The Prophet said, "Do you think if the tribes of Aslam, Ghifar, Muzaina and Juhaina are better than the tribes of Tamim, 'Amir bin Sa'sa'a, Ghatfan and Asad, they (the second group) are despairing and losing?" They (the Prophet's companions) said, "Yes, (they are)." He said, "By Him in Whose Hand my soul is, they (the first group) are better than them (the second group).

The Prophet said that his Lord said: "It does not befit a slave that he should say that he is better than Jonah (Yunus) bin Matta.

Ziyad related to me from Malik that he had heard a man he trusted of the people of knowledge say, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was shown the lifespans of the people (who had gone) before him, or what Allah willed of that, and it was as if the lives of the people of his community had become too short for them to be able to do as many good actions as others before them had been able to do with their long lives, so Allah gave him Laylat al- Qadr, which is better than a thousand months."

The Prophet led us in prayer and then went up to the pulpit and beckoned with both hands towards the Qibla of the mosque and then said, "When I started leading you in prayer, I saw the display of Paradise and Hell on the wall of the mosque (facing the Qibla). I never saw good and bad as I have seen today." He repeated the last statement thrice.

The Prophet said, "The best people are those living in my generation, and then those who will follow them, and then those who will follow the latter. Then there will come some people who will bear witness before taking oaths, and take oaths before bearing witness." (Ibrahim, a sub-narrator said, "They used to beat us for witnesses and covenants when we were still children.")

I asked my father (`Ali bin Abi Talib), "Who are the best people after Allah's Apostle ?" He said, "Abu Bakr." I asked, "Who then?" He said, "Then `Umar. " I was afraid he would say "Uthman, so I said, "Then you?" He said, "I am only an ordinary person.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) as saying: The atonement for a vow is the same as for an oath.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been transmitted by 'Amr b. al-Harith from Ka'b b. 'Alqamah, from Ibn Shamasah on the authority of 'Uqbah.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had asked Ibn Shihab about a man who had a slave-girl as a wife, and then he bought her, and divorced her once. He said, "She is halal for him by the possession of the right hand as long as he does not make his divorce irrevocable. If he irrevocably divorces her, she is not halal for him by the possession of the right hand until she has married another husband."

Malik said that if a man rnarried a female slave and then she had a child by him, and then he bought her, she was not an umm walad for him because of the child born to him while she belonged to another, until she had had a child by him while she was in his possession after he had purchased her.

Malik said, "If he buys her and she is pregnant by him and she then gives birth while she belongs to him, she is his umm walad by that pregnancy, according to what we think, and Allah knows best."

She said: Do not apply it except in the case of dire need which is troubling you. In that case you can use it at night, but you should remove it in the daytime. Then Umm Salamah said: The Messenger of Allah (saws) came to visit me when AbuSalamah died, and I had put the juice of aloes in my eye.

He asked : What is this, Umm Salamah? I replied: It is only the juice of aloes and contains no perfume. He said: It gives the face a glow, so apply it only at night and remove it in daytime, and do not comb yourself with scent or henna, for it is a dye. I asked: What should I use when I comb myself, Messenger of Allah? He said: Use lote-tree leaves and smear your head copiously with them.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Muhammad ibn Umara from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim that the mother of the son of Ibrahim ibn Abd ar- Rahman ibn Awf questioned Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, "I am a woman who wears a long skirt and (sometimes) I walk in dirty places." Umm Salama replied, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'What follows (i.e. clean places) purifies it.' "

`Umar bin Al-Khattab set out with Allah's Apostle, and a group of his companions to Ibn Saiyad. They found him playing with the boys in the fort or near the Hillocks of Bani Maghala. Ibn Saiyad was nearing his puberty at that time, and he did not notice the arrival of the Prophet till Allah's Apostle stroked him on the back with his hand and said, "Do you testify that I am Allah's Apostle?" Ibn Saiyad looked at him and said, "I testify that you are the Apostle of the unlettered ones (illiterates)". Then Ibn Saiyad said to the Prophets . "Do you testify that I am Allah's Apostle?" The Prophet denied that, saying, "I believe in Allah and all His Apostles," and then said to Ibn Saiyad, "What do you see?" Ibn Saiyad said, "True people and liars visit me." The Prophet said, "You have been confused as to this matter." Allah's Apostle added, "I have kept something for you (in my mind)." Ibn Saiyad said, "Ad-Dukh." The Prophet said, "Ikhsa (you should be ashamed) for you can not cross your limits." `Umar said, "O Allah's Apostle! Allow me to chop off h is neck." Allah's Apostle said (to `Umar). "Should this person be him (i.e. Ad-Dajjal) then you cannot over-power him; and should he be someone else, then it will be no use your killing him." `Abdullah bin `Umar added: Later on Allah's Apostle and Ubai bin Ka`b Al-Ansari (once again) went to the garden in which Ibn Saiyad was present. When Allah's Apostle entered the garden, he started hiding behind the trunks of the date-palms intending to hear something from Ibn Saiyad before the latter could see him. Ibn Saiyad was Lying on his bed, covered with a velvet sheet from where his mumur were heard. Ibn Saiyad's mother saw the Prophet and said, "O Saf (the nickname of Ibn Saiyad)! Here is Muhammad!" Ibn Saiyad stopped his murmuring. The Prophet said, "If his mother had kept quiet, then I would have learnt more about him." `Abdullah added: Allah's Apostle stood up before the people (delivering a sermon), and after praising and glorifying Allah as He deserved, he mentioned the Ad-Dajjal saying, "I warn you against him, and there has been no prophet but warned his followers against him. Noah warned his followers against him but I am telling you about him, something which no prophet has told his people of, and that is: Know that he is blind in one eye where as Allah is not so."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) was present with a she-mule which he rode, so Ali said: If we made asses cover mares we would have animals of this type. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Only those who do not know do that.

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: The wind comes from Allah's mercy.

Salamah's version has: It is Allah's mercy; it (sometimes) brings blessing and (sometimes) brings punishment. So when you see it, do not revile it, but ask Allah for some of its good, and seek refuge in Allah from its evil.

I went along with some men from the Ash-ariyin to Allah's Apostle and it happened that I met him while he was in an angry mood. We asked him to provide us with mounts, but he swore that he would not give us any. Later on he said, "By Allah, Allah willing, if ever I take an oath (to do something) and later on I find something else better than the first, then I do the better one and give expiation for the dissolution of my oath."

Whenever the Prophet was given an option between two things, he used to select the easier of the tow as long as it was not sinful; but if it was sinful, he would remain far from it. By Allah, he never took revenge for himself concerning any matter that was presented to him, but when Allah's Limits were transgressed, he would take revenge for Allah's Sake.

The Prophet said, "O `Abdur-Rahman! Do not seek to be a ruler, for if you are given authority on your demand then you will be held responsible for it, but if you are given it without asking (for it), then you will be helped (by Allah) in it. If you ever take an oath to do something and later on you find that something else is better, then you should expiate your oath and do what is better."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Muadh ibn Jabal said, "There are two military expeditions. There is one military expedition in which valuables are spent, the contributor is willing, the authorities are obeyed, and corruption is avoided. That military expedition is all good. There is a military expedition in which valuables are not spent, the contributor is not willing, the authorities are not obeyed, and corruption is not avoided. The one who fights in that military expedition does not return with reward."

While I and my father were with Jabir bin `Abdullah, some people asked him about taking a bath. He replied, "A Sa` of water is sufficient for you." A man said, "A Sa` is not sufficient for me." Jabir said, "A Sa` was sufficient for one who had more hair than you and was better than you (meaning the Prophet)." And then Jabir (put on) his garment and led the prayer.

I said to Allah's Apostle, "Before embracing Islam I used to do good deeds like giving in charity, slave-manumitting, and the keeping of good relations with Kith and kin. Shall I be rewarded for those deeds?" The Prophet replied, "You became Muslim with all those good deeds (Without losing their reward)."

Allah's Apostle said, "There will come a time when the best property of a man will be sheep which he will graze on the tops of mountains and the places where rain falls (i.e. pastures) escaping to protect his religion from afflictions."

Allah's Apostle said, "You see that the people are of different natures. Those who were the best in the pre-lslamic period, are also the best in Islam if they comprehend religious knowledge. You see that the best amongst the people in this respect (i.e. ambition of ruling) are those who hate it most. And you see that the worst among people is the double faced (person) who appears to these with one face and to the others with another face (i.e a hypocrite).

A silken cloth was given as a present to the Prophet . His companions started touching it and admiring its softness. The Prophet said, "Are you admiring its softness? The handkerchiefs of Sa`d bin Mu`adh (in Paradise) are better and softer than it."