the man makes her muhsana if he has intercourse with her after she has been set free."

Malik said, "The christian and jewish free women and the muslim slave-girl all make a muslim free man muhsan when he marries one of them and has intercourse with her."

The Prophet said (on the day of Idal-Adha), "The first thing we will do on this day of ours, is to offer the (`Id) prayer and then return to slaughter the sacrifice. Whoever does so, he acted according to our Sunna (tradition), and whoever slaughtered (the sacrifice) before the prayer, what he offered was just meat he presented to his family, and that will not be considered as Nusak (sacrifice)." (On hearing that) Abu Burda bin Niyar got up, for he had slaughtered the sacrifice before the prayer, and said, "I have got a six month old ram." The Prophet said, 'Slaughter it (as a sacrifice) but it will not be sufficient for any-one else (as a sacrifice after you). Al-Bara' added: The Prophet said, "Whoever slaughtered (the sacrifice) after the prayer, he slaughtered it at the right time and followed the tradition of the Muslims."

Sahl said, "We used to feel happy on Fridays." I asked Sahl, "Why?" He said, "There was an old woman of our acquaintance who used to send somebody to Buda'a (Ibn Maslama said, "Buda'a was a garden of date-palms at Medina). She used to pull out the silq (a kind of vegetable) from its roots and put it in a cooking pot, adding some powdered barley over it (and cook it). After finishing the Jumua (Friday) prayer we used to (pass by her and) greet her, whereupon she would present us with that meal, so we used to feel happy because of that. We used to have neither a midday nap, nor meals, except after the Friday prayer." (See Hadith No. 60, Vol.2)

The Prophet said, "Whoever has slaughtered a sacrifice should not keep anything of Its meat after three days." When it was the next year the people said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we do as we did last year?" He said, ' Eat of it and feed of it to others and store of it for in that year the people were having a hard time and I wanted you to help (the needy).

Anas went to the Prophet with barley bread having some dissolved fat on it. The Prophet had mortgaged his armor to a Jew in Medina and took from him some barley for his family. Anas heard him saying, "The household of Muhammad did not possess even a single Sa of wheat or food grains for the evening meal, although he has nine wives to look after." (See Hadith No. 685)

That the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "Both the buyer and the seller retain the option as long as they have not separated. If they spoke the truth and clarified (any defects or conditions), then they would be blessed in their sale, and if they hid something and lied then their sale would be deprived of blessings."

And this is a Sahih Hadith.

This is how it was reported from Abu Barzah Al-Aslami, that two men came disputing to him after the sale of a horse, and they were on a ship, so he said: "I did not see the two of your separate, and the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: 'The buyer and the seller retain the choice as long as they did not separate.'"

Some of the people of knowledge, among the people of Al-Kufah and others, held the view that the separation refers to speech. This is the saying of [Sufyan] Ath-Thawri. This has been reported from Malik bin Anas, and it has been reported from Ibn al-Mubarak that he said: "How could this be refuted ?" And the Hadith about it from the Prophet (saws) is Sahih, and it strenghtens this view.

And the meaning of the saying of the Prophet (saws): "Except for the optional sale" is, that (while they are still together) the seller gives the buyer the option to cancel after the conclusion of the sale. If he chooses to agree to the sale, then he does not have the choice to cancel the sale after then, even if they did not separate. This is how Ash-Shafi'i and others explained it. And what strenghtens the view of those who said that the separation refers to them parting, (and) it does not refer to speech, is the (following) Hadith of 'Abdullah bin 'Amr from the Prophet (saws).

The Prophet rode a donkey having a saddle with a Fadakiyya velvet covering. He mounted me behind him and went to visit Sa`d bin 'Ubada, and that had been before the battle of Badr. The Prophet proceeded till he passed by a gathering in which `Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul was present, and that had been before `Abdullah embraced Islam. The gathering comprised of Muslims, polytheists, i.e., isolators and Jews. `Abdullah bin Rawaha was also present in that gathering. When dust raised by the donkey covered the gathering, `Abdullah bin Ubai covered his nose with his upper garment and said, "Do not trouble us with dust." The Prophet greeted them, stopped and dismounted. Then he invited them to Allah (i.e., to embrace Islam) and recited to them some verses of the Holy Qur'an. On that, `Abdullah bin Ubai said, "O man ! There is nothing better than what you say if it is true. Do not trouble us with it in our gathering, but return to your house, and if somebody comes to you, teach him there." On that `Abdullah bin Rawaha said, Yes, O Allah's Apostle! Bring your teachings to our gathering, for we love that." So the Muslims, the pagans and the Jews started abusing each other till they were about to fight. The Prophet kept on quietening them till they became calm. Thereupon the Prophet mounted his animal and proceeded till he entered upon Sa`d bin Ubada. He said to him "O Sa`d! Have you not heard what Abu Hubab (i.e., `Abdullah bin Ubai) said?" Sa`d said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Excuse and forgive him, for Allah has given you what He has given you. The people of this town (Medina decided unanimously to crown him and make him their chief by placing a turban on his head, but when that was prevented by the Truth which Allah had given you he (`Abdullah bin Ubai) was grieved out of jealously, and that was the reason which caused him to behave in the way you have seen."

Yahya said that he heard Malik speak about a man who bought goods - animals or clothes or wares, and the sale was found not to be permitted so it was revoked and the one who had taken the goods was ordered to return the owner his goods. Malik said, "The owner of the goods only has their value on the day they were taken from him, and not on the day they are returned to him. That is because the man is liable for them from the day he took them and whatever loss is in them after that is against him. For that reason, their increase and growth are also his. A man may take the goods at a time when they are selling well and are in demand, and then have to return them at a time when they have fallen in price and no one wants them. For instance, the man may take the goods from the other man, and sell them for ten dinars or keep them while their price is that. Then he may have to return them while their price is only a dinar. He should not go off with nine dinars from the man's property. Or perhaps they are taken by the man, and he sells them for a dinar or keeps them, while their price is only a dinar, then he has to return them, and their value on the day he returns them is ten dinars. The one who took them does not have to pay nine dinars from his property to the owner. He is only obliged to pay the value of what he took possession of on the day it was taken ."

He said, "Part of what clarifies this is that when a thief steals goods, only their price on the day he stole them is looked at. If cutting off the hand is necessary because of it, that is done. If the cutting off is delayed, either because the thief is imprisoned until his situation is examined or he flees and then is caught, the delay of the cutting off of the hand does not make the hadd, which was obliged for him on the day he stole, fall from him even if those goods become cheap after that. Nor does delay oblige cutting off the hand if it was not obliged on the day he took those goods, even if they become expensive after that."

Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things among us is that full siblings do not inherit anything with sons nor anything with grandsons through a son, nor anything with the father. They do inherit with the daughters and the granddaughters through a son when the deceased does not leave a paternal grandfather. Any property that is left over, they are in it as paternal relations. One begins with the people who are allotted fixed shares. They are given their shares. If there is anything left over after that, it belongs to the full siblings. They divide it between themselves according to the Book of Allah, whether they are male or female. The male has a portion of two females. If there is nothing left over, they have nothing.

"If the deceased does not leave a father or a paternal grandfather or children or male or female grandchildren through a son, a single full sister gets a half. If there are two or more full sisters, they get two thirds. If there is a brother with them, sisters, whether one or more, do not have a fixed share. One begins with whoever shares in the fixed shares. They are given their shares. Whatever remains after that goes to the full siblings. The male has the portion of two females except in one case, in which the full siblings have nothing. They share in this case the third of the half-siblings by the mother. That case is when a woman dies and leaves a husband, a mother, half- siblings by her mother, and full siblings. The husband has a half. The mother has one sixth. The half-siblings by the mother have a third. Nothing is left after that, so the full siblings share in this case with the half-siblings by the mother in their third. The male has the portion of two females in as much as all of them are siblings of the deceased by the mother. They inherit by the mother. That is because Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, said in His Book, 'If a man or a woman has no direct heir and he has a brother or a sister, each one of the two gets a sixth. If there are more than that, they share equally in the third. ' (Sura 4 ayat 12) . They therefore share in this case because all of them are siblings of the deceased by the mother."

Malik said, "The generally agreed-on way of doing things among us in the case of slave whose master makes a bequest to free part of him - a third, a fourth, a half, or any share after his death, is that only the portion of him is freed that his master has named. This is because the freeing of that portion is only obliged to take place after the death of the master because the master has the option to withdraw the bequest as long as he lives. When the slave is freed from his master, the master is a testator and the testator only has access to free what he can take from his property, being the third of the property he is allowed to bequeath, and the rest of the slave is not free because the man's property has gone out of his hands. How can the rest of the slave which belongs to other people be free when they did not initiate the setting free and did not confirm it and they do not have the wala' established for them? Only the deceased could do that. He was the one who freed him and the one for whom the wala' was confirmed. That is not to be borne by another's property unless he bequeaths within the third of his property what remains of a lave to be freed. That is a request against his partners and inheritors and the partners must not refuse the slave that when it is within the third of the dead man's property because there is no harm in that to the inheritors."

Malik said, "If a man frees a third of his slave while he is critically ill, he must complete the emancipation so all of him is free from him, if it is within the third of his property that he has access to, because he is not treated in the same way as a man who frees a third of a slave after his death, because had the one who freed a third of his slave after his death lived, he could have cancelled it and the slave's being set free would be of no effect. The master who made the freeing of the third of the slave irrevocable in his illness, would still have to free all of him if he lived. If he died, the slave would be set free within the third of the bequest. That is because the command of the deceased is permissible in his third as the command of the healthy is permissible in all his property."

The Prophet said, "Allah will say to the people of Paradise, "O the people of Paradise!" They will say, 'Labbaik, O our Lord, and Sa`daik, and all the good is in Your Hands!' Allah will say, "Are you satisfied?' They will say, 'Why shouldn't we be satisfied, O our Lord as You have given us what You have not given to any of Your created beings?' He will say, 'Shall I not give you something better than that?' They will say, 'O our Lord! What else could be better than that?' He will say, 'I bestow My Pleasure on you and will never be angry with you after that.' "

`Umar bought a silk cloak from the market, took it to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Take it and adorn yourself with it during the `Id and when the delegations visit you." Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) replied, "This dress is for those who have no share (in the Hereafter)." After a long period Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) sent to `Umar a cloak of silk brocade. `Umar came to Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) with the cloak and said, "O Allah's Apostle! You said that this dress was for those who had no share (in the Hereafter); yet you have sent me this cloak." Allah's Apostle said to him, "Sell it and fulfill your needs by it."

The people used to consider the performance of `Umra in the months of Hajj an evil deed on the earth, and they used to call the month of Muharram as Safar and used to say, "When (the wounds over) the backs (of the camels) have healed and the foot-marks (of the camels) have vanished (after coming from Hajj), then `Umra becomes legal for the one who wants to perform `Umra." Allah's Apostle and his companions reached Mecca assuming Ihram for Hajj on the fourth of Dhul-Hijja. The Prophet ordered his companions to perform `Umra (with that lhram instead of Hajj). They asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What kind of finishing of Ihram?" The Prophet said, "Finish the Ihram completely.'

Malik was asked whether the tenth or the twentieth was taken out of olives before they were sold or after and he said, "The sale is not taken into consideration. It is the people who produce the olives that are asked about the olives, just as it is the people who produce foodstuffs that are asked about it, and zakat is taken from them by what they say. Someone who gets five awsuq or more of olives from his olive trees has a tenth taken from the oil after pressing. Whereas someone who does not get five awsuq from his trees does not have to pay any zakat on the oil."

Malik said, "Someone who sells his crops when they are ripe and are ready in the husk has to pay zakat on them but the one who buys them does not. The sale of crops is not valid until they are ready in the husk and no longer need water."

Malik said, concerning the word of Allah the Exalted, "And give its due on the day of its harvesting," that it referred to zakat, and that he had heard people saying that.

Malik said, "If someone sells his garden or his land, on which are crops or fruit which have not yet ripened, then it is the buyer who has to pay the zakat. If, however, they have ripened, it is the seller who has to pay the zakat, unless paying the zakat is one of the conditions of the sale."

The Prophet (saws) said: If anyone performs ablution well and pays a visit to his (sick) Muslim brother seeking his reward from Allah, he will be removed a distance of seventy years (kharif) from Hell. I asked: What is kharif, Abu Hamzah? He replied: A year.

Abu Dawud said: Only the people of Basrah have narrated the tradition on visiting the sick after performing ablution.

A man from the people of the scripture came to the Prophet and said, "O Abal-Qasim! Allah will hold the Heavens upon a Finger, and the Earth on a Finger and the land on a Finger, and all the creation on a Finger, and will say, 'I am the King! I am the King!' " I saw the Prophet (after hearing that), smiling till his premolar teeth became visible, and he then recited: -- 'No just estimate have they made of Allah such as due to him... (39.67)

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba ibn Masud from his father that Umar ibn al- Khattab was asked about a woman and her daughter who were in the possession of the right hand, and whether one could have intercourse with one of them after the other Umar said, "I dislike both being permitted together." He then forbade that.

Allah's Apostle appointed Usama bin Zaid as the commander of some people. Those people criticized his leadership. The Prophet said, "If you speak ill of his leadership, you have already spoken ill of his father's leadership before. By Allah, he deserved to be a Commander, and he was one of the most beloved persons to me and now this (i.e. Usama) is one of the most beloved persons to me after him.

That while he was included in a delegation of Quraish staying with Muawiya, Muawiya heard that `Abdullah bin `Amr had said that there would be a king from Qahtan tribe, whereupon he became very angry. He stood up, and after glorifying and praising Allah as He deserved, said, "To proceed, I have come to know that some of you men are narrating things which are neither in Allah's Book, nor has been mentioned by Allah's Apostle . Such people are the ignorant among you. Beware of such vain desires that mislead those who have them. I have heard Allah's Apostle saying, 'This matter (of the caliphate) will remain with the Quraish, and none will rebel against them, but Allah will throw him down on his face as long as they stick to the rules and regulations of the religion (Islam).'"

I asked `Abdullah bin `Amr bin Al-`As to inform me of the worst thing the pagans had done to Allah's Apostle. He said: "While Allah's Apostle was praying in the courtyard of the Ka`ba, `Uqba bin Abi Mu'ait came and seized Allah's Apostle by the shoulder and twisted his garment round his neck and throttled him severely. Abu Bakr came and seized `Uqba's shoulder and threw him away from Allah's Apostle and said, "Would you kill a man because he says: 'My Lord is Allah,' and has come to you with clear Signs from your Lord?" (40.28)

Malik related to me from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr from his father that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If a man sneezes, invoke a blessing on him. Then if he sneezes, invoke a blessing on him. Then if he sneezes, invoke a blessing on him. Then if he sneezes, say, 'You have a cold'." Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr said, "I don't know whether it was after the third or fourth."

Abu Burda slaughtered (the sacrifice) before the (`Id) prayer whereupon the Prophet said to him, "Slaughter another sacrifice instead of that." Abu Burda said, "I have nothing except a Jadha'a." (Shu`ba said: Perhaps Abu Burda also said that Jadha'a was better than an old sheep in his opinion.) The Prophet said, "(Never mind), slaughter it to make up for the other one, but it will not be sufficient for anyone else after you."

My father said, "While we were praying with the Prophet he heard the noise of some people. After the prayer he said, 'What is the matter?' They replied 'We were hurrying for the prayer.' He said, 'Do not make haste for the prayer, and whenever you come for the prayer, you should come with calmness, and pray whatever you get (with the people) and complete the rest which you have missed."

I said, "O Allah's Apostle! I let loose my hound after a game and mention Allah's Name on sending it." The Prophet said, "If you let loose your hound after a game and you mention Allah's Name on sending it and the hound catches and kills the game and eats of it, then you should not eat of it, for it has killed it for itself." I said, "Sometimes when I send my hound after a game, I find another hound along with it and I do not know which of them has caught the game." He said, "You must not eat of it because you have not mentioned, the Name of Allah except on sending your own hound, and you did not mention it on the other hound." Then I asked him about the game hunted with a Mi'rad (i.e. a sharp edged piece of wood or a piece of wood provided with a sharp piece of iron used for hunting). He said, "If the game is killed with its sharp edge, you can eat of it, but if it is killed by its broad side (shaft), you cannot eat of it, for then it is like an animal beaten to death with a piece of wood."

(This is Ma'mar's version which is more accurate.) A man and a woman of the Jews committed fornication.

Some of them said to the others: Let us go to this Prophet, for he has been sent with an easy law. If he gives a judgment lighter than stoning, we shall accept it, and argue about it with Allah, saying: It is a judgment of one of your prophets. So they came to the Prophet (saws) who was sitting in the mosque among his companions.

They said: AbulQasim, what do you think about a man and a woman who committed fornication? He did not speak to them a word till he went to their school.

He stood at the gate and said: I adjure you by Allah Who revealed the Torah to Moses, what (punishment) do you find in the Torah for a person who commits fornication, if he is married?

They said: He shall be blackened with charcoal, taken round a donkey among the people, and flogged. A young man among them kept silent.

When the Prophet (saws) emphatically adjured him, he said: By Allah, since you have adjured us (we inform you that) we find stoning in the Torah (is the punishment for fornication).

The Prophet (saws) said: So when did you lessen the severity of Allah's command? He said:

A relative of one of our kings had committed fornication, but his stoning was suspended. Then a man of a family of common people committed fornication. He was to have been stoned, but his people intervened and said: Our man shall not be stoned until you bring your man and stone him. So they made a compromise on this punishment between them.

The Prophet (saws) said: So I decide in accordance with what the Torah says. He then commanded regarding them and they were stoned to death.

Az-Zuhri said: We have been informed that this verse was revealed about them: "It was We Who revealed the Law (to Moses): therein was guidance and light. By its standard have been judged the Jews, by the Prophet who bowed (as in Islam) to Allah's will.

I was a blacksmith and did some work for Al-`As bin Wail. When he owed me some money for my work, I went to him to ask for that amount. He said, "I will not pay you unless you disbelieve in Muhammad." I said, "By Allah! I will never do that till you die and be resurrected." He said, "Will I be dead and then resurrected after my death?" I said, "Yes." He said, "There I will have property and offspring and then I will pay you your due." Then Allah revealed. 'Have you seen him who disbelieved in Our signs, and yet says: I will be given property and offspring?' (19.77)

I said, "O Allah's Prophet! We are living in a land ruled by the people of the Scripture; Can we take our meals in their utensils? In that land there is plenty of game and I hunt the game with my bow and with my hound that is not trained and with my trained hound. Then what is lawful for me to eat?" He said, "As for what you have mentioned about the people of the Scripture, if you can get utensils other than theirs, do not eat out of theirs, but if you cannot get other than theirs, wash their utensils and eat out of it. If you hunt an animal with your bow after mentioning Allah's Name, eat of it. and if you hunt something with your trained hound after mentioning Allah's Name, eat of it, and if you hunt something with your untrained hound (and get it before it dies) and slaughter it, eat of it."

When Allah's Apostle was on his death-bed and in the house there were some people among whom was `Umar bin Al-Khattab, the Prophet said, "Come, let me write for you a statement after which you will not go astray." `Umar said, "The Prophet is seriously ill and you have the Qur'an; so the Book of Allah is enough for us." The people present in the house differed and quarrelled. Some said "Go near so that the Prophet may write for you a statement after which you will not go astray," while the others said as `Umar said. When they caused a hue and cry before the Prophet, Allah's Apostle said, "Go away!" Narrated 'Ubaidullah: Ibn `Abbas used to say, "It was very unfortunate that Allah's Apostle was prevented from writing that statement for them because of their disagreement and noise."

My companions, who came with me in the boat and I landed at a place called Baqi [??] Buthan [??] . The Prophet was in Medina at that time. One of us used to go to the Prophet by turns every night at the time of the `Isha prayer. Once I along with my companions went to the Prophet and he was busy in some of his affairs, so the `Isha' prayer was delayed to the middle of the night He then came out and led the people (in prayer). After finishing from the prayer, he addressed the people present there saying, "Be patient! Don't go away. Have the glad tiding. It is from the blessing of Allah upon you that none amongst mankind has prayed at this time save you." Or said, "None except you has prayed at this time." Abu Musa added, 'So we returned happily after what we heard from Allah's Apostle ."