He reported God’s messenger as saying, “God has angels who go about on the roads seeking those who remember God, and when they find people doing so they call to one another, ‘Come to what you are looking for’, and surround them with their wings up to the lowest heaven.” He said that their Lord then asks them, although He is best informed about them, “What are my servants saying?” They reply, “They are extolling, magnifying, praising and glorifying Thee.” He asks whether they have seen Him, and when they reply, “No indeed, they have not seen Thee,” He asks how they would act if they had seen Him, to which they reply, “If they had seen Thee they would have engaged more earnestly in worshipping and glorifying Thee, and would have extolled Thee much more.” He then says, “What are they asking for?” and they reply, “They are asking Thee for paradise.” He asks whether they have seen it, and when they reply, “No indeed, my Lord, they have not seen it,” He asks how they would act if they had seen it to which they reply, “If they had seen it they would have been more intensely eager for it, would have asked more earnestly for it, and would have had a greater desire for it.” He asks what they are seeking refuge from, to which they reply that it is from hell. He asks whether they have seen it, and when they reply, “No indeed, my Lord, they have not seen it,” He asks how they would act if they had seen it, to which they reply, “If they had seen it they would have been more earnest in flying from it and fearing it.” He then says, “I call you to witness that I have forgiven them.” One of the angels says, “Among them is so and so who does not belong to their number, but has come only for something he wants,” and He replies, “They are people who are seated together, and he who sits with them will not be miserable.” Bukhari transmitted it. In Muslim's version he said that God has angels who travel round to a great extent looking for meetings where remembrance is being made of God, and when they find a meeting where this is being done they sit with them and surround one another, with their wings so as to fill the space between them and the lowest heaven. When the people separate they ascend up to heaven, and God who knows best asks them where they have come from. They reply, “We have come from Thy servants on the earth who are extolling and magnifying Thee, declaring Thy unity, praising Thee and making request ...

Thabit al-Bunani told on the authority of Anas that God's messenger said, "I was brought al-Buraq which was an animal white and long, larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule, whose hoof touched the ground at a distance equal to the range of its vision. I mounted it and came to Jerusalem, then tied It to the ring used by the prophets. Then after entering the mosque and praying two rak'as in it I came out and Gabriel brought me a vessel of wine and a vessel of milk. I chose the milk, and Gabriel said, `You have chosen the true religion.' We were then taken up to heaven ..." and he went on with something to the same effect as has been mentioned already. He said, "I found Adam who welcomed me and prayed for my wellbeing." Regarding the third heaven he said, "I found Joseph who had been given half of beauty[*], and he welcomed me and prayed for my wellbeing." But he did not mention the weeping of Moses. Regarding the seventh heaven he said, "I found Abraham supporting his back against the frequented house which is entered daily by seventy thousand angels who do not return to it. He then took me to the lote-tree of the boundary whose leaves are like elephants' ears and whose fruits are like earthenware vessels. When what God commands overshadows it, it changes, and none of God's creatures can describe it because of its beauty. God revealed to me what He revealed and made obligatory for-me fifty prayers every day and night. I came down to Moses who asked what my Lord had made obligatory for my people, and when I told him He had prescribed fifty prayers every day and night he said, `Go back to your Lord and ask Him to make things lighter, for your people are not capable of that. I have tested and had experience of the B. Isra'il.' I went back to my Lord and said, `0 my Lord, make things lighter for my people,' so He relieved me of five. When I returned to Moses and told him He had relieved me of five he said, `Your people are not capable of that, so go back to your Lord and ask Him to make things lighter.' I then kept going back and forth between my Lord and Moses till He said, `They are five prayers every day and night, Muhammad, each being credited as ten, so that makes fifty times of prayer. He who intends to do a good deed and does not do it will have a good deed recorded for him, and if he does it, it will be recorded for him as ten; whereas he who intends to do an evil deed and does not do it will have nothing recorded for him, and if he does it one ...

"When the inhabitants of Ash-Sham become corrupt, then there is no good in it for you. There will never cease to be a group in my Ummah who will be helped(by Allah), they will not be harmed by those who forsake them until the Hour is established." Muhammad bin Isma'il said: "Ali bin Al-Madini said: 'They are the people of Hadith."'

"Safinah narrated to me, he said: 'The Messenger of Allah(s.a.w) said: "Al-Khilafah will be in my Ummah for thirty years, then there will be monarchy after that."' Then Safinah said to me: 'Count the Khilafah of Abu Bakr,' then he said: 'Count the Khilafah of 'Umar and the Khilafah of 'Uthman.' Then he said to me: 'Count the Khilafah of 'Ali."' He said: "So we found that they add up to thirty years." Sa'eed said: "I said to him: 'Banu Umaiyyah claim that the Khilafah is among them.' He said: 'Banu Az-Zarqa' lie, rather they are a monarchy, among the worst of monarchies."'

"The Prophet (SAW) recited: You shall see mankind as if in a drunken state, yet they will not be in a drunken state. (22:2)

"In the market of Al-Madinah, a Jew said 'No! By the One who chose Musa above all humans.'" He said: "A man from the Ansar raised his hand and struck him in his face. He said 'You say this while Allah's Prophet (SAW) is among us?' So the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said 'And the Trumpet will be blown, and all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth will swoon away, except him whom Allah wills. Then it will blown another time and behold, they will be standing, looking on (39:68). So I shall be the first to raise his head and there will be Musa holding on to one of the supports of the Throne. So I will not know if he raised his head before me, or if he was one of those whom Allah made the exception for. And whoever says: 'I am better than Yunus bin Matta, then he has indeed lied.'"

Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to teach us the Istikharah (seeking guidance from Allah) in all matters as he would teach us a Surah of the Qur'an. He used to say: "When one of you contemplates entering upon an enterprise, let him perform two Rak'ah of optional prayer other than Fard prayers and then supplicate: "Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi 'ilmika, wa astaqdiruka bi qudratika, wa as-'aluka min fadlikal-'azim. Fainnaka taqdiru wa la aqdiru, wa ta'lamu wa la a'lamu, wa Anta 'allamul- ghuyub. Allahumma in kunta ta'lamu anna hadhal-'amra (and name what you want to do) khairun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa 'aqibati amri, (or he said) 'ajili amri ajilihi, faqdurhu li wa yassirhu li, thumma barik li fihi. Wa in kunta ta'lamu anna hadhal 'amra (and name what you want to do) sharrun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa 'aqibati amri, (or he said) wa 'ajili amri wa ajilihi, fasrifhu 'anni, wasrifni 'anhu, waqdur liyal- khaira haithu kana, thumma ardini bihi." (O Allah, I consult You through Your Knowledge, and I seek strength through Your Power, and ask of Your Great Bounty; for You are Capable whereas I am not and, You know and I do not, and You are the Knower of hidden things. O Allah, if You know that this matter (and name it) is good for me in respect of my Deen, my livelihood and the consequences of my affairs, (or he said), the sooner or the later of my affairs then ordain it for me, make it easy for me, and bless it for me. But if You know this matter (and name it) to be bad for my Deen, my livelihood or the consequences of my affairs, (or he said) the sooner or the later of my affairs then turn it away from me, and turn me away from it, and grant me power to do good whatever it may be, and cause me to be contented with it). And let the supplicant specify the object."

[Al-Bukhari]

God’s Messenger used to teach us how to ask God’s guidance about matters just as he used to teach as a sura of the Qur’an, saying: When any of you intends to do something he should pray two rak'as which are not compulsory, then say, “O God, I ask Thy guidance by Thy knowledge, I ask Thee for power by Thy power, and I ask Thee out of Thy great abundance, for Thou hast power and I have none, Thou knowest and I did not, and Thou art the One who is aware of the unseen. O God, if Thou knowest that this matter is good for me regarding my religion, my livelihood, and my future wellbeing (or he said, “my affairs in this world and the next”), ordain it for me and make it easy for me, then bless me in it. But if Thou knowest that this matter is bad for me regarding my religion, my livelihood, and my future wellbeing (or he said, “my affairs in this world and the next”), turn it away from me, turn me away from it, ordain good for me wherever it is, then make me pleased with it.” He said that he should name what he required. Bukhari transmitted it.

“The Jews split into seventy-one sects, one of which will be in Paradise and seventy in Hell. The Christians split into seventy-two sects, seventy-one of which will be in Hell and one in Paradise. I swear by the One Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad, my nation will split into seventy-three sects, one of which will be in Paradise and seventy-two in Hell.” It was said: “O Messenger of Allah, who are they?” He said: “The main body.”

This tradition has been transmitted by 'Aishah through a different chain of narrators. She said: The Messenger of Allah (saws) uttered the takbir and the section that was in the same row with him also uttered the takbir. He then bowed and they also bowed, and he prostrated and they also prostrated. Then he raised his head and they also raised (their heads). The Messenger of Allah (saws) then remained seated. They prostrated alone and stood up and retraced their footsteps and stood behind them.

Then the other section came; they stood up and uttered the takbir and bowed by themselves. The Messenger of Allah (saws) prostrated himself and they also prostrated with him. Then the Messenger of Allah (saws) stood up and they performed the second prostration by themselves. Then both the sections stood up and prayed with the Messenger of Allah (saws). He bowed and they also bowed, and then he prostrated himself and they also prostrated themselves. Then he returned and performed the second prostration and they also prostrated with him as quickly as possible, showing no slackness in quick prostration. The Messenger of Allah (saws) then uttered the salutation. After that the Messenger of Allah (saws) stood up. Thus everyone participated in the entire prayer.

I saw the Messenger of Allah (saws) on the morning of the conquest of Mecca when I was a young boy. He was walking among the people, seeking the camp of Khalid ibn al-Walid. A man who had drunk wine was brought (before him) and he ordered them (to beat him). So they beat him with what they had in their hands. Some struck him with whips, some with sticks and some with sandals. The Messenger of Allah (saws) threw some dust on his face.

When a man who had drunk wine was brought before AbuBakr, he asked them (i.e. the people) about the number of beatings which they gave him. They numbered it forty. So AbuBakr gave him forty lashes.

When Umar came to power, Khalid ibn al-Walid wrote to him: The people have become addicted to drinking wine and they look down upon the prescribed punishment and its penalty.

He said: They are with you, ask them. The immigrants who embraced Islam in the beginning were with him. He asked them and they agreed on the fact that (a drunkard) should be given eighty lashes.

Ali said: When a man drinks wine, he tells lies. I, therefore, think that he should be prescribed punishment that is prescribed for telling lies..

Abu Dawud said: 'Uqail b. Khalid included in the chain of this tradition: "Abd Allah b. Abd al-Rahman b. al-Azhar from his father" between al-Zuhri and Ibn al-Azhar.

Anas said that he was ten years old when the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to Madina. He said, "My mothers decided that I would serve him and I served him for ten years. He died when I was twenty. I am the person who knows best about the business of the veil. The first instance that was revealed occurred when the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, built a room for Zaynab bint Jahsh. He celebrated the wedding there, invited the people who came, ate and then left. A group remained with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. They stayed for a long time and then the Prophet went out and I went out hoping that they would leave. He walked and I walked with him until he came to the threshold of 'A'isha's room. Then, thinking that they would have left, he returned and I returned with him. He went to Zaynab but they were still sitting there. He left again and I left with him until he once more reached the threshold of 'A'isha's room. When he thought that they would have gone, he went back again and I went back with him. This time they had indeed left. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then put up a curtain between me and him, and the veil was revealed."

When we came to Madinah we ate from its fruits and did not feel comfortable in it, and we became ill. The Prophet (ﷺ) was trying to find out about the well of Badr, and when we heard that the mushrikeen had come, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) marched to Badr, and Badr was a well. We got there before the mushrikeen and we found two of their men, a man from Quraish and a freed slave of “Uqbah bin Abi Mu`ait. As for the Qurashi, he managed to escape, but we caught the freed slave of ‘Uqbah and started asking him: How many are the people? He said: By Allah, they are great in number and powerful. When he said that, the Muslims began to beat him and they brought him to the Prophet (ﷺ), who said: How many are the people? He said: By Allah, they are great in number and powerful. The Prophet (ﷺ) tried hard to make him tell him how many they were, but he refused. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) asked him: How many camels do they slaughter? He said: Ten each day. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: They are one thousand; each camel is for one hundred men. Then a shower of rain fell on us at night and we rushed to seek shelter beneath the trees and leather shields, sheltering from the rain. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) spent the night calling upon his Lord, may He be glorified and exalted, saying: “O Allah, if You cause this band to be destroyed, You will never be worshipped.” When dawn came, he called out: `Prayer, O slaves of Allah!” And the people came from beneath the trees and shields and the Messenger of Allah led us in prayer and encouraged us to fight. Then he said: `The army of Quraish is beneath this red outcrop of the mountain.` When the people drew close to us, and we stood in ranks facing one another, we saw one of their men, riding a red camel of his, going around among the people. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `O `Ali, call Hamzah for me` - as he was the closest of them to the mushrikeen - and said `Who is the one on the red camel and what is he saying to them?` Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `If there is anyone among the people who is enjoining good, then perhaps it is the one on the red camel.` Hamzah came and said: He is `Utbah bin Rabee`ah, and he is telling them not to fight; he is saying to them: O people, I can see people who are going to fight to the death and you will never be able to harm them, because it will cost you too dear to do so. O people, put the blame on me ...

"The Messenger of Allah said: 'There will be people among my Ummah (nation) after me who will recite the Qur'an, but it will not go any deeper than their throats. They will pass through Islam like an arrow passing through its target, then they will never return to it. They are the most evil of mankind and of all creation.' " 'Abdullah bin Samit said: "I mentioned to Rafi' bin 'Amr, the brother of Hakam bin 'Amr Ghifari and he said: 'I also heard that from the Messenger of Allah.'"

“There will be callers at the gates of Hell; whoever responds to them they throw them into it.” I said: “O Messenger of Allah, describe them to us.” He said: “They will be from our people, speaking our language.” I said: “What do you command me to do, if I live to see that?” He said: “Adhere tothe main body of the Muslims and their leader. If there is no such body and no leader, then withdraw from all their groups, even if you bite onto the trunk of a tree until death finds you in that state.”