Magic was worked on the Prophet so that he began to fancy that he was doing a thing which he was not actually doing. One day he invoked (Allah) for a long period and then said, "I feel that Allah has inspired me as how to cure myself. Two persons came to me (in my dream) and sat, one by my head and the other by my feet. One of them asked the other, "What is the ailment of this man?" The other replied, 'He has been bewitched" The first asked, 'Who has bewitched him?' The other replied, 'Lubaid bin Al-A'sam.' The first one asked, 'What material has he used?' The other replied, 'A comb, the hair gathered on it, and the outer skin of the pollen of the male date-palm.' The first asked, 'Where is that?' The other replied, 'It is in the well of Dharwan.' " So, the Prophet went out towards the well and then returned and said to me on his return, "Its date-palms (the date-palms near the well) are like the heads of the devils." I asked, "Did you take out those things with which the magic was worked?" He said, "No, for I have been cured by Allah and I am afraid that this action may spread evil amongst the people." Later on the well was filled up with earth.

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.

The Prophet (saws) said: Disagreement will occur at the death of a caliph and a man of the people of Medina will come flying forth to Mecca. Some of the people of Mecca will come to him, bring him out against his will and swear allegiance to him between the Corner and the Maqam. An expeditionary force will then be sent against him from Syria but will be swallowed up in the desert between Mecca and Medina. When the people see that, the eminent saints of Syria and the best people of Iraq will come to him and swear allegiance to him between the Corner and the Maqam.

Then there will arise a man of Quraysh whose maternal uncles belong to Kalb and send against them an expeditionary force which will be overcome by them, and that is the expedition of Kalb. Disappointed will be the one who does not receive the booty of Kalb. He will divide the property, and will govern the people by the Sunnah of their Prophet (saws) and establish Islam on Earth. He will remain seven years, then die, and the Muslims will pray over him.

Abu Dawud said: Some transmitted from Hisham "nine years" and some "seven years".

Ibn Umar said that Allah's Messenger (way peace be upon him) prescribed the payment of Zakat-ul-Fitr (on breaking the fast) of Ramadan for people, for every freeman, or slave, male and female among the Muslims-one sa' of dried dates, or one sa' of barley.

Ibn Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) prescribed Zakat-ul-Fitr of Ramadan one sa' of dates or one sa' of barley for every individual among the Muslims (whether) free man or slave, male or female, young or old.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abu'z-Zinad heard Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab andSulayman ibn Yasar forbid a man to sell wheat for gold on delayed terms and then to buy dried dates with the gold before he had taken delivery of the gold.

In the lifetime of Allah's Apostle , we used to give one Sa' of food (edible things) as Sadaqat-ul-Fitr (to the poor). Our food used to be either of barley, raisins (dried grapes), cottage cheese or dates.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yazid ibn Abdullah ibn Qusayt saw Said ibn al-Musayyab sell gold counterpoising for gold. He poured his gold into one pan of the scales, and the man with whom he was counterpoising put his gold in the other pan of the scale and when the tongue of the scales was balanced, they took and gave.

Malik said, "According to the way things are done among us there is no harm in selling gold for gold, and silver for silver by counterpoising weight, even if 11 dinars are taken for 10 dinars hand to hand, when the weight of gold is equal, coin for coin, even if the number is different. Dirhams in such a situation are treated the same way as dinars."

Malik said, "If, when counterpoising gold for gold or silver for silver, there is a difference of weight, one party should not give the other the value of the difference in silver or something else. Such a transaction is ugly and a means to usury because if one of the parties were permitted to take the difference for a separate price, it could be as if he had bought it separately, so he would be permitted. Then it would be possible for him to ask for many times the value of the difference in order to permit the completion of the transaction between the two parties.

Malik said, "If he had really been sold the difference without anything else with it, he would not have taken it for a tenth of the price for which he took it in order to put a 'legal front' on the transaction. This leads to allowing what is forbidden . The matter is forbidden."

Malik said that it was not good when counterpoising to give good old gold coins and put along with them unminted gold in exchange for worn kufic gold, which was unpopular and to then treat the exchange as like for like.

Malik said, "The commentary on why that is disapproved is that the owner of the good gold uses the excellence of his old gold coins as an excuse to throw in the unminted gold with it. Had it not been for the superiority of his (good) gold over the gold of the other party, the other party would not have counterpoised the unminted gold for his kufic gold, and the deal would have been refused.

"It is like a man wanting to buy three sa of ajwa dried dates for two sa and a mudd of kabis dates, and on being told that it was not good, then offering two sa of kabis and a sa of poor dates desiring to make the sale possible. That is not good because the owner of the ajwa should not give him a sa of ajwa for a sa of poor dates. He would only give him that because of the excellence of kabis dates.

"Or it is like a man asking some one to sell him three sa of white wheat for two and a half sa of Syrian wheat, and being told that it was not good except like for like, and so offering two sa of wheat and one sa of barley intending to make the sale possible between them. That is not good because no one would have given a sa of barley for a sa of white wheat had that sa been by itself. It was only given because of the excellence of Syrian wheat over the white wheat. This is not good. It is the same as the case of the unminted gold."

Malik said, "Where gold, silver and food, things which should only be sold like for like, are concerned, something disliked and of poor quality should not be put with something good and desirable in order to make the sale possible and to make a bad situation halal. When something of desirable quality is put with something of poor quality and it is only included so that its excellence in quality is noticed, something is being sold which if it had been sold on its own, would not have been accepted and to which the buyer would not have paid any attention. It is only accepted by the buyer because of the superiority of what comes with it over his own goods. Transactions involving gold, silver, or food, must not have anything of this description enter into them. If the owner of the poor quality goods wants to sell them, he sells them on their own, and does not put anything with them. There is no harm if it is like that."

"The Messenger of Allah (saws) prohibited taking two dates at a time until seeking permission from one's companion."

He said: There is something on this topic from Sa'd the freed slave of Abu Bakr.

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

Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever buys a sheep which has been kept unmilked for a long period, and milks it, can keep it if he is satisfied, and if he is not satisfied, he can return it, but he should pay one Sa of dates for the milk."

Abu Talha had a child who was sick. Once, while Abu Talha was out, the child died. When Abu Talha returned home, he asked, "How does my son fare?" Um Salaim (his wife) replied, "He is quieter than he has ever been." Then she brought supper for him and he took his supper and slept with her. When he had finished, she said (to him), "Bury the child (as he's dead)." Next morning Abu Talha came to Allah's Apostle and told him about that. The Prophet said (to him), "Did you sleep with your wife last night?" Abu Talha said, "Yes". The Prophet said, "O Allah! Bestow your blessing on them as regards that night of theirs." Um Sulaim gave birth to a boy. Abu Talha told me to take care of the child till it was taken to the Prophet. Then Abu Talha took the child to the Prophet and Um Sulaim sent some dates along with the child. The Prophet took the child (on his lap) and asked if there was something with him. The people replied, "Yes, a few dates." The Prophet took a date, chewed it, took some of it out of his mouth, put it into the child's mouth and did Tahnik for him with that, and named him 'Abdullah.

(Later on) Allah's Apostle (once again) went along with Ubai bin Ka'b to the garden of date-palms where Ibn Saiyad was staying. When the Prophet entered the garden, he started hiding himself behind the trunks of the date-palms as he wanted to hear something from the Ibn Saiyad before the latter could see him. Ibn Saiyad was lying in his bed, covered with a velvet sheet from where his murmurs were heard. Ibn Saiyad's mother saw the Prophet while he was hiding himself behind the trunks of the date-palms. She addressed Ibn Saiyad, "O Saf!" (And this was his name). Ibn Saiyad got up. The Prophet said, "Had this woman let him to himself, he would have revealed the reality of his case." Then the Prophet got up amongst the people, glorifying Allah as He deserves, he mentioned Ad-Dajjal, saying, "I warn you about him (i.e. Ad-Dajjal) and there is no prophet who did not warn his nation about him, and Noah warned his nation about him, but I tell you a statement which no prophet informed his nation of. You should understand that he is a one-eyed man and Allah is not one-eyed."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) came out from the valley of a mountain where he had eased himself. There were some dried dates on a shield before us. We called him and he ate with us. He did not touch water.

A hadith like this has been narrated on the authority of Qatada with the same chain of transmitters by different narrators (except this difference) that in the hadith transmitted by Taimi and Umar b. Amir and Hisham (the date of setting out is) 18th, and in the hadith transmitted by Sa'id it is the 12th, and in the one transmitted by Shu'ba it is the 17th or 19th.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr that his grandfather, Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm sold the fruit of an orchard of his called al-Afraq, for 4,000 dirhams, and he kept aside 800 dirhams' worth of dry dates.

The Ansar said to the Prophet "Distribute the date palm trees between us and our emigrant brothers." He replied, "No." The Ansar said (to the emigrants), "Look after the trees (water and watch them) and share the fruits with us." The emigrants said, "We listen and obey."

The Prophet got the date palm trees of the tribe of Bani-An-Nadir burnt and the trees cut down at a place called Al-Buwaira . Hassan bin Thabit said in a poetic verse: "The chiefs of Bani Lu'ai found it easy to watch fire spreading at Al-Buwaira."

Wahb ibn Munabbih said: Abdullah ibn Amr asked the Prophet (saws); In how many days should one complete the recitation of the Qur'an? He said: In forty days. He then said: In one month. He again said: In twenty days. He then said: In fifteen days. He then said: In ten days. Finally he said: In seven days.

I was one of (the first) seven (who had embraced Islam) with Allah's Apostle and we had nothing to eat then, except the leaves of the Habala or Hubula tree, so that our stool used to be similar to that of sheep. Now the tribe of Bani Asad wants to teach me Islam; I would be a loser and all my efforts would be in vain (if I learn Islam anew from them).

The Prophet came to Medina and the people used to pay in advance the price of dates to be delivered within two or three years. He said (to them), "Whoever pays in advance the price of a thing to be delivered later should pay it for a specified measure at specified weight for a specified period."

The Ansar said to the Prophet, "Divide our date-palms between us and our emigrant brothers." The Prophet said, "No." The Ansar said to the emigrants, "You may do the labor (in our gardens) and we will share the fruits with you." The emigrants said, "We hear and obey."

When Az-Zubair married me, he had no real property or any slave or anything else except a camel which drew water from the well, and his horse. I used to feed his horse with fodder and drew water and sew the bucket for drawing it, and prepare the dough, but I did not know how to bake bread. So our Ansari neighbors used to bake bread for me, and they were honorable ladies. I used to carry the date stones on my head from Zubair's land given to him by Allah's Apostle and this land was two third Farsakh (about two miles) from my house. One day, while I was coming with the date stones on my head, I met Allah's Apostle along with some Ansari people. He called me and then, (directing his camel to kneel down) said, "Ikh! Ikh!" so as to make me ride behind him (on his camel). I felt shy to travel with the men and remembered Az-Zubair and his sense of Ghira, as he was one of those people who had the greatest sense of Ghira. Allah's Apostle noticed that I felt shy, so he proceeded. I came to Az-Zubair and said, "I met Allah's Apostle while I was carrying a load of date stones on my head, and he had some companions with him. He made his camel kneel down so that I might ride, but I felt shy in his presence and remembered your sense of Ghira (See the glossary). On that Az-Zubair said, "By Allah, your carrying the date stones (and you being seen by the Prophet in such a state) is more shameful to me than your riding with him." (I continued serving in this way) till Abu Bakr sent me a servant to look after the horse, whereupon I felt as if he had set me free.

That the Prophet (saws) said: "Gold for gold, kind for kind; silver for silver, kind for kind; dried-dates for dried-dates, kind for kind; wheat for wheat, kind for kind; salt for salt, kind for kind; and barley for barley, kind for kind. Whoever increases or seeks an increase, then he dealt with Riba. Sell gold for silver as you wish, hand to hand; and sell wheat for dried-dates as you wish, hand to hand; and sell barley for dried-dates as you wish, hand to hand."

[He said:] There are narrations on this topic from Abu Sa'eed, Abu Hurairah, Bilal, And Anas.

[Abu 'Eisa said:] The Hadith of 'Ubadah bin As-Samit is Hasan Sahih. Some of them reported this Hadith from Khalid, with this chain, and he said: "Sell wheat for barley as you wish, hand to hand."

Some of them reported this Hadith from Khalid, from Abu Qilabah, from Ash'ath, from 'Ubadah from the Prophet (saws). In that Hadith, they added that Khalid said: "Abu Qilabah said: "Sell wheat for barley as you wish, hand to hand."

This Hadith is acted upon according to the people of knowledge, they do not think that one may sell wheat for wheat except when it is the same kind for the same kind, and (the same for) barely in exchange for barley, kind for kind. When the items are themselves different, then there is no harm in one being more than the other if it is hand to hand. This is saying of most of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet (saws) and others. It is the view of Sufyan Ath-Thawri, Ash-Shafi'i, Ahmad, and Ishaq. Ash-Shafi'i said: "And the proof for that is the saying of the Prophet (saws): 'Sell barley for wheat as you wish, hand to hand.'"

[Abu 'Eisa said:] Some of the people of knowledge considered it disliked that wheat be sold for barely unless it was kind for kind. This is the view of Malik bin Anas, but the first view is more correct.

When `Abdullah (my father) died, he left behind children and debts. I asked the lenders to put down some of his debt, but they refused, so I went to the Prophet to intercede with them, yet they refused. The Prophet said (to me), "Classify your dates into their different kinds: 'Adha bin Zaid, Lean and 'Ajwa, each kind alone and call all the creditors and wait till I come to you." I did so and the Prophet came and sat beside the dates and started measuring to each his due till he paid them fully, and the amount of dates remained as it was before, as if he had not touched them. (On another occasion) I took part in one of Ghazawat among with the Prophet and I was riding one of our camels. The camel got tired and was lagging behind the others. The Prophet hit it on its back. He said, "Sell it to me, and you have the right to ride it till Medina.'' When we approached Medina, I took the permission from the Prophet to go to my house, saying, "O Allah's Apostle! I have newly married." The Prophet asked, "Have you married a virgin or a matron (a widow or divorcee)?" I said, "I have married a matron, as `Abdullah (my father) died and left behind daughters small in their ages, so I married a matron who may teach them and bring them up with good manners." The Prophet then said (to me), "Go to your family." When I went there and told my maternal uncle about the selling of the camel, he admonished me for it. On that I told him about its slowness and exhaustion and about what the Prophet had done to the camel and his hitting it. When the Prophet arrived, I went to him with the camel in the morning and he gave me its price, the camel itself, and my share from the war booty as he gave the other people.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Gold is to be paid for with gold, raw and coined, silver with silver, raw and coined (in equal weight), wheat with wheat in equal measure, barley with barley in equal measure, dates with dates in equal measure, salt by salt with equal measure; if anyone gives more or asks more, he has dealt in usury. But there is no harm in selling gold for silver and silver (for gold), in unequal weight, payment being made on the spot. Do not sell them if they are to be paid for later. There is no harm in selling wheat for barley and barley (for wheat) in unequal measure, payment being made on the spot. If the payment is to be made later, then do not sell them.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been transmitted by Sa'id b. Abi 'Arubah, Hisham al-Dastawa'i and Qatadah from Muslim b. Yasar through his chain.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd al-Hamid ibn Suhayl ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf from Said ibn al-Musayyab from Abu Said al- Khudri and from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, appointed a man as an agent in Khaybar, and he brought him some excellent dates. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, "Are all the dates of Khaybar like this?" He said,"No. By Allah, Messenger of Allah! We take a sa of this kind for two sa or two sa for three." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Do not do that. Sell the assorted ones for dirhams and then buy the good ones with the dirhams."

Allah's Apostle used to practice I`tikaf in the middle ten days of Ramadan and once he stayed in I`tikaf till the night of the twenty-first and it was the night in the morning of which he used to come out of his I`tikaf. The Prophet said, "Whoever was in I`tikaf with me should stay in I`tikaf for the last ten days, for I was informed (of the date) of the Night (of Qadr) but I have been caused to forget it. (In the dream) I saw myself prostrating in mud and water in the morning of that night. So, look for it in the last ten nights and in the odd ones of them." It rained that night and the roof of the mosque dribbled as it was made of leaf stalks of date-palms. I saw with my own eyes the mark of mud and water on the forehead of the Prophet (i.e. in the morning of the twenty-first).

that Malik bin Aus said, "I was in need of change for one-hundred Dinars. Talha bin 'Ubaidullah called me and we discussed the matter, and he agreed to change (my Dinars). He took the gold pieces in his hands and fidgeted with them, and then said, "Wait till my storekeeper comes from the forest." `Umar was listening to that and said, "By Allah! You should not separate from Talha till you get the money from him, for Allah's Apostle said, 'The selling of gold for gold is Riba (usury) except if the exchange is from hand to hand and equal in amount, and similarly, the selling of wheat for wheat is Riba (usury) unless it is from hand to hand and equal in amount, and the selling of barley for barley is usury unless it is from hand to hand and equal in amount, and dates for dates, is usury unless it is from hand to hand and equal in amount"