Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath said: Al-Ash'ath bought slaves of booty from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud for twenty thousand (dirhams. Abdullah asked him for payment of their price. He said: I bought them for ten thousand (dirhams). Abdullah said: Appoint a man who may adjudicate between me and you. Al-Ash'ath said: (I appoint) you between me and yourself. Abdullah said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: If both parties in a business transaction differ (on the price of an article), and they have witness between them, the statement of the owner of the article will be accepted (as correct) or they may annul the transaction.

Allah's Apostle said, "If one says one-hundred times in one day: "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, the Alone Who has no partners, to Him belongs Dominion and to Him belong all the Praises, and He has power over all things (i.e. Omnipotent)", one will get the reward of manumitting ten slaves, and one-hundred good deeds will be written in his account, and one-hundred bad deeds will be wiped off or erased from his account, and on that day he will be protected from the morning till evening from Satan, and nobody will be superior to him except one who has done more than that which he has done."

I spent a night with the Prophet (sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam). When he woke up from his sleep (in the latter part of the night for prayer) he came to his ablution water. He took the tooth-stick and used it. He then recited the verse: "Verily in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are tokens (of His Sovereignty) for men of understanding" (iii-190). He recited these verses up to the end of the chapter or he finished the whole chapter. He then performed ablution and came to the place of prayer. He then said two rak'ahs of prayer. He then lay down on the bed and slept as much as Allaah wished. He then got up and did the same. He then lay down and slept. He then got up and did the same. Every time he used the tooth-stick and offered two rak'ah of prayer. He then offered the prayer known as witr.

Abu Dawud said: Fudail on the authority if Husain reported the wording: He then used the tooth-stick and performed ablution while he was reciting the verses: "Verily in the creation of the heaves and the earth..." until he finished the chapter.

Al-Hasan reported: Umar ibn al-Khattab gathered the people (in tarawih prayer) behind Ubayy ibn Ka'b (who led them). He used to lead them for twenty days (during Ramadan, and would not recite the supplication except in the second half of it (i.e. Ramadan). When the last ten days remained, he kept away from them, and prayed in his house. They used to say: Ubayy ran away.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition shows that whatever has been reported about the recitation of the supplication is not tenable. Moreover, these two traditions from Ubayy b. Ka'b indicate that another tradition which tells that the Prophet (saws) recited the supplication in the witr is weak.

When the Verse:-- "If there are twenty steadfast amongst you, they will overcome two hundred." (8.65) was revealed, then it became obligatory for the Muslims that one (Muslim) should not flee from ten (non-Muslims). Sufyan (the sub-narrator) once said, "Twenty (Muslims) should not flee before two hundred (non Muslims)." Then there was revealed: 'But now Allah has lightened your (task)..' (8.66) So it became obligatory that one-hundred (Muslims) should not flee before two hundred (nonmuslims). (Once Sufyan said extra, "The Verse: 'Urge the believers to the fight. If there are twenty steadfast amongst you (Muslims) ..' was revealed.) Sufyan said, "Ibn Shabrama said, "I see that this order is applicable to the obligation of enjoining good and forbidding evil."

Zainab bint Abu Salama told me these three narrations: Zainab said: I went to Um Habiba, the wife of the Prophet when her father, Abu- Sufyan bin Herb had died. Um ,Habiba asked for a perfume which contained yellow scent (Khaluq) or some other scent, and she first perfumed one of the girls with it and then rubbed her cheeks with it and said, "By Allah, I am not in need of perfume, but I have heard Allah's Apostle saying, 'It is not lawful for a lady who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for a dead person for more than three days unless he is her husband for whom she should mourn for four months and ten days.'"

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said, "Once Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Habban and I were sitting down, and Muhammad called a man over to him and said to him, 'Tell me what you have heard from your father.' The man replied that his father had told him that he went to Zayd ibn Thabit and asked him, 'What do you think of reciting the whole Qur'an in seven days?' Zayd said, 'That's good, but I prefer to recite it in two weeks, or ten days. Ask me why that is.' He said, 'I ask you then.' Zayd said, 'So that I can reflect on it and pause in it.' "

Allah's Apostle said, "Fasting is a shield (or a screen or a shelter). So, the person observing fasting should avoid sexual relation with his wife and should not behave foolishly and impudently, and if somebody fights with him or abuses him, he should tell him twice, 'I am fasting." The Prophet added, "By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, the smell coming out from the mouth of a fasting person is better in the sight of Allah than the smell of musk. (Allah says about the fasting person), 'He has left his food, drink and desires for My sake. The fast is for Me. So I will reward (the fasting person) for it and the reward of good deeds is multiplied ten times."

Abu Hurairah said “I came to Madeenah when the Abu Apostle of Allaah(saws) was in Khaibar, after it was captured. I asked him to give me a share from the booty. A son of Sa’id bin Al ‘As spoke and said “Do not give him any share, Apostle of Allaah(saws). I said “This is the killer of Ibn Qauqal.” (The son of) Sa’id bin Al ‘As said “Oh, how wonderful! A Wabr who came down to us from the peak of Dal blames me of having killed a Muslim whom Allaah honored at my hands and did not disgrace me at his hands.

Abu Dawud said “They were about ten persons. Six of them were killed and the remaining returned.

Abu Talha said to Um Sulaim, "I heard the voice of Allah's Apostle rather weak, and I knew that it was because of hunger. Have you anything (to present to the Prophet)?" She said, "Yes." Then she took out a few loaves of barley bread and took a veil of hers and wrapped the bread with a part of it and sent me to Allah's Apostle. I went and found Allah's Apostle sitting in the mosque with some people. I stood up before him. Allah's Apostle said to me, "Has Abu Talha sent you?" I said, ' Yes. Then Allah's Apostle said to those who were with him. "Get up and proceed." I went ahead of them (as their forerunner) and came to Abu Talha and informed him about it. Abu Talha said, "O Um Sulaim! Allah's Apostle has come and we have no food to feed them." Um Sulaim said, "Allah and His Apostle know best." So Abu Talha went out (to receive them) till he met Allah's Apostle. Allah's Apostle came in company with Abu Talha and they entered the house. Allah's Apostle said, "O Um Sulaim! Bring whatever you have." So she brought that (barley) bread and Allah's Apostle ordered that bread to be broken into small pieces, and then Um Sulaim poured over it some butter from a leather butter container, and then Allah's Apostle said what Allah wanted him to say, (i.e. blessing the food). Allah's Apostle then said, "Admit ten men." Abu Talha admitted them and they ate to their fill and went out. He again said, "Admit ten men." He admitted them, and in this way all the people ate to their fill, and they were seventy or eighty men."

Malik said, "Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says, 'O you who trust, do not kill game while you are in ihram. Whoever of you kills game intentionally has to pay a forfeit commensurate with what he has killed in cattle which two men from among you shall judge, a sacrificial animal which reaches the Kaba, or else he makes a kaffara of either feeding poor people or the equivalent of that in fasting, so that he may taste the consequences of what he has done.' " (Sura 5 ayat 95).

Malik said, "Someone who hunts game when he is not in ihram and then kills it while he is in ihram is in the same position as someone who buys game while he is in ihram and then kills it. Allah has forbidden killing it, and so a man who does so has to pay a forfeit for it. The position that we go by in this matter is that a forfeit is assessed for anyone who kills game while he is in ihram."

Yahya said that Malik said, "The best that I have heard about someone who kills game and is assessed for it is that the game which he has killed is assessed and its value in food is estimated and with that food he feeds each poor man a mudd, or fasts a day in place of each mudd. The number of poor men is considered, and if it is ten then he fasts ten days, and if it is twenty he fasts twenty days, according to how many people there are to be fed, even if there are more than sixty."

Malik said, "I have heard that a forfeit is assessed for someone who kills game in the Haram while he is not in ihram in the same way that it is assessed for some one who kills game in the Haram while he is in ihram ."

We took part in the holy battle of Tabuk in the company of the Prophet and when we arrived at the Wadi-al-Qura, there was a woman in her garden. The Prophet asked his companions to estimate the amount of the fruits in the garden, and Allah's Apostle estimated it at ten Awsuq (One Wasaq = 60 Sa's) and 1 Sa'= 3 kg. approximately). The Prophet said to that lady, "Check what your garden will yield." When we reached Tabuk, the Prophet said, "There will be a strong wind tonight and so no one should stand and whoever has a camel, should fasten it." So we fastened our camels. A strong wind blew at night and a man stood up and he was blown away to a mountain called Taiy, The King of Aila sent a white mule and a sheet for wearing to the Prophet as a present, and wrote to the Prophet that his people would stay in their place (and will pay Jizya taxation.) (1) When the Prophet reached Wadi-al- Qura he asked that woman how much her garden had yielded. She said, "Ten Awsuq," and that was what Allah's Apostle had estimated. Then the Prophet said, "I want to reach Medina quickly, and whoever among you wants to accompany me, should hurry up." The sub-narrator Ibn Bakkar said something which meant: When the Prophet (p.b.u.h) saw Medina he said, "This is Taba." And when he saw the mountain of Uhud, he said, "This mountain loves us and we love it. Shall I tell you of the best amongst the Ansar?" They replied in the affirmative. He said, "The family of Bani-n-Najjar, and then the family of Bani Sa`ida or Bani Al-Harith bin Al-Khazraj. (The above-mentioned are the best) but there is goodness in all the families of Ansar."

Abu Dawud and others have said: When a she-camel enters fourth year, the female is called hiqqah, and the male is called hiqq, for it deserves that it should be loaded and ridden. When a camel enters its fifth year, the male is called Jadha' and the female is called Jadha'ah. When it enters its sixth year, and sheds its front teeth, it is called thani (male) and thaniyyah (female). When it enters its seventh year, it is called raba' and raba'iyyah. When it enters its ninth year and cuts its canine teeth, it is called bazil. When it enters its tenth year, it is called mukhlif. Then there is no name for it, but is called bazil'am and bazil'amain, and mukhlif'am and mukhlif'amain, upto any year it increases. Nad d. Shumail said: Bint makhad is a she-camel of one year, and bin labun is s she-camel of two years, hiqqah is a she-camel of three years, jadha'ah is a she-camel of four years, thani is a camel of five years, raba' is a camel of six years, sadis is a camel of seven years, and bazil is a camel of eight years.

Abu Dawud said: Abu Hatim and al-Asma'i said: Al-Jadhu'ah is a time when no tooth is growing. Abu Hatim said: Some of them said: When it sheds its teeth between front and canine teeth, it is called raba' and when it sheds its front teeth, it is called thani. Abu 'Ubaid said: When it becomes pregnant, it is called khalifah, and it remains khalifah for ten months; when it reaches ten months, it is called 'ushara', Abu Hatim said: When it shed its front teeth, it is called thani and when it sheds its teeth between front and canine teeth it is called raba'.

`Urwa bin Az-Zubair, Sa`id bin Al-Musaiyab, 'Al-Qama bin Waqqas and 'Ubaidullah bin `Abdullah related the narration of `Aisha, the wife the Prophet, when the slanderers had said about her what they had said and Allah later declared her innocence. Each of them related a part of the narration (wherein) the Prophet said (to `Aisha). "If you are innocent, then Allah will declare your innocence: but if you have committed a sin, then ask for Allah's Forgiveness and repent to him." `Aisha said, "By Allah, I find no example for my case except that of Joseph's father (when he said), 'So (for me) patience is most fitting.' " Then Allah revealed the ten Verses:-- "Verily those who spread the slander are a gang amongst you.." (24.11)

Sa`id bin Al-Musaiyab, 'Alqama bin Waqqas and 'Ubaidullah bin `Abdullah regarding the narrating of the forged statement against `Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, when the slanderers said what they said and Allah revealed her innocence. `Aisha said, "But by Allah, I did not think that Allah, (to confirm my innocence), would reveal Divine Inspiration which would be recited, for I consider myself too unimportant to be talked about by Allah through Divine Inspiration revealed for recitation, but I hoped that Allah's Apostle might have a dream in which Allah would reveal my innocence. So Allah revealed:-- 'Verily! Those who spread the slander are a gang among you...' (The ten Verses in Suratan- Nur) (24.11-20)

Ziyad related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Amra bint Abd ar-Rahman from A'isha that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, once wanted to do itikaf, and when he went off to the place where he wanted to do itikaf he found some tents there, which were A'isha's tent, Hafsa's tent, and Zaynab's tent. When he saw them he asked about them and someone told him that they were the tents of A'isha, Hafsa and Zaynab. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Do you think them devout?" Then he left, and did not do itikaf until Shawwal, when he then did it for ten days.

We practiced I`tikaf with Allah's Apostle in the middle ten days (of Ramadan). In the morning of the twentieth (of Ramadan) we shifted our baggage, but Allah's Apostle came to us and said, "Whoever was m I`tikaf should return to his place of I`tikaf, for I saw (i.e. was informed about the date of) this Night (of Qadr) and saw myself prostrating in mud and water." When I returned to my place the sky was overcast with clouds and it rained. By Him Who sent Muhammad with the Truth, the sky was covered with clouds from the end of that day, and the mosque which was roofed with leafstalks of date palm trees (leaked with rain) and I saw the trace of mud and water over the nose of the Prophet and its tip.

Abu Hurairah said: (It will atone for his sins) for three days more. he further said: One is rewarded ten times for doing a good work.

Abu Dawud said: The version narrated by Muhammad b. Salamah is perfect, and Hammad did not make a mention of the statement of Abu Hurairah.

Abu Hudhaifa bin `Utba bin Rabi`a bin `Abdi Shams who had witnessed the battle of Badr along with the Prophet adopted Salim as his son, to whom he married his niece, Hind bint Al-Walid bin `Utba bin Rabi`a; and Salim was the freed slave of an Ansar woman, just as the Prophet had adopted Zaid as his son. It was the custom in the Pre-lslamic Period that if somebody adopted a boy, the people would call him the son of the adoptive father and he would be the latter's heir. But when Allah revealed the Divine Verses: 'Call them by (the names of) their fathers . . . your freed-slaves,' (33.5) the adopted persons were called by their fathers' names. The one whose father was not known, would be regarded as a Maula and your brother in religion. Later on Sahla bint Suhail bin `Amr Al-Quraishi Al-`Amiri-- and she was the wife of Abu- Hudhaifa bin `Utba--came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! We used to consider Salim as our (adopted) son, and now Allah has revealed what you know (regarding adopted sons)." The sub-narrator then mentioned the rest of the narration.

Malik related to me from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar said, "The Jews came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and mentioned to him that a man and woman from among them had committed adultery. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked them, 'What do you find in the Torah about stoning?' They said, 'We make their wrong action known and flog them.' Abdullah ibn Salam said, 'You have lied! It has stoning for it, so bring the Torah.' They spread it out and one of them placed his hand over the ayat of stoning. Then he read what was before it and what was after it. Abdullah ibn Salam told him to lift his hand. He lifted his hand and there was the ayat of stoning. They said, 'He has spoken the truth, Muhammad. The ayat of stoning is in it.' So the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave the order and they were stoned . "

Abdullah ibn Umar added, "I saw the man leaning over the woman to protect her from the stones."

Malik commented, "By leaning he meant throwing himself over her so that the stones fell on him."

When `Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul died, Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) was called upon to offer his funeral prayer. When Allah's Apostle stood up to offer the prayer, I got up quickly and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Are you going to pray for Ibn Ubai and he said so and so on such and such occasions?" And started mentioning all that he had said. Allah's Apostle smiled and said, "O `Umar! Go away from me." When I talked too much he said, "I have been given the choice and so I have chosen (to offer the prayer). Had I known that he would be forgiven by asking for Allah's forgiveness for more than seventy times, surely I would have done so." (`Umar added): Allah's Apostle offered his funeral prayer and returned and after a short while the two verses of Surat Bara' were revealed: i.e. "And never (O Muhammad) pray for any of them who dies . . . (to the end of the verse) rebellion (9.84)" -- (`Umar added), "Later I astonished at my daring before Allah's Apostle on that day. And Allah and His Apostle know better."

AbdurRahman ibn al-Akhnas said that when he was in the mosque, a man mentioned Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). So Sa'id ibn Zayd got up and said: I bear witness to the Messenger of Allah (saws) that I heard him say: Ten persons will go to Paradise: The Prophet (saws) will go to Paradise, AbuBakr will go to Paradise, Umar will go to Paradise, Uthman will go to Paradise, Ali will go to Paradise, Talhah will go to Paradise: az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam will go to paradise, Sa'd ibn Malik will go to Paradise, and AbdurRahman ibn Awf will go to Paradise. If I wish, I can mention the tenth. The People asked: Who is he: So he kept silence. The again asked: Who is he: He replied: He is Sa'id ibn Zayd.

(One night) I stayed overnight in the house of my aunt Maimuna, and said to myself, "I will watch the prayer of Allah's Apostle " My aunt placed a cushion for Allah's Apostle and he slept on it in its length-wise direction and (woke-up) rubbing the traces of sleep off his face and then he recited the last ten Verses of Surat-al-`Imran till he finished it. Then he went to a hanging water skin and took it, performed the ablution and then stood up to offer the prayer. I got up and did the same as he had done, and stood beside him. He put his hand on my head and held me by the ear and twisted it. He offered two rak`at, then two rak`at, then two rak`at, then two rak`at, then two rak`at, then two rak`at, and finally the witr (i.e. one rak`a) prayer.

The Prophet narrating about his Lord I'm and said, "Allah ordered (the appointed angels over you) that the good and the bad deeds be written, and He then showed (the way) how (to write). If somebody intends to do a good deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write for him a full good deed (in his account with Him); and if he intends to do a good deed and actually did it, then Allah will write for him (in his account) with Him (its reward equal) from ten to seven hundred times to many more times: and if somebody intended to do a bad deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write a full good deed (in his account) with Him, and if he intended to do it (a bad deed) and actually did it, then Allah will write one bad deed (in his account) ."

Once I passed the night in the house of Maimuna (his aunt). I slept across the bed while Allah's Apostle and his wife slept length-wise. The Prophet slept till midnight or nearly so and woke up rubbing his face and recited ten verses from Surat "Al-`Imran." Allah's Apostle went towards a leather skin and performed ablution in the most perfect way and then stood for the prayer. I did the same and stood beside him. The Prophet put his right hand on my head, twisted my ear and then prayed two rak`at five times and then ended his prayer with witr. He laid down till the Mu'adh-dhin came then he stood up and offered two rak`at (Sunnah of Fajr prayer) and then went out and offered the Fajr prayer. (See Hadith 183)

(the wife of the Prophet) That she came to visit Allah's Apostle while he was in I`tikaf (i.e. seclusion in the Mosque during the last ten days of Ramadan). When she got up to return, Allah's Apostle got up with her and accompanied her, and when he reached near the gate of the Mosque close to the door (of the house) of Um Salama, the wife of the Prophet, two Ansari men passed by them and greeted Allah's Apostle and then went away. Allah's Apostle addressed them saying, "Don't hurry! (She is my wife)," They said, "Glorified be Allah! O Allah's Apostle (You are far away from any suspicion)," and his saying was hard on them. Allah's Apostle said, "Satan circulates in the mind of a person as blood does (in his body). I was afraid that Satan might put some (evil) thoughts in your minds."

Some (of the Ansar) used to present date palm trees to the Prophet till Banu Quraiza and Banu An- Nadir were conquered (then he returned to the people their date palms). My people ordered me to ask the Prophet to return some or all the date palms they had given to him, but the Prophet had given those trees to Um Aiman. On that, Um Aiman came and put the garment around my neck and said, "No, by Him except Whom none has the right to be worshipped, he will not return those trees to you as he (i.e. the Prophet ) has given them to me." The Prophet go said (to her), "Return those trees and I will give you so much (instead of them)." But she kept on refusing, saying, "No, by Allah," till he gave her ten times the number of her date palms.

A woman came to the Prophet (saws) while we were with him.

She said: Messenger of Allah, my husband, Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal, beats me when I pray, and makes me break my fast when I keep a fast, and he does not offer the dawn prayer until the sun rises.

He asked Safwan, who was present, about what she had said. He replied: Messenger of Allah, as for her statement "he beats me when I pray", she recites two surahs (during prayer) and I have prohibited her (to do so).

He (the Prophet) said: If one surah is recited (during prayer), that is sufficient for the people.

(Safwan continued:) As regards her saying "he makes me break my fast," she dotes on fasting; I am a young man, I cannot restrain myself.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said on that day: A woman should not fast except with the permission of her husband.

(Safwan said:) As for her statement that I do not pray until the sun rises, we are a people belonging to a class, and that (our profession of supplying water) is already known about us. We do not awake until the sun rises. He said: When you awake, offer your prayer.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said heard Said ibn al-Musayyab say, "Keeping gold and silver out of circulation is part of working corruption in the land."

Malik said, "There is no harm in buying gold with silver or silver with gold without measuring if it is unminted or a piece of jewellery which has been made. Counted dirhams and counted dinars should not be bought without reckoning until they are known and counted. To abandon number and buy them at random would only be to speculate. That is not part of the business transactions of Muslims. As for what is weighed of unminted objects and jewellery, there is no harm in buying such things without measuring. To buy them without measuring is like buying wheat, dried dates, and such food-stuffs, which are sold without measuring, even though things like them are measured "

Malik spoke about buying a Qur'an, a sword or a signet ring which had some gold or silver work on it with dinars or dirhams. He said, "The value of the object bought with dinars, which has gold in it is looked at. If the value of the gold is up to one-third of the price, it is permitted and there is no harm in it if the sale is hand to hand and there is no deferment in it. When something is bought with silver which has silver in it, the value is looked at. If the value of the silver is one- third, it is permitted and there is no harm in it if the sale is hand to hand. That is still the way of doing things among us."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If someone changes his deen - strike his neck!"

The meaning of the statement of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in our opinion and Allah knows best, is that "if someone changes his deen, strike his neck!" refers to those who leave Islam for other than it - like the heretics and their like, about whom it is known. They are killed without being called to tawba because their tawba is not recognised. They were hiding their kufr and publishing their Islam, so I do not think that one calls such people to tawba, and one does not accept their word. As for the one who goes out of Islam to something else and divulges it, one calls him to tawba. If he does not turn in tawba, he is killed. If there are people in that situation, I think that one should call them to Islam and call them to tawba. If they turn in tawba, that is accepted from them. If they do not turn in tawba, they are killed. That does not refer as we see it, and Allah knows best, to those who come out of Judaism to Christianity or from Christianity to Judaism, nor to someone who changes his deen from the various forms of deen except for Islam. Whoever comes out of Islam to other than it and divulges that, that is the one who is referred to, and Allah knows best!

I came to `Aisha during the solar eclipse. The people were standing (offering prayer) and she too, was standing and offering prayer. I asked, "What is wrong with the people?" She pointed towards the sky with her hand and said, Subhan Allah!'' I asked her, "Is there a sign?" She nodded with her head meaning, yes. When Allah's Apostle finished (the prayer), he glorified and praised Allah and said, "There is not anything that I have not seen before but I have seen now at this place of mine, even Paradise and Hell. It has been revealed to me that you people will be put to trial nearly like the trial of Ad-Dajjal, in your graves. As for the true believer or a Muslim (the sub-narrator is not sure as to which of the two (words Asma' had said) he will say, 'Muhammad came with clear signs from Allah, and we responded to him (accepted his teachings) and believed (what he said)' It will be said (to him) 'Sleep in peace; we have known that you were a true believer who believed with certainty.' As for a hypocrite or a doubtful person, (the sub-narrator is not sure as to which word Asma' said) he will say, 'I do not know, but I heard the people saying something and so I said the same.' "

That the Prophet (saws) ransomed two men for the Muslims with a man from the idolaters.

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

The paternal uncle of Abu Al-Muhallab's name is 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Amr, and they also say it was Muhawiyah bin 'Amr. And Abu Qilabah's name is 'Abdullah bin Zaid Al-Jarmi (narrator in the chain)

This is acted upon according to most of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet(saws) and others. It is for the Imam to decide to be generous with whom he wills among the captives, or to kill whom he wills among them, or to ransom whom he wills among them. Some of the people of knowledge preferred killing over ransoming.

Al-Awzai' said: "It has been conveyed to me. that this Ayah is abrogated: Thereafter (is the time) either for generosity (to free them without ranson) or ransom (47:4). It was abrogated by: Kill them wherever you find them (2:191). This was narrated to us by Hannad (who said): "Ibn Al-Mubarak narrated to us, from Al-Awza'i."

Ishaq bin Mansur said: "I said to Ahmad: 'When the captives are captured' is killing or ransoming better to you?' He said: 'If they are able to ransom' then there is no harm in it. And if they kill, then I do not know of any harm in it.'" Ishaq said: "Wiping them out is better to me, unless it is someone well-known, so that it is hoped that a large amount will be obtained for him."

"Fatimah came to Abu Bakr and said: 'Who will inherit from you?' He said: 'My family and my son.' She said: 'So what about me? I do not get inheritance from my father?' So Abu Bakr said: 'I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: 'We are not inherited from' but I support those whom the Messenger of Allah (saws) used to support, and I spend upon those whom the Messenger of Allah (saws) spent upon."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] There are narrations on this topic from 'Umar, Talhah, Az-Zubair, 'Abdur-Rahman bin 'Awf, Sa'd and 'Aishah.

The Hadith of Abu Hurairah is Hasan Gharib from this route. It is only reported with a chain by Hammad bin Salamah and 'Abdul Wahhab bin 'Ata, from Muhammad bin 'Amr, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurairah.

I asked Muhammad about this Hadith and he said: "No one is known to have reported it from Muhammad bin 'Amr, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurairah except from Hammad bin Salamah. 'Abdul Wahhab bin 'Ata reported it from Muhammad bib 'Amr, from Abu Salamah, and from Abu Hurairah and it is similar to the narration of Hammad bin Salamah. And this Hadith has been reported through other routes from Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, from the Prophet (saws).

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."

"Whenever the Prophet passed by (my mother Um-Sulaim) he used to enter her and greet her. Anas further said: Once the Prophet way a bridegroom during his marriage with Zainab, Um Sulaim said to me, "Let us give a gift to Allah's Apostle ." I said to her, "Do it." So she prepared Haisa (a sweet dish) made from dates, butter and dried yoghurt and she sent it with me to him. I took it to him and he said, "Put it down," and ordered me to call some men whom he named, and to invite whomever I would meet. I did what he ordered me to do, and when I returned, I found the house crowded with people and saw the Prophet keeping his hand over the Haisa and saying over it whatever Allah wished (him to say). Then he called the men in batches of ten to eat of it, and he said to them, "Mention the Name of Allah, and each man should eat of the dish the nearest to him." When all of them had finished their meals, some of them left and a few remained there talking, over which I felt unhappy. Then the Prophet went out towards the dwelling places (of his wives) and I too, went out after him and told him that those people had left. Then he returned and entered his dwelling place and let the curtains fall while I was in (his) dwelling place, and he was reciting the Verses:-- 'O you who believe! Enter not the Prophet's house until leave is given you for a meal, (and then) not (as early as) to what for its preparation. But when you are invited, enter, and when you have taken your meals, disperse without sitting for a talk. Verily such (behavior) annoys the Prophet; and he would be shy of (asking) you (to go), but Allah is not shy of (telling you) the Truth.' (33-53) Abu Uthman said: Anas said, "I served the Prophet for ten years."

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

Malik said, about a slave who divorced a slave-girl but did not make it absolute, "He can return to her. If he then dies while she is still in the idda from her divorce, she does the idda of a slave- girl whose husband dies, and it is two months and five days. If she has been set free and he can return to her, and she does not choose to separate after she has been set free, and he dies while she is in the idda from the divorce, she does the idda of a free woman whose husband has died, four months and ten days. That is because the idda of widowhood befell her while she was free, so her idda is the idda of a free woman."

Malik said, "That is what is done among us."

Malik related to me from Yahya ibn Said from Abu Bakr ibn Hazm that a boy from Ghassan was dying in Madina while his heir was in Syria. That was mentioned to Umar ibn al-Khattab. It was said to him, "So-and-so is dying. Shall he make a bequest?" He said, "Let him make a bequest."

Yahya ibn Said said that Abu Bakr had said, "He was a boy of ten or twelve years." Yahya said, "He willed the well of Jusham, and his people sold it for 30,000 dirhams."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "The generally agreed-on way of doing things in our community is that a simpleton, an idiot, or a lunatic who recovers at times, can make wills if they have enough of their wits about them to recognise what they will. Someone who has not enough wits to recognise what he wills, and is overcome in his intellect, cannot make a bequest."

Malik related to me that he had heard that Umar ibn al-Khattab estimated the full blood-money for the people of urban areas. For those who had gold, he made it one thousand dinars. and for those who had silver he made it ten thousand dirhams.

Malik said, "The people of gold are the people of ash-Sham and the people of Egypt. The people of silver are the people of Iraq "

Yahya related to me from Malik that he heard that the blood-money was divided into instalments over three or four years.

Malik said, "Three is the most preferable to me of what I have heard on that."

Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things in our community is that camels are not accepted from the people of cities for blood-money nor is gold or silver accepted from the desert people. Silver is not accepted from the people of gold and gold is not accepted from the people of silver."

The wife of the Prophet that she went to Allah's Apostle while he was in I`tikaf (staying in the mosque) during the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan. She spoke to him for an hour (a while) at night and then she got up to return home. The Prophet got up to accompany her, and when they reached the gate of the mosque opposite the dwelling place of Um Salama, the wife of the Prophet, two Ansari men passed by, and greeting Allah's Apostle , they quickly went ahead. Allah's Apostle said to them, "Do not be in a hurry She is Safiya, the daughter of Huyai." They said, "Subhan Allah! O Allah's Apostle (how dare we suspect you)." That was a great thing for both of them. The Prophet then said, "Satan runs in the body of Adam's son (i.e. man) as his blood circulates in it, and I was afraid that he (Satan) might insert an evil thought in your hearts."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Sumayy, the mawla of Abu Bakr, from Abu Salih as-Samman from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Whoever says 'There is no god but Allah, alone, without any partner. The Kingdom and praise belong to Him and He has power over everything' (La ilaha illa'llah, wahdahu la sharika lah, lahu'l mulku wa lahu'l hamd, wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadir) one hundred times a day, it is the same for him as freeing ten slaves. One hundred good actions are written for him and one hundred wrong actions are erased from him, and it is a protection from Shaytan for that day until the night. No-one does anything more excellent than what he does except someone who does more than that."

I asked Abu Sa`id, and he was a friend of mine, (about the Night of Qadr) and he said, "We practiced I`tikaf (seclusion in the mosque) in the middle third of the month of Ramadan with the Prophet . In the morning of the 20th of Ramadan, the Prophet came and addressed us and said, 'I was informed of (the date of the Night of Qadr) but I was caused to forget it; so search for it in the odd nights of the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan. (In the dream) I saw myself prostrating in mud and water (as a sign). So, whoever was in I`tikaf with me should return to it with me (for another 10-day's period)', and we returned. At that time there was no sign of clouds in the sky but suddenly a cloud came and it rained till rainwater started leaking through the roof of the mosque which was made of date-palm leaf stalks. Then the prayer was established and I saw Allah's Apostle prostrating in mud and water and I saw the traces of mud on his forehead."

Safiya, the wife of the Prophet told me that she went to Allah's Apostle to visit him in the mosque while he was in I`tikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan. She had a talk with him for a while, then she got up in order to return home. The Prophet accompanied her. When they reached the gate of the mosque, opposite the door of Um-Salama, two Ansari men were passing by and they greeted Allah's Apostle . He told them: Do not run away! And said, "She is (my wife) Safiya bint Huyai." Both of them said, "Subhan Allah, (How dare we think of any evil) O Allah's Apostle!" And they felt it. The Prophet said (to them), "Satan reaches everywhere in the human body as blood reaches in it, (everywhere in one's body). I was afraid lest Satan might insert an evil thought in your minds."

Allah's Apostle used to practice I`tikaf every year in the month of Ramadan. And after offering the morning prayer, he used to enter the place of his I`tikaf. `Aisha asked his permission to let her practice I`tikaf and he allowed her, and so she pitched a tent in the mosque. When Hafsa heard of that, she also pitched a tent (for herself), and when Zainab heard of that, she too pitched another tent. When, in the morning, Allah's Apostle had finished the morning prayer, he saw four tents and asked, "What is this?" He was informed about it. He then said, "What made them do this? Is it righteousness? Remove the tents, for I do not want to see them." So, the tents were removed. The Prophet did not perform I`tikaf that year in the month of Ramadan, but did it in the last ten days of Shawwal.