Ibn `Umar said, "While the Prophet was on the pulpit, a man asked him how to offer the night prayers. He replied, 'Pray two rak`at at a time and then two and then two and so on, and if you are afraid of the dawn (the approach of the time of the Fajr prayer) pray one rak`a and that will be the witr for all the rak`at which you have offered." Ibn `Umar said, "The last rak`at of the night prayer should be odd, for the Prophet ordered it to be so.

The Prophet said, "When it is a Friday, the angels stand at the gate of the mosque and keep on writing the names of the persons coming to the mosque in succession according to their arrivals. The example of the one who enters the mosque in the earliest hour is that of one offering a camel (in sacrifice). The one coming next is like one offering a cow and then a ram and then a chicken and then an egg respectively. When the Imam comes out (for Jumua prayer) they (i.e. angels) fold their papers and listen to the Khutba."

Allah's Apostle prayed in his house while sitting during his illness and the people prayed behind him standing and he pointed to them to sit down. When he had finished the prayer, he said, "The Imam is to be followed and so when he bows you should bow; and when he lifts his head you should also do the same."

Allah's Apostle during his illness prayed in his house sitting, whereas some people followed him standing, but the Prophet beckoned them to sit down. On completion of the prayer he said, "The Imam is to be followed. So, bow when he bows, and raise your head when he raises his head." (See Hadith No. 657 Vol 1 for taking the verdict).

The Prophet said, "There is a gate in Paradise called Ar-Raiyan, and those who observe fasts will enter through it on the Day of Resurrection and none except them will enter through it. It will be said, 'Where are those who used to observe fasts?' They will get up, and none except them will enter through it. After their entry the gate will be closed and nobody will enter through it."

"The Prophet sent a messenger to the village of the Ansar in the morning of the day of 'Ashura' (10th of Muharram) to announce: 'Whoever has eaten something should not eat but complete the fast, and whoever is observing the fast should complete it.' "She further said, "Since then we used to fast on that day regularly and also make our boys fast. We used to make toys of wool for the boys and if anyone of them cried for, he was given those toys till it was the time of the breaking of the fast."

There was an eclipse of the sun in the time of the Messenger of Allah (saws). He came out bewildered pulling his garment, and I was in his company at Medina. He prayed two rak'ahs and stood for a long time in them. He then departed and the sun became bright. He then said: There are the signs by means of which Allah, the Exalted, produces dread (in His servants). When you see anything of this nature, then pray as you are praying a fresh obligatory prayer.

The Prophet prayed the eclipse prayer, and then said, "Hell was displayed so close that I said, 'O my Lord ! Am I going to be one of its inhabitants?"' Suddenly he saw a woman. I think he said, who was being scratched by a cat. He said, "What is wrong with her?" He was told, "She had imprisoned it (i.e. the cat) till it died of hunger."

The Prophet said, "The sun and the moon do not eclipse because of someone's death or life (i.e. birth), but they are two signs amongst the Signs of Allah. So, if you see them (i.e. eclipse) offer the (eclipse) prayer.

Abu Dawud said: His word "And keep silence" is not guarded; it has been narrated by Sulaiman al-Taimi alone in his version.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade 'selling and lending.'

Malik said, "The explanation of what that meant is that one man says to another, 'I will take your goods for such-and-such if you lend me such-and-such.' If they agree to a transaction in this manner, it is not permitted. If the one who stipulates the loan abandons his stipulation, then the sale is permitted."

Malik said, "There is no harm in exchanging linen from Shata, for garments from Itribi, or Qass, or Ziqa. Or the cloth of Herat or Merv for Yemeni cloaks and shawls and such like as one for two or three, from hand to hand or with delayed terms. If the goods are of the same kind, and deferment enters into the transaction, there is no good in it."

Malik said, "It is not good unless they are different, and the difference between them is clear. When they resemble each other, even if the names are different, do not take two for one with delayed terms, for instance two garments of Herat for one from Merv or Quhy with delayed terms, ortwo garments of Furqub for one from Shata. All these sorts are of the same description, so do not buy two for one, on delayed terms."

Malik said, "There is no harm in selling what you buy of things of this nature, before you complete the deal, to some one other than the person from whom you purchased them if the price was paid in cash."

Malik related to me that Zayd ibn Aslam said, "Usury in the Jahiliyya was that a man would give a loan to a man for a set term. When the term was due, he would say, 'Will you pay it off or increase me?' If the man paid, he took it. If not, he increased him in his debt and lengthened the term for him ."

Malik said, "The disapproved of way of doing things about which there is no dispute among us, is that a man should give a loan to a man for a term, and then the demander reduce it and the one from whom it is demanded pay it in advance. To us that is like someone who delays repaying his debt after it is due to his creditor and his creditor increases his debt." Malik said, "This is nothing else but usury. No doubt about it."

Malik spoke about a man who loaned one hundred dinars to a man for two terms. When it was due, the person who owed the debt said to him, "Sell me some goods, whose price is one hundred dinars in cash for one hundred and fifty on credit." Malik said, "This transaction is not good, and the people of knowledge still forbid it."

Malik said, "This is disapproved of because the creditor himself gives the debtor the price of what the man sells him, and he defers repayment of the hundred of the first transaction for the debtor for the term which is mentioned to him in the second transaction, and the debtor increases him with fifty dinars for his deferring him. That is disapproved of and it is not good. It also resembles the hadith of Zayd ibn Aslam about the transactions of the people of the Jahiliyya. When their debts were due, they said to the person with the debt, 'Either you pay in full or you increase it.' If they paid, they took it, and if not they increased debtors in their debts, and extended the term for them."

The Prophet mentioned a man from the people of the past or those who preceded you. The Prophet said a sentence meaning: Allah had given him wealth and children. When his death approached, he said to his sons, "What kind of father have I been to you?" They replied, "You have been a good father." He told them that he had not presented any good deed before Allah, and if Allah should get hold of him He would punish him.' "So look!" he added, "When I die, burn me, and when I turn into coal, crush me, and when there comes a windy day, scatter my ashes in the wind." The Prophet added, "Then by Allah, he took a firm promise from his children to do so, and they did so. (They burnt him after his death) and threw his ashes on a windy day. Then Allah commanded to his ashes. "Be," and behold! He became a man standing! Allah said, "O My slave! What made you do what you did?" He replied, "For fear of You." Nothing saved him then but Allah's Mercy (So Allah forgave him).

Ibn Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him), when he stood up for prayer, used to raise his hands apposite the shoulders and then recited takbir (Allah-o-Akbar), and when he was about to bow he again did like it and when he raised himself from the ruku' (bowing posture) he again did like it, but he did not do it at the time of raising his head from prostration.

Ya'la ibn Mumallak said that he asked Umm Salamah about the recitation and prayer of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

She said: What have you to do with his prayer? He would pray, then sleep as long as he had prayed, till morning. She then described his recitation and did so with an exposition word by word.

I came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) when he was at Mina, or at Arafat. He was surrounded by the people. When the bedouins came and saw his face, they would say: This is a blessed face. He said: He (the Prophet) appointed Dhat Irq as the place of putting on ihram for the people of Iraq.

The Prophet (saws) said: I am commanded to fight with men till they testify that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and His Apostle, face our qiblah (direction of prayer), eat what we slaughter, and pray like us. When they do that, their life and property are unlawful for us except what is due to them. They will have the same rights as the Muslims have, and have the same responsibilities as the Muslims have.

The Prophet (saws) said: It is not lawful for a man to make a donation or give a gift and then take it back, except a father regarding what he gives his child. One who gives a gift and then takes it back is like a dog which eats and vomits when it is full, then returns to its vomit.

The solar eclipse occurred while we were sitting with the Prophet He got up dragging his garment (on the ground) hurriedly till he reached the mosque The people turned (to the mosque) and he offered a two-rak`at prayer whereupon the eclipse was over and he traced us and said, "The sun and the moon are two signs among the signs of Allah, so if you see a thing like this (eclipse) then offer the prayer and invoke Allah till He remove that state."

When Um Sulaim gave birth to a child. she said to me, "O Anas! Watch this boy carefully and do not give him anything to eat or drink until you have taken him to the Prophet tomorrow morning for the Tahnik." So the next morning I took the child to the Prophet who was sitting in a garden and was wearing a Huraithiya Khamisa and was branding the she-camel on which he had come during the Conquest of Mecca.

Allah's Apostle said: (I saw in a dream that) I entered Paradise, and behold, there was a palace built of gold! I asked, 'For whom is this palace?' They (the angels) replied, 'For a man from the Quraish.' " The Prophet added, "O Ibn Al-Khattab! Nothing stopped me from entering it except your Ghira." `Umar said, "How dare I think of my Ghira being offended by you, O Allah's Apostle?"

We were sitting with Allah's Apostle he said, "While I was sleeping, I saw myself in Paradise, and behold, a woman was performing ablution by the side of a palace. I asked, 'For whom is this palace?' They replied, 'For `Umar' Then I remembered the Ghira of `Umar and returned immediately." `Umar wept (on hearing that) and said, " Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Allah's Apostle! How dare I think of my Ghira being offended by you.'

Allah's Apostle said, "The example of a believer is that of a fresh green plant the leaves of which move in whatever direction the wind forces them to move and when the wind becomes still, it stand straight. Such is the similitude of the believer: He is disturbed by calamities (but is like the fresh plant he regains his normal state soon). And the example of a disbeliever is that of a pine tree (which remains) hard and straight till Allah cuts it down when He will." (See Hadith No. 546 and 547, Vol. 7).

A woman was bereaved of her husband and her relatives worried about her eyes (which were diseased). They came to Allah's Apostle, and asked him to allow them to treat her eyes with kohl, but he said, "She should not apply kohl to her eyes. (In the Pre-Islamic period of Ignorance) a widowed woman among you would stay in the worst of her clothes (or the worst part of her house) and when a year had elapsed, if a dog passed by her, she would throw a globe of dung, Nay, (she cannot use kohl) till four months and ten days have elapsed."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nuaym ibn Abdullah al-Madani al-Mujmir that he heard Abu Hurayra say, "If someone does wudu and does it correctly and then goes off intending to do the prayer, then he is in prayer as long as he intends to do the prayer. A good action is written for every alternate step he makes and a wrong action is erased for the second. When you hear the iqama do not lengthen your stride, and the one who has the greatest reward is the one whose house is farthest away." They said, "Why, Abu Hurayra?" He replied, "Because of the greater number of steps."

The Prophet said, "At every womb Allah appoints an angel who says, 'O Lord! A drop of semen, O Lord! A clot. O Lord! A little lump of flesh." Then if Allah wishes (to complete) its creation, the angel asks, (O Lord!) Will it be a male or female, a wretched or a blessed, and how much will his provision be? And what will his age be?' So all that is written while the child is still in the mother's womb."

the mother of the believers: Allah's Apostle during his illness prayed at his house while sitting whereas some people prayed behind him standing. The Prophet beckoned them to sit down. On completion of the prayer, he said, 'The Imam is to be followed: bow when he bows, raise up your heads (stand erect) when he raises his head and when he says, 'Sami`a l-lahu liman hamidah' (Allah heard those who sent praises to Him) say then 'Rabbana wa laka l-hamd' (O our Lord! All the praises are for You), and if he prays sitting then pray sitting."

The Prophet said, "Night prayer is offered as two rak`at followed by two rak`at and so on, and if you want to finish it, pray only one rak`a which will be witr for all the previous rak`at." Al-Qasim said, "Since we attained the age of puberty we have seen some people offering a three-rak`at prayer as witr and all that is permissible. I hope there will be no harm in it."

We were with Allah's Apostle when the sun eclipsed. Allah's Apostle stood up dragging his cloak till he entered the Mosque. He led us in a two-rak`at prayer till the sun (eclipse) had cleared. Then the Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "The sun and the moon do not eclipse because of someone's death. So whenever you see these eclipses pray and invoke (Allah) till the eclipse is over."

Usama was asked in my presence, "How was the speed of (the camel of) Allah's Apostle while departing from `Arafat during the Hajjatul Wada`?" Usama replied, "The Prophet proceeded on with a modest pace, and when there was enough space he would (make his camel) go very fast."