If you wish to know about the ignorance of the Arabs, refer to Surat-al-Anam after Verse No. 130:-- Indeed lost are those who have killed their children From folly without knowledge and have forbidden that which Allah has provided for them, inventing a lie against Allah. They have indeed gone astray and were not guided.' (6.14)

"I had an agreement with Umaiya bin Khalaf (that he would look after my relatives and property in Mecca, and I would look after his relatives and property in Medina)." `Abdur-Rahman then mentioned the killing of Umaiya and his son on the day of Badr, and Bilal said, "Woe to me if Umaiya remains safe (i.e. alive) . "

The Messenger of Allaah (sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam) ordered the killing of the dogs, and then said: Why are they (people) after them (dogs)? and then granted permission (to keep) for hunting and for (the security) of the herd, and said : When the dog licks the utensil wash it seven times, and rub it with earth the eighth time.

Abu Dawud said : Ibn Mughaffal narrated in a similar way.

Abu Musa said, "I came to the Prophet along with two men (from the tribe) of Ash`ariyin, one on my right and the other on my left, while Allah's Apostle was brushing his teeth (with a Siwak), and both men asked him for some employment. The Prophet said, 'O Abu Musa (O `Abdullah bin Qais!).' I said, 'By Him Who sent you with the Truth, these two men did not tell me what was in their hearts and I did not feel (realize) that they were seeking employment.' As if I were looking now at his Siwak being drawn to a corner under his lips, and he said, 'We never (or, we do not) appoint for our affairs anyone who seeks to be employed. But O Abu Musa! (or `Abdullah bin Qais!) Go to Yemen.'" The Prophet then sent Mu`adh bin Jabal after him and when Mu`adh reached him, he spread out a cushion for him and requested him to get down (and sit on the cushion). Behold: There was a fettered man beside Abu Muisa. Mu`adh asked, "Who is this (man)?" Abu Muisa said, "He was a Jew and became a Muslim and then reverted back to Judaism." Then Abu Muisa requested Mu`adh to sit down but Mu`adh said, "I will not sit down till he has been killed. This is the judgment of Allah and His Apostle (for such cases) and repeated it thrice. Then Abu Musa ordered that the man be killed, and he was killed. Abu Musa added, "Then we discussed the night prayers and one of us said, 'I pray and sleep, and I hope that Allah will reward me for my sleep as well as for my prayers.'"

While I was standing in the row on the day (of the battle) of Badr, I looked to my right and my left and saw two young Ansari boys, and I wished I had been stronger than they. One of them called my attention saying, "O Uncle! Do you know Abu Jahl?" I said, "Yes, What do you want from him, O my nephew?" He said, "I have been informed that he abuses Allah's Apostle. By Him in Whose Hands my life is, if I should see him, then my body will not leave his body till either of us meet his fate." I was astonished at that talk. Then the other boy called my attention saying the same as the other had said. After a while I saw Abu Jahl walking amongst the people. I said (to the boys), "Look! This is the man you asked me about." So, both of them attacked him with their swords and struck him to death and returned to Allah'S Apostle to inform him of that. Allah's Apostle asked, "Which of you has killed him?" Each of them said, "I Have killed him." Allah's Apostle asked, "Have you cleaned your swords?" They said, "No. " He then looked at their swords and said, "No doubt, you both have killed him and the spoils of the deceased will be given to Mu`adh bin `Amr bin Al-Jamuh." The two boys were Mu`adh bin 'Afra and Mu`adh bin `Amr bin Al-Jamuh.

Yahya said from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Bushayr ibn Yasar informed him that Abdullah ibn Sahl al-Ansari and Muhayyisa ibn Masud went out to Khaybar, and they separated on their various businesses and Abdullah ibn Sahl was killed. Muhayyisa, and his brother Huwayyisa and Abd ar-Rahman ibn Sahl went to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and Abd ar-Rahman began to speak before his brother. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The older first, the older first.

Therefore Huwayyisa and then Muhayyisa spoke and mentioned the affair of Abdullah ibn Sahl. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to them, "Do you swear with fifty oaths and claim the blood-money of your companion or the life of the murderer?" They said, "Messenger of Allah, we did not see it and we were not present." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Will you acquit the jews for fifty oaths?' They said, "Messenger of Allah, how can we accept the oaths of a people who are kafirun?"

Yahya ibn Said said, "Bushayr ibn Yasar claimed that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, paid the blood-money from his own property."

Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things in our community and that which I heard from whoever I am content with, concerning the oath of qasama, and upon which the past and present imams agree, is that those who claim revenge begin with the oaths and swear. The oath for revenge is only obligatory in two situations. Either the slain person says, 'My blood is against so-and-so,' or the relatives entitled to the blood bring a partial proof of it that is not irrefutable against the one who is the object of the blood-claim. This obliges taking an oath on the part of those who claim the blood against those who are the object of the blood-claim. With us, swearing is only obliged in these two situations."

Malik said, "That is the sunna in which there is no dispute with us and which is still the behaviour of the people. The people who claim blood begin the swearings, whether it is an intentional killing or an accident."

Malik said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, began with Banu Harith in the case of the killing of their kinsman murdered at Khaybar."

Malik said, "If those who make the claim swear, they deserve the blood of their kinsman and whoever they swear against is slain. Only one man can be killed in the qasama. Two cannot be killed in it. Fifty men from the blood-relatives must swear fifty oaths. If their number is less or some of them draw back, they can repeat their oaths, unless one of the relatives of the murdered man who deserves blood and who is permitted to pardon it, draws back. If one of these draws back, there is no way to revenge."

Yahya said that Malik said, "The oaths can be made by those of them who remain if one of them draws back who is not permitted to pardon. If one of the blood-relatives draws back who is permitted to pardon, even if he is only one, more oaths can not be made after that by the blood- relatives. If that occurs, the oaths can be on behalf of the one against whom the claim is made. So fifty of the men of his people swear fifty oaths. If there are not fifty men, more oaths can be made by those of them who already swore. If there is only the defendant, he swears fifty oaths and is acquitted."

Yahya said that Malik said, "One distinguishes between swearing for blood and oaths for one's rights. When a man has a money-claim against another man, he seeks to verify his due. When a man wants to kill another man, he does not kill him in the midst of people. He keeps to a place away from people. Had there only been swearing in cases where there is a clear proof and had one acted in it as one acts about one's rights (i.e. needing witnesses), the right of blood retribution would have been lost and people would have been swift to take advantage of it when they learned of the decision on it. However, the relatives of the murdered man were allowed to initiate swearing so that people might restrain themselves from blood and the murderer might beware lest he was put into a situation like that (i.e. qasama) by the statement of the murdered man.' "

Yahya said, "Malik said about a people of whom a certain number are suspected of murder and the relatives of the murdered man ask them to take oaths and they are numerous, so they ask that each man swears fifty oaths on his own behalf. The oaths are not divided out between them according to their number and they are not acquitted unless each man among them swears fifty oaths on his own behalf."

Malik said, "This is the best I have heard about the matter."

He said, "Swearing goes to the paternal relatives of the slain. They are the blood-relatives who swear against the killer and by whose swearing he is killed."

My foster-father said to me - he was one of Banu Murrah ibn Awf, and he was present in that battle, the battle of Mu'tah: By Allah, as if I am seeing Ja'far who jumped from his reddish horse and hamstrung it; he then fought with the people until he was killed.

Abu Dawud said: The tradition is not strong.

I asked: Messenger of Allah! tell me if someone enters my house and extends his hands to kill me (what should I do?) The Messenger of Allah (saws) replied: Be like the two sons of Adam. The narrator Yazid (ibn Khalid) then recited the verse: "If thou dost stretch they hand against me to slay me." [5:28]

A man embraced Islam and then reverted back to Judaism. Mu`adh bin Jabal came and saw the man with Abu Musa. Mu`adh asked, "What is wrong with this (man)?" Abu Musa replied, "He embraced Islam and then reverted back to Judaism." Mu`adh said, "I will not sit down unless you kill him (as it is) the verdict of Allah and His Apostle.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used to say, "A woman in ihram should not comb her hair when she leaves ihram until she has cut some of the tresses of her hair, and if she has an animal for sacrifice with her she should not cut off any of her hair until the animal has been killed."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Said ibn al-Musayyab used to say, "For the pigeon of Makka, when it is killed, a sheep is due."

Malik said, that if a man of the people of Makka were to enter ihram for hajj or umra and there was a flock of Makkan pigeons in his house and they were shut in and died, "I think that he should pay for that with a sheep for each bird."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that a man came to Umar ibn al-Khattab and asked him about some locusts he had killed while he was in ihram. Umar said to Kab, "Come, let's decide." Kab said, "A dirham," and Umar said to Kab, "You can find dirhams. A date is better than a locust."

I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "The example of a Mujahid in Allah's Cause-- and Allah knows better who really strives in His Cause----is like a person who fasts and prays continuously. Allah guarantees that He will admit the Mujahid in His Cause into Paradise if he is killed, otherwise He will return him to his home safely with rewards and war booty."

A Jew killed a girl of the Ansar for her ornaments. He then threw her in a well, and crushed her head with stones. He was then arrested and brought to the Prophet (saws). He ordered regarding him that he should be stoned to death. He was then stoned till he died.

Abu Dawud said: It has been transmitted by Ibn Juraij from Ayyub in a similar way.

Abu Bakr bought a (camel's) saddle from `Azib, and I carried it for him. `Azib (i.e. my father) asked Abu Bakr regarding the journey of the migration of Allah's Apostle. Abu Bakr said, "Close observers were appointed by our enemies to watch us. So we went out at night and travelled throughout the night and the following day till it was noon, then we perceived a rock and went towards it, and there was some shade under it. I spread a cloak I had with me for Allah's Apostle and then the Prophet layed on it. I went out to guard him and all of a sudden I saw a shepherd coming with his sheep looking for the same, the shade of the rock as we did, I asked him, 'O boy, to whom do you belong?' He replied, 'I belong to so-and-so.' I asked him, 'Is there some milk in your sheep?' He replied in the affirmative. I asked him, 'Will you milk?' He replied in the affirmative. Then he got hold of one of his sheep. I said to him, 'Remove the dust from its udder.' Then he milked a little milk. I had a water-skin with me which was tied with a piece of cloth. I had prepared the water-skin for Allah's Apostle . So I poured some water over the milk (container) till its bottom became cold. Then I brought the milk to the Prophet and said, 'Drink, O Allah's Apostle.' Allah's Apostle drank till I became pleased. Then we departed and the pursuers were following us."

We went out with the Messenger of Allah (saws) and came to a woman of the Ansar in al-Aswaf. The woman brought her two daughters, and said: Messenger of Allah, these are the daughters of Thabit ibn Qays who was killed as a martyr when he was with you at the battle of Uhud, their paternal uncle has taken all their property and inheritance, and he has not left anything for them. What do you think, Messenger of Allah? They cannot be married unless they have some property. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Allah will decide regarding the matter. Then the verse of Surat an-Nisa was revealed: "Allah (thus) directs you as regards your children's (inheritance)." Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Call to me the woman and her husband's brother. He then said to their paternal uncle: Give them two-thirds and their mother an eighth, and what remains is yours.

Abu Dawud said: The narrator Bishr made a mistake. They were the daughters of Sa'd b. al-Rabi' for Thabit b. Qais was killed in the battle of Yamamah.

AbuBarzah said: I was with AbuBakr. He became angry at a man and uttered hot words. I said: Do you permit me, Caliph of the Messenger of Allah (saws), that I cut off his neck? These words of mine removed his anger; he stood and went in. He then sent for me and said: What did you say just now? I said: (I had said:) Permit me that I cut off his neck. He said: Would you do it if I ordered you? I said: Yes. He said: No, I swear by Allah, this is not allowed for any man after Muhammad (saws).

Abu Dawud said: This is Yazid's version. Ahmad bin Hanbal said: That is, Abu Bakr has no powers to slay a man except for three reasons which the Messenger of Allah (saws) had mentioned: disbelief after belief, fornication after marriage, or killing a man without (murdering) any man by him. The Prophet (saws) had powers to kill.

The Prophet (saws) said: If anyone drinks wine, flog him; if he repeats it, flog him, and if he repeats it, flog him. If he does it again a third or a fourth time, kill him. A man who had drunk wine was brought (to him) and he gave him lashes. He was again brought to him, and he flogged him. He was again brought to him and he flogged him. He was again brought to him and he flogged him. The punishment of killing (for drinking) was repealed, and a concession was allowed.

Sufyan said: Al-Zuhri transmitted this tradition when Mansur b. al-Mu'tamir amd Mukhawwal b. Rashid were present with him. He said to them: Take this tradition as a present to the people of Iraq.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been transmitted by al-Sharid b. Suwaid, Sharahbil b. Aws, 'Abd Allah b. 'Amr, 'Abd Allah b. 'Umar, Abu Ghutaif al-Kindi, and Abu Salamah b. 'Abd al-Rahman from Abu Hurairah.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Ata ibn Yazid al-Laythi that Ubaydullah ibn Adi ibnal-Khiyar said, "Once when the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sitting with some people, a man came to him and spoke secretly to him. Nobody knew what he had said until the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, disclosed that he had asked for permission to kill one of the hypocrites. When he disclosed this, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Doesn't he testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah?' The man replied, 'Of course, but he hasn't really done so.' He said, 'Doesn't he do the prayer?' and the man replied, 'Of course, but he doesn't really do the prayer.' He said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, 'Those are the ones whom Allah has forbidden me (to kill).' "

Yahya related to me, and I (myself) heard Malik say, "The best that I have heard about some one who has to fast for two consecutive months because of having killed someone by mistake or having pronounced the dhihar form of divorce, becoming very ill and having to break his fast, is that if he recovers from his illness and is strong enough to fast, he must not delay doing so. He continues his fast from where he left off.

Similarly, a woman who has to fast because of having killed some one by mistake should not delay resuming her fast when she has become pure after her period. She continues her fast from where she left off.

No one who, by the Book of Allah, has to fast for two consecutive months may break his fast except for a reason - illness or menstruation. He must not travel and break his fast."

Malik said, "This is the best that I have heard about the matter."

Allah's Apostle said, "Who would kill Ka`b bin Al-Ashraf as he has harmed Allah and His Apostle ?" Muhammad bin Maslama (got up and) said, "I will kill him." So, Muhammad bin Maslama went to Ka`b and said, "I want a loan of one or two Wasqs of food grains." Ka`b said, "Mortgage your women to me." Muhammad bin Maslama said, "How can we mortgage our women, and you are the most handsome among the Arabs?" He said, "Then mortgage your sons to me." Muhammad said, "How can we mortgage our sons, as the people will abuse them for being mortgaged for one or two Wasqs of food grains? It is shameful for us. But we will mortgage our arms to you." So, Muhammad bin Maslama promised him that he would come to him next time. They (Muhammad bin Maslama and his companions came to him as promised and murdered him. Then they went to the Prophet and told him about it.

Regarding the Verse: "And say not to anyone who offers you peace (by accepting Islam), You are not a believer." There was a man amidst his sheep. The Muslims pursued him, and he said (to them) "Peace be on you." But they killed him and took over his sheep. Thereupon Allah revealed in that concern, the above Verse up to:-- "...seeking the perishable good of this life." (4.94) i.e. those sheep.

"We did not pledge to the Messenger of Allah (saws) for death, but only that we would not flee."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Sahih, meaning both of the Ahadith are Sahih. Some of his Companions pledged to him for death, they said only: "We will not leave from in front of you as long as we are not killed." While others pledged him by saying: "We will not flee."

That the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "None of the people of Paradise would wish to return to the world except for the martyr who indeed would love to return to the world saying that he would love to be killed ten times in Allah's cause because of what he has seen of the honor that He has given him."

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

The Prophet (saws) entered (Makkah) during they year of the Conquest, and upon his head was a helmet (Mighfar). It was said to him: 'Ibn Khatal is clinging to the covering of the Ka'bah.' So he said: 'Kill him.'"

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Sahih Gharib. We do knot know of anyone important who reported it other than Malik from Az-Zuhri.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Shu'ba with the same chain of transmitters.

On the day of Uhud the Prophet appointed `Abdullah bin Jubair as chief of the archers, and seventy among us were injured and martyred. On the day (of the battle) of Badr, the Prophet and his companions had inflicted 140 casualties on the pagans, 70 were taken prisoners, and 70 were killed. Abu Sufyan said, "This is a day of (revenge) for the day of Badr and the issue of war is undecided ."

Yahya said that Malik said, "The way of doing things in our community about which there is no dispute is that women do not swear in the swearing for the intentional act. If the murdered man only has female relatives, the women have no right to swear for blood and no pardon in murder."

Yahya said that Malik said about a man who is murdered, "If the paternal relatives of the murdered man or his mawali say, 'We swear and we demand our companion's blood,' that is their right."

Malik said, "If the women want to pardon him, they cannot do that. The paternal relatives and mawali are entitled to do that more than them because they are the ones who demand blood and swear for it."

Malik said, "If the paternal relatives or mawali pardon after they demand blood and the women refuse and say, 'We will not abandon our right against the murderer of our companion,' the women are more entitled to that because whoever takes retaliation is more entitled than the one who leaves it among the women and paternal relatives when the murder is established and killing obliged."

Malik said, "At least two claimants must swear in murder. The oaths are repeated by them until they swear fifty oaths, then they have the right to blood. That is how things are done in our community."

Malik said, "When people beat a man and he dies in their hands, they are all slain for him. If he dies after their beating, there is swearing. If there is swearing, it is only against one man and only he is slain. We have never known the swearing to be against more than one man."

Malik spoke about a slave who had his hand or foot broken and then the break mended . He said, "The one who injured him is not obliged to pay anything. If that break causes him loss or scar, the one who injured him must pay according to what he diminished of the value of the slave."

Malik said, "What is done in our community about retaliation between slaves is that it is like retaliation between freemen. The life of the slave-girl for the life of the slave, and her injury for his injury. When a slave intentionally kills a slave, the master of the murdered slave has a choice. If he wishes, he kills him, and if he wishes, he takes the blood-money. If he takes the blood-money, he takes the value of his slave. If the owner of the slave who killed wishes to give the value of the murdered slave, he does it. If he wishes, he surrenders his slave. If he surrenders him, he is not obliged to do anything other than that. When the owner of the murdered slave takes the slave who murdered and is satisifed with him, he must not kill him. All retaliations between slaves for cutting off of the hand and foot and such things are dealt with in the same way as in the murder."

Malik said about a muslim slave who injures a jew or christian, "If the master of the slave wishes to pay blood-money for him according to the injury, he does it. Or else he surrenders him and he is sold, and the jew or christian is given the blood-money of the injury or all the price of the slave if the blood-money is greater than his price. The jew or christian is not given a muslim slave."

Muhammad ibn Ishaq said: I mentioned the story of Ma'iz ibn Malik to Asim ibn Umar ibn Qatadah. He said to me: Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn AbuTalib said to me: Some men of the tribe of Aslam whom I do not blame and whom you like have transmitted to me the saying of the Messenger of Allah (saws): Why did you not leave him alone?

He said: But I did not understand this tradition. So I went to Jabir ibn Abdullah and said (to him): Some men of the tribe of Aslam narrate that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said when they mentioned to him the anxiety of Ma'iz when the stones hurt him: "Why did you not leave him alone?' But I do not know this tradition.

He said: My cousin, I know this tradition more than the people. I was one of those who had stoned the man. When we came out with him, stoned him and he felt the effect of the stones, he cried: O people! return me to the Messenger of Allah (saws). My people killed me and deceived me; they told me that the Messenger of Allah (saws) would not kill me. We did not keep away from him till we killed him. When we returned to the Messenger of Allah (saws) we informed him of it.

He said: Why did you not leave him alone and bring him to me? and he said this so that the Messenger of Allah (saws) might ascertain it from him. But he did not say this to abandon the prescribed punishment. He said: I then understood the intent of the tradition.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) commanded to kill him: he was a spy of AbuSufyan and an ally of a man of the Ansar. He passed a circle of the Ansar and said: I am a Muslim. A man from the Ansar said, Messenger of Allah, he is saying that he is a Muslim. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: There are people among you in whose faith we trust. Furat ibn Hayyan is one of them.

Sa`d bin Ubada said, "If I found a man with my wife, I would kill him with the sharp side of my sword." When the Prophet heard that he said, "Do you wonder at Sa`d's sense of ghira (self-respect)? Verily, I have more sense of ghira than Sa`d, and Allah has more sense of ghira than I."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that Sad al- Jari, the mawla of Umar ibn al-Khattab asked Abdullah ibn Umar about fish which had killed each other or which had died from severe cold . He said, "There is no harm in eating them.'' Sad said,' 'I then asked Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al As and he said the same."