I was sitting in al-Batha with a company among whom the Messenger of Allah (saws) was sitting, when a cloud passed above them.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) looked at it and said: What do you call this? They said: Sahab.

He said: And muzn? They said: And muzn. He said: And anan? They said: And anan. AbuDawud said: I am not quite confident about the word anan. He asked: Do you know the distance between Heaven and Earth? They replied: We do not know. He then said: The distance between them is seventy-one, seventy-two, or seventy-three years. The heaven which is above it is at a similar distance (going on till he counted seven heavens). Above the seventh heaven there is a sea, the distance between whose surface and bottom is like that between one heaven and the next. Above that there are eight mountain goats the distance between whose hoofs and haunches is like the distance between one heaven and the next. Then Allah, the Blessed and the Exalted, is above that.

The Prophet (saws) said: If a woman fumigates herself with perfume, she must not attend the night prayer with us. Ibn Nufayl said: Isha' means night prayer.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that he had heard that on the day after the day of sacrifice Umar ibn al-Khattab went out a little after the sun had risen and said the takbir, and everyone repeated it after him. Then he went out a second time the same day when the sun was well up and said the takbir, and everyone repeated it after him. Then he went out a third time after mid-day and said the takbir, and everyone repeated it after him until it resounded from group to group until it reached the House and people knew that Umar had left to throw the stones.

Malik said, "What we do here (in Madina) is to say the takbir during the days of tashriq after each prayer. The first time is when the imam and everyone with him says the takbir after the dhuhr prayer on the day of sacrifice, and the last is when the imam and everyone with him says the takbir after subh on the last of the days of tashriq, after which he stops saying the takbir."

Malik said, "The takbirs during the days of tashriq should be done by both men and women, whether they are in a group or by themselves, at Mina or elsewhere, and all of the takbirs should be done. In this everyone follows the imam of the hajj and the people at Mina, because when everyone returns (to Makka) and comes out of ihram they keep the same people as imams while out of ihram (as they did when they were in ihram). Some one who is not doing hajj does not follow them except for the takbirs during the days of tashriq."

Malik said, "The 'limited number of days' are the days of tashriq."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ishaq ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Talha that Anas ibn Malik said, "I saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on one occasion when the asr prayer was at hand . Everyone was looking for water for wudu but no- one could find any. Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, brought some water in a vessel . He put his hand into the vessel and then he told them all to do wudu from it." Anas added, "I saw water coming out from his fingers. Then all of them to the last man did wudu."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Salim ibn Abdullah said, "One of the companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came into the mosque on the day of jumua and Umar ibn al Khattab was already giving the khutba. Umar said, 'What (kind of) time is this (to arrive)?' He said, Amir al- muminin, I returned from the market and heard the call to prayer, so I did no more than do wudu.' Umar said, 'You only did wudu as well? You know that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to tell people to do ghusl.' "

Malik related to me from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr that Abu Talha al- Ansari was praying in his garden when a wild pigeon flew in and began to fly to and fro trying to find a way out. The sight was pleasing to him and he let his eyes follow the bird for a time and then he went back to his prayer but could not remember how much he had prayed. He said, "A trial has befallen me in this property of mine." So he came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and mentioned the trial that had happened to him in his garden and said, "Messenger of Allah, it is a sadaqa for Allah, so dispose of it wherever you wish."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard the people of knowledge say, "Women do not have to raise their voices when they are doing talbiya, and a woman should only speak loudly enough to hear herself."

Malik said, "Some one who is in ihram should not raise his voice when doing talbiya if he is in a mosque where there are groups of people. He should only speak loudly enough for himself and those who are near him to be able to hear, except in the Masjid alHaram and the mosque at Mina, where he should raise his voice."

Malik said, "I have heard some of the people of knowledge recommending (people to do) talbiya at the end of every prayer and at every rise on the route."

"Salman Al-Farisi passed by Shurahbil bin As-Simt while he was in garrison in which he and his companions were suffering from difficulties. He said to him: 'Shall I narrate to you - O Ibn As-Simt - a Hadith I heard from the Messenger of Allah (saws) ?' He said: 'Of course.' He said: 'I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) saying: "(Ribat) Guarding the frontier for a day in the cause of Allah is more virtuous" - and perhaps he said: "better, than fasting a month and standing (in prayer) for it. And whoever dies in it, he is protected from the trials of the grave, and his deeds (continuously) multiplied until the Day of Resurrection.

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

`Abdur-Razzaq told us, Ibn Juraij told us I heard `Abdur-Rahman bin ‘Abdullah bin Abi ‘Ammar narrate... and he mentioned [the same report].

One day while the Prophet was sitting in the company of some people, (The angel) Gabriel came and asked, "What is faith?" Allah's Apostle replied, 'Faith is to believe in Allah, His angels, (the) meeting with Him, His Apostles, and to believe in Resurrection." Then he further asked, "What is Islam?" Allah's Apostle replied, "To worship Allah Alone and none else, to offer prayers perfectly to pay the compulsory charity (Zakat) and to observe fasts during the month of Ramadan." Then he further asked, "What is Ihsan (perfection)?" Allah's Apostle replied, "To worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you must consider that He is looking at you." Then he further asked, "When will the Hour be established?" Allah's Apostle replied, "The answerer has no better knowledge than the questioner. But I will inform you about its portents.

1. When a slave (lady) gives birth to her master.

2. When the shepherds of black camels start boasting and competing with others in the construction of higher buildings. And the Hour is one of five things which nobody knows except Allah.

The Prophet then recited: "Verily, with Allah (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour--." (31. 34) Then that man (Gabriel) left and the Prophet asked his companions to call him back, but they could not see him. Then the Prophet said, "That was Gabriel who came to teach the people their religion." Abu 'Abdullah said: He (the Prophet) considered all that as a part of faith.

Hafsa said, 'We used to forbid our young women to go out for the two `Id prayers. A woman came and stayed at the palace of Bani Khalaf and she narrated about her sister whose husband took part in twelve holy battles along with the Prophet and her sister was with her husband in six (out of these twelve). She (the woman's sister) said, "We used to treat the wounded, look after the patients and once I asked the Prophet, 'Is there any harm for any of us to stay at home if she doesn't have a veil?' He said, 'She should cover herself with the veil of her companion and should participate in the good deeds and in the religious gathering of the Muslims.' When Um `Atiya came I asked her whether she had heard it from the Prophet. She replied, "Yes. May my father be sacrificed for him (the Prophet)! (Whenever she mentioned the Prophet she used to say, 'May my father be sacrificed for him) I have heard the Prophet saying, 'The unmarried young virgins and the mature girl who stay often screened or the young unmarried virgins who often stay screened and the menstruating women should come out and participate in the good deeds as well as the religious gathering of the faithful believers but the menstruating women should keep away from the Musalla (praying place).' " Hafsa asked Um `Atiya surprisingly, "Do you say the menstruating women?" She replied, "Doesn't a menstruating woman attend `Arafat (Hajj) and such and such (other deeds)?"

I said to Ibn `Abbas, "I have an earthenware pot containing Nabidh (i.e. water and dates or grapes) for me, and I drink of it while it is sweet. If I drink much of it and stay with the people for a long time, I get afraid that they may discover it (for I will appear as if I were drunk). Ibn `Abbas said, "A delegation of `Abdul Qais came to Allah's Apostle and he said, "Welcome, O people! Neither will you have disgrace nor will you regret." They said, "O Allah's Apostle! There are the Mudar pagans between you and us, so we cannot come to you except in the sacred Months. So please teach us some orders on acting upon which we will enter Paradise. Besides, we will preach that to our people who are behind us." The Prophet said, "I order you to do four things and forbid you from four things (I order you): To believe in Allah...Do you know what is to believe in Allah? That is to testify that None has the right to be worshipped except Allah: (I order you also to offer prayers perfectly to pay Zakat; and to fast the month of Ramadan and to give the Khumus (i.e. one-fifth of the booty) (for Allah's Sake). I forbid you from four other things (i.e. the wine that is prepared in) Ad-Dubba, An-Naquir, Az-Hantam and Al-Muzaffat. (See Hadith No. 50 Vol. 1)