I asked al-Bara' ibn Azib: What should be avoided in sacrificial animals? He said: The Messenger of Allah (saws) stood among us, and my fingers are smaller than his fingers, and my fingertips are smaller than his fingertips. He said (pointing with his fingers): Four (types of animals) should be avoided in sacrifice: A One-eyed animal which has obviously lost the sight of one eye, a sick animal which is obviously sick, a lame animal which obviously limps and an animal with a broken leg with no marrow. I also detest an animal which has defective teeth. He said: Leave what you detest, but do not make it illegal for anyone.

Abu Dawud said: (By a lean animal mean) and animal which has no marrow.

Another chain reports a similar hadith.

Malik related to me that Rabia ibn Abi Abd ar-Rahman said, "An Iraqi man came before Umar ibn al-Khattab and said, 'I have come to you because of a matter which has no beginning and no end.' Umar said, 'What is it?' The man said, 'False testimony has appeared in our land.' Umar said, 'Is that so?' He said, 'Yes.' Umar said, 'By Allah! A man is not detained in Islam without just witnesses.' "

"Hint your intention of marrying' is made by saying (to the widow) for example: "I want to marry, and I wish that Allah will make a righteous lady available for me.' " Al-Qasim said: One may say to the widow: 'I hold all respect for you, and I am interested in you; Allah will bring you much good, or something similar 'Ata said: One should hint his intention, and should not declare it openly. One may say: 'I have some need. Have good tidings. Praise be to Allah; you are fit to remarry.' She (the widow) may say in reply: I am listening to what you say,' but she should not make a promise. Her guardian should not make a promise (to somebody to get her married to him) without her knowledge. But if, while still in the Iddat period, she makes a promise to marry somebody, and he ultimately marries her, they are not to be separated by divorce (i.e., the marriage is valid).

The Messenger of Allah (saws) used to say when he lay down: O Allah, I seek refuge in Thy noble Person and in Thy perfect Words from the evil of what Thou seizest by its forelock; O Allah! Thou removest debt and sin; O Allah! thy troop's not routed, Thy promise is not broken and the riches of the rich do not avail against Thee. Glory and praise be unto Thee!.

While we were with Allah's Apostle he said, "Tell me of a tree which resembles a Muslim man. Its leaves do not fall and it does not, and does not, and does not, and it gives its fruits every now and then." It came to my mind that such a tree must be the date palm, but seeing Abu Bakr and `Umar saying nothing, I disliked to speak. So when they did not say anything, Allah's Apostle said, "It is the date-palm tree." When we got up (from that place), I said to `Umar, "O my father! By Allah, it came to my mind that it must be the date palm tree." `Umar said, "What prevented you from speaking" I replied, "I did not see you speaking, so I misliked to speak or say anything." `Umar then said, "If you had said it, it would have been dearer to me than so-and-so."

Allah's Apostle said, "(There is) no 'Adwa (no contagious disease is conveyed without Allah's permission). nor is there any bad omen (from birds), nor is there any Hamah, nor is there any bad omen in the month of Safar, and one should run away from the leper as one runs away from a lion."

Note: The majority of scholars interpret this to mean that these things in and of themselves do not transmit or cause harm through supernatural or hidden means but that Allah is ultimately in control and any fearful superstition around these is false.

Allah's Apostle sent a group of Ansari men to kill Abu-Rafi`. One of them set out and entered their (i.e. the enemies) fort. That man said, "I hid myself in a stable for their animals. They closed the fort gate. Later they lost a donkey of theirs, so they went out in its search. I, too, went out along with them, pretending to look for it. They found the donkey and entered their fort. And I, too, entered along with them. They closed the gate of the fort at night, and kept its keys in a small window where I could see them. When those people slept, I took the keys and opened the gate of the fort and came upon Abu Rafi` and said, 'O Abu Rafi`. When he replied me, I proceeded towards the voice and hit him. He shouted and I came out to come back, pretending to be a helper. I said, 'O Abu Rafi`, changing the tone of my voice. He asked me, 'What do you want; woe to your mother?' I asked him, 'What has happened to you?' He said, 'I don't know who came to me and hit me.' Then I drove my sword into his belly and pushed it forcibly till it touched the bone. Then I came out, filled with puzzlement and went towards a ladder of theirs in order to get down but I fell down and sprained my foot. I came to my companions and said, 'I will not leave till I hear the wailing of the women.' So, I did not leave till I heard the women bewailing Abu Rafi`, the merchant pf Hijaz. Then I got up, feeling no ailment, (and we proceeded) till we came upon the Prophet and informed him."

I gave the pledge of allegiance to the Prophet with a group of people, and he said, "I take your pledge that you will not worship anything besides Allah, will not steal, will not commit infanticide, will not slander others by forging false statements and spreading it, and will not disobey me in anything good. And whoever among you fulfill all these (obligations of the pledge), his reward is with Allah. And whoever commits any of the above crimes and receives his legal punishment in this world, that will be his expiation and purification. But if Allah screens his sin, it will be up to Allah, Who will either punish or forgive him according to His wish." Abu `Abdullah said: "If a thief repents after his hand has been cut off, the his witness well be accepted. Similarly, if any person upon whom any legal punishment has been inflicted, repents, his witness will be accepted."

I have seen the Messenger of Allah (saws) using a tooth-stick while he was fasting. Musaddad added in his version: "more often than I could count."

I (Yazid b. Yazid) said: I asked Yazid b. al-Asamm: Abu ‘Awf did he mean Friday (prayer) or any other? He replied: may my ears become deaf if I have not heard Abu Hurairah narrating it from the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him); He did not mention Friday (prayer) or any other.

Allah's Apostle gave his verdict about two ladies of the Hudhail tribe who had fought each other and one of them had hit the other with a stone. The stone hit her `Abdomen and as she was pregnant, the blow killed the child in her womb. They both filed their case with the Prophet and he judged that the blood money for what was in her womb. was a slave or a female slave. The guardian of the lady who was fined said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall I be fined for a creature that has neither drunk nor eaten, neither spoke nor cried? A case like that should be nullified." On that the Prophet said, "This is one of the brothers of soothsayers.

The Prophet said, "O Mu`adh! Do you know what Allah's Right upon His slaves is?" I said, "Allah and His Apostle know best." The Prophet said, "To worship Him (Allah) Alone and to join none in worship with Him (Allah). Do you know what their right upon Him is?" I replied, "Allah and His Apostle know best." The Prophet said, "Not to punish them (if they do so).

`Umar said to Sa`d, "The people complained against you in everything, even in prayer." Sa`d replied, "Really I used to prolong the first two rak`at and shorten the last two and I will never shorten the prayer in which I follow Allah's Apostle." `Umar said, "You are telling the truth and that is what I think a tout you."

A man came to the Prophet (saws) and said: I cannot memorise anything from the Qur'an: so teach me something which is sufficient for me. He said: Say Glory be to Allah, and praise be to Allah, and there is no god but Allah, and Allah is most great, and there is no might and no strength but in Allah.

:He said: Messenger of Allah, this is for Allah, but what is for me? He said: Say: O Allah have mercy on me, and sustain me, and keep me well, and guide me. When he stood up, he made a sign with his hand (indicating that he had earned a lot).

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: He filed up his hand with virtues.

That once he was in the company of the Prophet carrying a water pot for his ablution and for cleaning his private parts. While he was following him carrying it (i.e. the pot), the Prophet said, "Who is this?" He said, "I am Abu Huraira." The Prophet said, "Bring me stones in order to clean my private parts, and do not bring any bones or animal dung." Abu Huraira went on narrating: So I brought some stones, carrying them in the corner of my robe till I put them by his side and went away. When he finished, I walked with him and asked, "What about the bone and the animal dung?" He said, "They are of the food of Jinns. The delegate of Jinns of (the city of) Nasibin came to me--and how nice those Jinns were--and asked me for the remains of the human food. I invoked Allah for them that they would never pass by a bone or animal dung but find food on them."

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

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

I went to Allah's Apostle along with a group of people from (the tribe of) Al-Ash`ari, asking for mounts. The Prophet said, "By Allah, I will not give you anything to ride, and I have nothing to mount you on." We stayed there as long as Allah wished, and after that, some camels were brought to the Prophet and he ordered that we be given three camels. When we set out, some of us said to others, "Allah will not bless us, as we all went to Allah's Apostle asking him for mounts, and although he had sworn that he would not give us mounts, he did give us." So we returned to the Prophet; and mentioned that to him. He said, "I have not provided you with mounts, but Allah has. By Allah, Allah willing, if I ever take an oath, and then see that another is better than the first, I make expiration for my (dissolved) oath, and do what is better and make expiration."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) used to divide his time equally and said: O Allah, this is my division concerning what I control, so do not blame me concerning what You control and I do not.

Abu Dawud said: By it meant the heart.

Yahya related to me from Malik from al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ya'qub that he heard Abu's-Sa'ib, the mawla of Hisham ibn Zuhra, say he had heard Abu Hurayra say, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Whoever prays a prayer without reciting the umm al-Qur'an in it, his prayer is aborted, it is aborted, it is aborted, incomplete.' So I said, 'Abu Hurayra, sometimes I am behind the imam.'Hepulled my forearm and said, 'Recite it to yourself, O Persian, for I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say that Allah the Blessed, the Exalted, said, "I have divided the prayer into two halves between me and my slave. One half of it is for Me and one half of it is for IVly slave, and My slave has what he asks." ' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Recite." The slave says, 'Praise be to AIIah, the Lord of theWorlds.' Allah the Blessed, the Exalted, says, 'My slave has praised Me.' The slave says, 'The Merciful, the Compassionate.' Allah says, 'My slave has spoken well of Me.' The slave says, 'Master of the Day of the Deen.' Allah says, 'My slave has glorified Me.' The slave says, 'You alone we worship and You alone we askforhelp.'Allahsays,'This ayat is between Me and My slave, and for My slave is what he asks. 'The slave says, 'Guide us in the straight Path, the Path of those whom You have blessed, not of those with whom You are angry, nor those who are in error. ' Allah says, 'These are for My slaves, and for my slave is what he asks . ' " ' "

When the Prophet intended to perform the `Umra he sent a person to the people of Mecca asking their permission to enter Mecca. They stipulated that he would not stay for more than three days and would not enter it except with sheathed arms and would not preach (Islam) to any of them. So `Ali bin Abi- Talib started writing the treaty between them. He wrote, "This is what Muhammad, Apostle of Allah has agreed to." The (Meccans) said, "If we knew that you (Muhammad) are the Apostle of Allah, then we would not have prevented you and would have followed you. But write, 'This is what Muhammad bin `Abdullah has agreed to..' " On that Allah's Apostle said, "By Allah, I am Muhammad bin `Abdullah, and, by Allah, I am Apostle of 'Allah." Allah's Apostle used not to write; so he asked `Ali to erase the expression of Apostle of Allah. On that `Ali said, "By Allah I will never erase it." Allah's Apostle said (to `Ali), "Let me see the paper." When `Ali showed him the paper, the Prophet erased the expression with his own hand. When Allah's Apostle had entered Mecca and three days had elapsed, the Meccans came to `Ali and said, "Let your friend (i.e. the Prophet) quit Mecca." `Ali informed Allah's Apostle about it and Allah's Apostle said, "Yes," and then he departed.

I asked: Messenger of Allah! what is party spirit? He replied: That you should help your people in wrongdoing.

1: At-Tawbah 9:104.

2: Al-Baqarah 2:276.

3: Anthropomorphism, resembling Allah to creatures.

I heard `Imran bin Husain saying, "The Prophet said, 'The best people are those living in my generation, then those coming after them, and then those coming after (the second generation)." `Imran said "I do not know whether the Prophet mentioned two or three generations after your present generation. The Prophet added, 'There will be some people after you, who will be dishonest and will not be trustworthy and will give witness (evidences) without being asked to give witness, and will vow but will not fulfill their vows, and obesity will appear among them."

The Prophet I said, "Allah does not listen to a prophet as He listens to a prophet who recites the Qur'an in a loud and pleasant tone." Sufyan said, "This saying means: a prophet who regards the Qur'an as something that makes him dispense with many worldly pleasures."

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).'"