The Prophet said, "Allah has appointed an angel in the womb, and the angel says, 'O Lord! A drop of discharge (i.e. of semen), O Lord! a clot, O Lord! a piece of flesh.' And then, if Allah wishes to complete the child's creation, the angel will say. 'O Lord! A male or a female? O Lord! wretched or blessed (in religion)? What will his livelihood be? What will his age be?' The angel writes all this while the child is in the womb of its mother."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Maryam once asked Said ibn al-Musayyab about (what to do with) a nail of his that had broken while he was in ihram and Said said, "cut it off."

Malik was asked whether some one in ihram who had an ear-complaint could use medicinal oil which was not perfumed for dropping into his ears, and he said, "I do not see any harm in that, and even if he were to put it into his mouth I still would not see any harm in it."

Malik said that there was no harm in some one in ihram lancing an abscess that he had, or a boil, or cutting a vein, if he needed to do so.

Ibn `Abbas said, "In the verse: To every one We have appointed ' (Muwaliya Muwaliya means one's) heirs (4.33).' (And regarding the verse) 'And those with whom your right hands have made a pledge.' Ibn `Abbas said, "When the emigrants came to the Prophet in Medina, the emigrant would inherit the Ansari while the latter's relatives would not inherit him because of the bond of brotherhood which the Prophet established between them (i.e. the emigrants and the Ansar). When the verse: 'And to everyone We have appointed heirs' (4.33) was revealed, it canceled (the bond (the pledge) of brotherhood regarding inheritance)." Then he said, "The verse: To those also to whom your right hands have pledged, remained valid regarding cooperation and mutual advice, while the matter of inheritance was excluded and it became permissible to assign something in one's testament to the person who had the right of inheriting before.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Sulayman ibn Yasar that Zayd ibn Thabit used to say, "When the eye remains but the sight is lost, one hundred dinars are payable for it."

Yahya said, "Malik was asked about cutting off the lower lid of the eye and the bone around the eye. He said, 'There is only ijtihad in that unless the vision of the eye is impaired. He is entitled to an amount that is compatible to the extent the vision of the eye has been impaired."

Yahya said that Malik said, "What is done in our community about removing the bad eye of a one-eyed man when it has already been blinded and still remains there in its place and the paralyzed hand when it is cut off, is that there is only ijtihad in that, and there is no prescribed blood-money."

Aisha said that Barirah came to seek her help in the writing of her emancipation. `Aisha said to her, "If you wish, I will pay your masters (your price) and the wala' will be for me." When Allah's Apostle came, she told him about it. The Prophet said to her, "Buy her (i.e. Barirah) and manumit (free) her, for the Wala is for the one who manumits." Then Allah's Apostle ascended the pulpit and said, "What about those people who stipulate conditions which are not in Allah's Laws? Whoever stipulates such conditions as are not in Allah's Laws, then those conditions are invalid even if he stipulated a hundred such conditions."

When the Verse:--'If there are twenty steadfast amongst you (Muslims), they will overcome twohundred (non-Muslims).' was revealed, it became hard on the Muslims when it became compulsory that one Muslim ought not to flee (in war) before ten (non-Muslims). So (Allah) lightened the order by revealing: '(But) now Allah has lightened your (task) for He knows that there is weakness in you. So if there are of you one-hundred steadfast, they will overcome (two-hundred (non-Muslims).' (8.66) So when Allah reduced the number of enemies which Muslims should withstand, their patience and perseverance against the enemy decreased as much as their task was lightened for them.

Another chain reports a similar hadith.

Some people asked the Prophet regarding the soothsayers. He said, "They are nothing." They said, "O Allah's Apostle! Some of their talks come true." The Prophet said, "That word which happens to be true is what a Jinn snatches away by stealth (from the Heaven) and pours it in the ears of his friend (the foreteller) with a sound like the cackling of a hen. The soothsayers then mix with that word, one hundred lies."

Do you (people) consider the conquest of Mecca, the Victory (referred to in the Qur'an 48:1). Was the conquest of Mecca a victory? We really consider that the actual Victory was the Ar-Ridwan Pledge of allegiance which we gave on the day of Al-Hudaibiya (to the Prophet) . On the day of Al-Hudaibiya we were fourteen hundred men along with the Prophet Al-Hudaibiya was a well, the water of which we used up leaving not a single drop of water in it. When the Prophet was informed of that, he came and sat on its edge. Then he asked for a utensil of water, performed ablution from it, rinsed (his mouth), invoked (Allah), and poured the remaining water into the well. We stayed there for a while and then the well brought forth what we required of water for ourselves and our riding animals.

We poured medicine into the mouth of Allah's Apostle during his illness, and he pointed out to us intending to say, "Don't pour medicine into my mouth." We thought that his refusal was out of the aversion a patient usually has for medicine. When he improved and felt a bit better he said (to us.) "Didn't I forbid you to pour medicine into my mouth?" We said, "We thought (you did so) because of the aversion, one usually have for medicine." Allah's Apostle said, "There is none of you but will be forced to drink medicine, and I will watch you, except Al-`Abbas, for he did not witness this act of yours."

From his father, from his grandfather that he heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) delivering a Khutbah in which he said: "Whoever gives a writ of emancipation to his slave, for one hundred Uqiyyah, and he pays it to him less then ten Uqiyah." - or he said: "Ten Dirham" - "then he becomes incapable (of paying the remainder), the he remains a slave."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Gharib. And this acted upon according to most of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet (saws) and others: The Mukatab is a slave as long as something remains due from him for his Kitabah.

Al-Hajjaj bin Artat reported similarly from 'Amr bin Shu'aib.

`Abdullah bin `Umar said, "Allah's Apostle entered the Ka`ba along with Usama bin Zaid, Bilal and `Uthman bin Talha Al-Hajabi and closed the door and stayed there for some time. I asked Bilal when he came out, 'What did the Prophet do?' He replied, 'He offered prayer with one pillar to his left and one to his right and three behind.' In those days the Ka`ba was supported by six pillars." Malik said: "There were two pillars on his (the Prophet's) right side."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: If you gain a victory over the men of Jews, kill them. So Muhayyisah jumped over Shubaybah, a man of the Jewish merchants. He had close relations with them. He then killed him. At that time Huwayyisah (brother of Muhayyisah) had not embraced Islam. He was older than Muhayyisah. When he killed him, Huwayyisah beat him and said: O enemy of Allah, I swear by Allah, you have a good deal of fat in your belly from his property.

The Prophet (saws) said: When a mukatab (a slave who has made an agreement to purchase his freedom) gifts blood-money or an inheritance, he can inherit in accordance with the extent to which he has been emancipated.

Abu Dawud said: Wuhaib transmitted it from Ayyub, from 'Ikrimah, on the authority of 'Ali, from the Prophet (saws): and Hammad b. Zaid and Isma'il have transmitted it in a mursal form (i.e the link of the Companion being missing) from Ayyub, from 'Ikrimah, from the Prophet (saws). Isma'il b. 'Ulayyah has treated it as a statement of 'Ikrimah.

Allah's Apostle taught me the Tashah-hud as he taught me a Sura from the Qur'an, while my hand was between his hands. (Tashah-hud was) all the best compliments and the prayers and the good things are for Allah. Peace and Allah's Mercy and Blessings be on you, O Prophet! Peace be on us and on the pious slaves of Allah, I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and I also testify that Muhammad is Allah's slave and His Apostle. (We used to recite this in the prayer) during the lifetime of the Prophet , but when he had died, we used to say, "Peace be on the Prophet."

Once the meal of `Abdur-Rahman bin `Auf was brought in front of him, and he said, "Mus`ab bin `Umair was martyred and he was better than I, and he had nothing except his Burd (a black square narrow dress) to be shrouded in. Hamza or another person was martyred and he was also better than I and he had nothing to be shrouded in except his Burd. No doubt, I fear that the rewards of my deeds might have been given early in this world." Then he started weeping.

While the Prophet was with one of his wives, one of the mothers of the believers (i.e. one of his wives) sent a wooden bowl containing food with a servant. The wife (in whose house he was sitting) stroke the bowl with her hand and broke it. The Prophet collected the shattered pieces and put the food back in it and said, "Eat." He kept the servant and the bowl till he had eaten the food. Then the Prophet gave another unbroken. bowl to the servant and kept the broken one.

The Prophet heard a man (reciting Qur'an) in the Mosque, and he said, "May Allah bestow His Mercy upon him. No doubt, he made me remember such-and such Verses of such-and-such Sura which I dropped (from my memory). Narrated Aisha: The Prophet performed the Tahajjud prayer in my house, and then he heard the voice of `Abbad who was praying in the Mosque, and said, "O `Aisha! Is this `Abbad's voice?" I said, "Yes." He said, "O Allah! Be merciful to `Abbad!"

When the Messenger of Allah (saws) uttered the takbir (Allah is most great) for prayer (in the beginning), he raised his hands opposite to his shoulders; and when he bowed, he did like that; and when he raised his head to prostrate, he did like that; and when he got up at the end of two rak'ahs, he did like that.

Umar said to him: The Ka'bah does not need your property. Make atonement for your oath and speak to your brother. I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: An oath or vow to disobey the Lord, or to break ties of relationship or about something over which one has no control is not binding on you.

Malik related to me from Da'ud ibn al-Husayn from Abu Ghatafan ibn Tarif al-Muriyi that Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "If someone gives a gift to strengthen ties with a relative or as sadaqa, he cannot have it returned. If some one, however, gives a gift seeking by it favour or reward, he has his gift and can reclaim it if he does not have satisfaction from it."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "The generally agreed-on way of doing things in our community is that if the gift is returned to the one who gave it for recompense, and its value has been either increased or decreased, the one to whom it has been given gives the owner its value on the day he received it."

Malik related to me from Yahya ibn Said from Sulayman ibn Yasar from Abu Waqid al-Laythi that a man came to Umar ibn al-Khattab while he was in ash-Sham . He mentioned to him that he had found a man with his wife Umar sent Abu Waqid al-Laythi to the wife to question her about that. He came to her while there were women around her and mentioned to her what her husband had mentioned to Umar ibn al- Khattab, and informed her that she would not be punished on his word and began to suggest to her by that, that she should retract. She refused to retract and held firm to confession. Umar gave the order and she was stoned.

Some people asked Allah's Apostle about the fore-tellers He said. ' They are nothing" They said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Sometimes they tell us of a thing which turns out to be true." Allah's Apostle said, "A Jinn snatches that true word and pours it Into the ear of his friend (the fore-teller) (as one puts something into a bottle) The foreteller then mixes with that word one hundred lies."

Allah's Apostle said, "Once Solomon, son of David said, '(By Allah) Tonight I will have sexual intercourse with one hundred (or ninety-nine) women each of whom will give birth to a knight who will fight in Allah's Cause.' On that a (i.e. if Allah wills) but he did not say, 'Allah willing.' Therefore only one of those women conceived and gave birth to a half-man. By Him in Whose Hands Muhammad's life is, if he had said, "Allah willing', (he would have begotten sons) all of whom would have been knights striving in Allah's Cause."

Malik related to me from Yahya ibn Said from Amr ibn Shuayb that a man of the Banu Mudlij called Qatada threw a sword at his son and it struck his thigh. The wound bled profusely and he died. Suraqa ibn Jusham came to Umar ibn al-Khattab and mentioned that to him Umar said to him, "At the watering place of Qudayd count one hundred and twenty camels and wait until I come to you." When Umar ibn al-Khattab came to him, he took thirty four-year-old camels, thirty five-year-old camels, and forty pregnant camels from them. Then he said, "Where is the brother of the slain man?" He said, "Here." He said, "Take them. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'The killer gets nothing.' "

Alaqah came to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) and embraced Islam. He then came back from him and passed some people who had a lunatic fettered in chains.

His people said: We are told that your companion has brought some good. Have you something with which you can cure him? I then recited Surat al-Fatihah and he was cured. They gave me one hundred sheep. I then came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) and informed him of it.

He asked: Is it only this? The narrator, Musaddad, said in his other version: Did you say anything other than this? I said: No. He said: Take it, for by my life, some accept if for a worthless chain, but you have done so for a genuine one.

When the Verse:-- "If there are twenty steadfast amongst you, they will overcome two hundred." (8.65) was revealed, then it became obligatory for the Muslims that one (Muslim) should not flee from ten (non-Muslims). Sufyan (the sub-narrator) once said, "Twenty (Muslims) should not flee before two hundred (non Muslims)." Then there was revealed: 'But now Allah has lightened your (task)..' (8.66) So it became obligatory that one-hundred (Muslims) should not flee before two hundred (nonmuslims). (Once Sufyan said extra, "The Verse: 'Urge the believers to the fight. If there are twenty steadfast amongst you (Muslims) ..' was revealed.) Sufyan said, "Ibn Shabrama said, "I see that this order is applicable to the obligation of enjoining good and forbidding evil."

When I visited Aisha she said, "Barirah who had a written contract for her emancipation for a certain amount came to me and said, "O mother of the believers! Buy me and manumit me, as my masters will sell me." Aisha agreed to it. Barirah said, 'My masters will sell me on the condition that my Wala will go to them." Aisha said to her, 'Then I am not in need of you.' The Prophet heard of that or was told about it and so he asked Aisha, 'What is the problem of Barirah?' He said, 'Buy her and manumit her, no matter what they stipulate.' Aisha added, 'I bought and manumitted her, though her masters had stipulated that her Wala would be for them.' The Prophet said, The Wala is for the liberator, even if the other stipulated a hundred conditions."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said, "I vowed to walk, but I was struck by a pain in the kidney, so I rode until I came to Makka. I questioned Ata ibn Abi Rabah and others, and they said, 'You must sacrifice an animal.' When I came to Madina I questioned the ulama there, and they ordered me to walk again from the place from which I was unable to go on. So I walked."

Yahya said that he had heard Malik say, "What is done among us regarding someone who makes a vow to walk to the House of Allah, and then cannot do it and so rides, is that he must return and walk from the place from which he was unable to go on. If he cannot walk, he should walk what he can and then ride, and he must sacrifice a camel, a cow, or a sheep if that is all that he can find."

Malik, when asked about a man who said to another, "I will carry you to the House of Allah", answered, "If he intended to carry him on his shoulder, by that he meant hardship and exhaustion to himself, and he does not have to do that. Let him walk by foot and make sacrifice. If he did not intend anything, let him do hajj and ride, and take the man on hajj with him. That is because he said, 'I will carry you to the house of Allah.' If the man refuses to do hajj with him, then there is nothing against him, and what is demanded of him is cancelled."

Yahya said that Malik was asked whether it was enough for a man who had made a vow that he would walk to the House of Allah a certain (large) number of times, or who had forbidden himself from talking to his father and brother, if he did not fulfil a certain vow, and he had taken upon himself, by the oath, something which he was incapable of fulfilling in his lifetime, even though he were to try every year, to fulfil only one or a (smaller) number of vows by Allah? Malik said, "The only satisfaction for that that I know is fulfilling what he has obliged himself to do. Let him walk for as long as he is able and draw near Allah the Exalted by what he can of good."

I asked Allah's Apostle about the plague. He said, "That was a means of torture which Allah used to send upon whom-so-ever He wished, but He made it a source of mercy for the believers, for anyone who is residing in a town in which this disease is present, and remains there and does not leave that town, but has patience and hopes for Allah's reward, and knows that nothing will befall him except what Allah has written for him, then he will get such reward as that of a martyr."

A man said, "O Allah's Apostle! Inform me of a deed which will make me enter Paradise." The people said, "What is the matter with him? What is the matter with him?" Allah's Apostle said, "He has something to ask (what he needs greatly)." The Prophet said (to him), (In order to enter Paradise) you should worship Allah and join none in worship with Him: You should offer prayers perfectly, give obligatory charity (Zakat), and keep good relations with your Kith and kin." He then said, "Leave it!" (The sub-narrator said, "It seems that the Prophet was riding his she camel."

Kulayb reported from a man of the Ansar. He said: We went out with the Messenger of Allah (saws) on a journey. The people suffered from intense need and strain. They gained booty and then plundered it. While our pots were boiling the Messenger of Allah (saws) came walking with his bow touching the ground. He turned over our pots with his bow and smeared the meat with the soil, and said: "Plunder is more unlawful than carrion," or he said: "Carrion is more unlawful than plunder." The narrator Hannad was doubtful.

Allah's Apostle rode a horse and fell down and the right side of his body was injured. On that day he prayed one of the prayers sitting and we also prayed behind him sitting. When the Prophet finished the prayer with Taslim, he said, "The Imam is to be followed and if he prays standing then pray standing, and bow when he bows, and raise your heads when he raises his head; prostrate when he prostrates; and if he says "Sami`a l-lahu liman hamidah", you should say, "Rabbana wa laka l-hamd.:

Allah's Apostle said, "Allah created the creation, and when He finished from His creation the Rahm (womb) got up, and Allah said (to it). "Stop! What do you want? It said; "At this place I seek refuge with You from all those who sever me (i.e. sever the ties of Kinship.)" Allah said: "Would you be pleased that I will keep good relation with the one who will keep good relation with you, and I will sever the relation with the one who will sever the relation with you. It said: 'Yes, 'O my Lord.' Allah said (to it), 'That is for you.'' And then Abu Huraira recited the Verse:-- "Would you then if you were given the authority, do mischief in the land, and sever your ties of kinship." (47.22)