Some of the wives of the Prophet asked him, "Who amongst us will be the first to follow you (i.e. die after you)?" He said, "Whoever has the longest hand." So they started measuring their hands with a stick and Sauda's hand turned out to be the longest. (When Zainab bint Jahsh died first of all in the caliphate of `Umar), we came to know that the long hand was a symbol of practicing charity, so she was the first to follow the Prophet and she used to love to practice charity. (Sauda died later in the caliphate of Muawiya).

The Prophet said, "The upper hand is better than the lower hand (i.e. he who gives in charity is better than him who takes it). One should start giving first to his dependents. And the best object of charity is that which is given by a wealthy person (from the money which is left after his expenses). And whoever abstains from asking others for some financial help, Allah will give him and save him from asking others, Allah will make him self-sufficient."

Allah's Apostle said, "There is neither 'Adwa (no contagious disease is conveyed to others without Allah's permission) nor Tiyara, but an evil omen may be in three a woman, a house or an animal."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Jafar ibn Muhammad from his father that Ali ibn Abi Talib used to say, "The least difficult thing acceptable as a sacrificial animal is a sheep."

Allah's Apostle said, "No bloodmoney will be charged if somebody dies in a mine or in a well or is killed by an animal; and if somebody finds a treasure in his land he has to give one-fifth of it to the Government."

I was an interpreter between the people and Ibn `Abbas. Once Ibn `Abbas said that a delegation of the tribe of `Abdul Qais came to the Prophet who asked them, "Who are the people (i.e. you)? (Or) who are the delegates?" They replied, "We are from the tribe of Rabi`a." Then the Prophet said to them, "Welcome, O people (or said, "O delegation (of `Abdul Qais).") Neither will you have disgrace nor will you regret." They said, "We have come to you from a distant place and there is the tribe of the infidels of Mudar intervening between you and us and we cannot come to you except in the sacred month. So please order us to do something good (religious deeds) and that we may also inform our people whom we have left behind (at home) and that we may enter Paradise (by acting on them.)" The Prophet ordered them to do four things, and forbade them from four things. He ordered them to believe in Allah Alone, the Honorable the Majestic and said to them, "Do you know what is meant by believing in Allah Alone?" They replied, "Allah and His Apostle know better." Thereupon the Prophet said, "(That means to testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is His Apostle, to offer prayers perfectly, to pay Zakat, to observe fasts during the month of Ramadan, (and) to pay Al-Khumus (one fifth of the booty to be given in Allah's cause)." Then he forbade them four things, namely Ad-Dubba.' Hantam, Muzaffat (and) An-Naqir or Muqaiyar (These were the names of pots in which alcoholic drinks used to be prepared). The Prophet further said, "Memorize them (these instructions) and tell them to the people whom you have left behind."

The Prophet said, "If the wife gives of her husband's property (something in charity) without his permission, he will get half the reward."

I saw the Prophet near the Jamra and the people were asking him questions (about religious problems). A man asked, "O Allah's Apostle! I have slaughtered the Hadi (animal) before doing the Rami." The Prophet replied, "Do the Rami (now) and there is no harm." Another person asked, "O Allah's Apostle! I got my head shaved before slaughtering the animal." The Prophet replied, "Do the slaughtering (now) and there is no harm." So on that day, when the Prophet was asked about anything as regards the ceremonies of Hajj performed before or after its due time his reply was, "Do it (now) and there is no harm."

Allah's Apostle said, "While a man was walking he felt thirsty and went down a well and drank water from it. On coming out of it, he saw a dog panting and eating mud because of excessive thirst. The man said, 'This (dog) is suffering from the same problem as that of mine. So he (went down the well), filled his shoe with water, caught hold of it with his teeth and climbed up and watered the dog. Allah thanked him for his (good) deed and forgave him." The people asked, "O Allah's Apostle! Is there a reward for us in serving (the) animals?" He replied, "Yes, there is a reward for serving any animate."

Yahya said, "I heard Malik say that if a man pledges his garden for a stated period and the fruits of that garden are ready before the end of that period, the fruits are not included in the pledge with the real estate, unless it is stipulated by the pledger in his pledge. However, if a man receives a slave-girl as a pledge and she is pregnant or she becomes pregnant after his taking her as a pledge, her child is included with her.

"A distinction is made between the fruit and the child of the slave-girl. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'If someone sells a palm which has been pollinated, the fruit belongs to the seller unless the buyer stipulates its inclusion.' The undisputed way of doing things in our community is that if a man sells a slave-girl or an animal with a foetus in its womb, the foetus belongs to the buyer, whether or not the buyer stipulates it. The palm is not like the animal. Fruit is not like the foetus in its mother's womb. Part of what clarifies that is also that it is the usage of people to have a man pawn the fruit of the palm apart from the palm. No one pawns the foetus in its mother's womb whether of slaves or animals."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) forbade to eat (the meat of animals) slaughtered by the bedouins for vainglory and pride.

Abu Dawud said: The narrator Ghundar narrated this tradition as a saying of Ibn 'Abbas (and not of the Prophet).

Two men claimed a camel or an animal and brought the case to the Holy Prophet (saws). But as neither of them produced any proof, the Holy Prophet (saws) declared that they should share it equally.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used to say, about sacrificial animals, "Six-year-old camels, three- year-old cows and sheep, or older than these."

The Prophet (saws), was asked about water (in desert country) and what is frequented by animals and wild beasts. He replied: When there is enough water to fill two pitchers, it bears no impurity.

Allah's Apostle said, "The best alms is that which you give when you are rich, and you should start first to support your dependants."

Some meat was brought to the Prophet and it was said that the meat had been given in charity to Barirah. He said, "It was Sadaqa for Barirah but a gift for us."

On the day of Khaybar the Messenger of Allah (may pease be upon him) forbade (eating) the flesh of domestic asses, and the animal which feeds on filth: riding it and eating its flesh.

The letter of the Messenger of Allah (saws) was read out to us in the territory of Juhaynah when I was a young boy: Do not make use of the skin or sinew of an animal which died a natural death.

Anas and I went to Al-Hakam bin Aiyub. Anas saw some boys shooting at a tied hen. Anas said, "The Prophet has forbidden the shooting of tied or confined animals."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar never used to tear the drapes of his sacrificial animals, and he would not drape them until he went from Mina to Arafa.

(the wife of the Prophet) I bought a cushion having on it pictures (of animals). When Allah's Apostle saw it, he stood at the door and did not enter. I noticed the sign of disapproval on his face and said, "O Allah's Apostle! I repent to Allah and His Apostle. What sin have I committed?' Allah's Apostle said. "What is this cushion?" I said, "I have bought it for you so that you may sit on it and recline on it." Allah's Apostle said, "The makers of these pictures will be punished on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said to them, 'Give life to what you have created (i.e., these pictures).' " The Prophet added, "The Angels of (Mercy) do not enter a house in which there are pictures (of animals).

While we were with the Prophet. on a journey, one of the camels ran away. A man shot it with an arrow and stopped it. The Prophet said, "Of these camels some are as wild as wild beasts, so if one of them runs away and you cannot catch it, then do like this (shoot it with an arrow)." I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Sometimes when we are in battles or on a journey we want to slaughter (animals) but we have no knives." He said, "Listen! If you slaughter the animal with anything that causes its blood to flow out, and if Allah's Name is mentioned on slaughtering it, eat of it, provided that the slaughtering instrument is not a tooth or a nail, as the tooth is a bone and the nail is the knife of Ethiopians."

That the Messenger of Allah (saws): "A riding animal can be ridden while it is pawned, and a milking animal can be milked while it is pawned, and it is up to the one riding and drinking (the milk) to maintain it."

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

We do now know of it being Marfu' except by the narration of 'Amir Ash-Sha'bi from Abu Hurairah. Others have reported this Hadith from Al-A'mash, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurairah in Mawquf form.

This is acted upon according to some of the people of knowledge, and it is the view of Ahmad and Ishaq.

Some of the people of knowledge said that one may not benefit in any way from what is pawned.

The Prophet said, "A man felt very thirsty while he was on the way, there he came across a well. He went down the well, quenched his thirst and came out. Meanwhile he saw a dog panting and licking mud because of excessive thirst. He said to himself, "This dog is suffering from thirst as I did." So, he went down the well again and filled his shoe with water and watered it. Allah thanked him for that deed and forgave him. The people said, "O Allah's Apostle! Is there a reward for us in serving the animals?" He replied: "Yes, there is a reward for serving any animate (living being)." (See Hadith No. 551)

The Prophet said, "If a man spends on his family (with the intention of having a reward from Allah) sincerely for Allah's sake then it is a (kind of) alms-giving in reward for him.

The Prophet ordered me to supervise the (slaughtering) of Budn (Hadi camel) and to distribute their meat, skins and covering sheets in charity and not to give anything (of their bodies) to the butcher as wages for slaughtering.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) came upon an emaciated camel and said: Fear Allah regarding these dumb animals. Ride them when they are in good condition and feed them when they are in good condition.

The Prophet (saws) said: When you shoot your arrow (and the animal goes out of your sight) and you come three days later on it, and in it there is your arrow, then eat provided it has not stench.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Said ibn al-Musayyab that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade bartering live animals for meat.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar did not sacrifice for the child in the womb.

Malik said, "The sacrifice is sunna, and it is not obligatory. I prefer that anyone who has the price of the animal should not abandon it.''

Whoever buys an animal which has been kept unmilked for a long time, could return it, but has to pay a Sa of dates along with it. And the Prophet forbade meeting the owners of goods on the way away from the market.

The Prophet said, "If a woman gives something (i.e. in charity) from her husband's earnings without his permission, she will get half his reward."