That `Abdullah bin Abi Hadrad Al-Aslami owed him some debt. Ka`b met him and caught hold of him and they started talking and their voices grew loudest. The Prophet passed by them and addressed Ka`b, pointing out to him to reduce the debt to one half. So, Ka`b got one half of the debt and exempted the debtor from the other half.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that the ayat "You who believe! When you rise for prayer wash your faces, and your arms to the elbows, and wipe over your heads and your feet up to the ankles," refers to rising from bed, meaning sleep.

Yahya said that Malik said, "The situation with us is that one does not have to do wudu for a nose-bleed, or for blood, or for pus issuing from the body. One only has to do wudu for impurities which issue from the genitals or the anus, or for sleep."

Some Sabi (i.e. war prisoners, children and woman only) were brought before the Prophet and behold, a woman amongst them was milking her breasts to feed and whenever she found a child amongst the captives, she took it over her chest and nursed it (she had lost her child but later she found him) the Prophet said to us, "Do you think that this lady can throw her son in the fire?" We replied, "No, if she has the power not to throw it (in the fire)." The Prophet then said, "Allah is more merciful to His slaves than this lady to her son."

When the Messenger of Allah (saws) intended to get up from the assembly he used to say in the last. Glory be to Thee. O Allah, and I begin with praise of Thee, I testify that there is no god but Thou; I ask Thy pardon, and return to Thee in repentance. The man asked: Messenger of Allah! you utter the words now which you did not do in the past? He replied: (This is an) atonement for what takes place in the assembly.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Zayd ibn Aslam said, ''Umar ibn al Khattab drank some milk which he liked (very much) and he asked the man who had given it to him, 'Where did this milk come from?' The man told him that he had come to a watering-place, which he named, and had found grazing livestock from the zakat watering there. He was given some of their milk, which he then put into his water-skin, and that was the milk in question. Umar ibn al-Khattab then put his hand into his mouth to make himself vomit."

Malik said, "The position with us is that if anyone refuses to honour one of the obligatory demands of Allah, and the muslims are unable to get it, then they have the right to fight him until they get itfrom him."

My father and I went to Abu Barza-al-Aslami to ask him about the stated times for the prayers. He replied, "The Prophet used to offer the Zuhr prayer when the sun just declined from its highest position at noon; the `Asr at a time when if a man went to the farthest place in Medina (after praying) he would find the sun still hot (bright). (The sub narrator said: I have forgotten what Abu Barza said about the Maghrib prayer). The Prophet never found any harm in delaying the `Isha' prayer to the first third of the night and he never liked to sleep before it and to talk after it. He used to offer the morning prayer at a time when after finishing it one could recognize the person sitting beside him and used to recite between 60 to 100 verses in one or both the rak`at."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that Ata ibn Yasar said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Dried dates for dried dates is like for like.' It was said to him, 'Your agent in Khaybar takes one sa for two.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'all him to me.' So he was called for. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked, 'Do you take one sa for two?' He replied, 'Messengerof Allah! Why should they sell me good dates for assorted low quality dates, sa for sa!' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Sell the assorted ones for dirhams, and then buy the good ones with those dirhams.' "

Allah's Apostle said, "Allah will say to the people of Paradise, 'O the people of Paradise!' They will say, 'Labbaik, O our Lord, and Sa`daik!' Allah will say, 'Are you pleased?" They will say, 'Why should we not be pleased since You have given us what You have not given to anyone of Your creation?' Allah will say, 'I will give you something better than that.' They will reply, 'O our Lord! And what is better than that?' Allah will say, 'I will bestow My pleasure and contentment upon you so that I will never be angry with you after for-ever.' "

The Prophet said, "Do you think that the tribes of Juhaina, Muzaina, Aslam and Ghifar are better than the tribes of Bani Tamim, Bani Asad, Bani `Abdullah bin Ghatafan and Bani Amir bin Sasaa?" A man said, "They were unsuccessful and losers." The Prophet added, "(Yes), they are better than the tribes of Bani Tamim, Bani Asad, Bani `Abdullah bin Ghatafan and Bani Amir bin Sasaa."

A man of the Ansar came to the Prophet (saws) and begged from him.

He (the Prophet) asked: Have you nothing in your house? He replied: Yes, a piece of cloth, a part of which we wear and a part of which we spread (on the ground), and a wooden bowl from which we drink water.

He said: Bring them to me. He then brought these articles to him and he (the Prophet) took them in his hands and asked: Who will buy these? A man said: I shall buy them for one dirham. He said twice or thrice: Who will offer more than one dirham? A man said: I shall buy them for two dirhams.

He gave these to him and took the two dirhams and, giving them to the Ansari, he said: Buy food with one of them and hand it to your family, and buy an axe and bring it to me. He then brought it to him. The Messenger of Allah (saws) fixed a handle on it with his own hands and said: Go, gather firewood and sell it, and do not let me see you for a fortnight. The man went away and gathered firewood and sold it. When he had earned ten dirhams, he came to him and bought a garment with some of them and food with the others.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) then said: This is better for you than that begging should come as a spot on your face on the Day of Judgment. Begging is right only for three people: one who is in grinding poverty, one who is seriously in debt, or one who is responsible for compensation and finds it difficult to pay.

I saw a man whose opinion was accepted by the people, and whatever he said they submitted to it. I asked: Who is he? They said: This is the Messenger of Allah (saws). I said: On you be peace, Messenger of Allah, twice. He said: Do not say "On you be peace," for "On you be peace" is a greeting for the dead, but say "Peace be upon you".

I asked: You are the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon you)? He said: I am the Messenger of Allah Whom you call when a calamity befalls you and He removes it; when you suffer from drought and you call Him, He grows food for you; and when you are in a desolate land or in a desert and your she-camel strays and you call Him, He returns it to you.

I said: Give me some advice. He said: Do not abuse anyone. He said that he did not abuse a freeman, or a slave, or a camel or a sheep thenceforth. He said: Do not look down upon any good work, and when you speak to your brother, show him a cheerful face. This is a good work. Have your lower garment halfway down your shin; if you cannot do it, have it up to the ankles. Beware of trailing the lower garment, for it is conceit and Allah does not like conceit. And if a man abuses and shames you for something which he finds in you, then do not shame him for something which you find in him; he will bear the evil consequences for it.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Muhammad ibn Uqba, the mawla of az Zubayr, asked al-Qasim ibn Muhammad whether he had to pay any zakat on a large sum given to him by his slave to buy his freedom. Al- Qasim said, "Abu Bakr as-Siddiq did not take zakat from anyone's property until it had been in his possession for a year."

Al- Qasim ibn Muhammad continued, "When Abu Bakr gave men their allowances he would ask them, 'Do you have any property on which zakat is due?' If they said, 'Yes,' he would take the zakat on that property out of their allowances. If they said, 'No,' he would hand over their allowances to them without deducting anything from them."

Abu Dawud said: Similarly, this tradition has been narrated by Ibn Wahb from Malik, Hafs b. Maisarah, Dawud b. Qais and Hisham b. Sa'd. But Hisham projected it to Abu Sa'id al-Khudri.