I stayed overnight in the house of my aunt Maimuna. Allah's Apostle talked with his wife for a while and then went to bed. When it was the last third of the night, he got up and looked towards the sky and said: "Verily! In the creation of the Heavens and the Earth and in the alteration of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding." (3.190) Then he stood up, performed ablution, brushed his teeth with a Siwak, and then prayed eleven rak`at. Then Bilal pronounced the Adhan (i.e. call for the Fajr prayer). The Prophet then offered two rak`at (Sunna) prayer and went out (to the Mosque) and offered the (compulsory congregational) Fajr prayer.

`Abdullah bin `Umar said: "A man got up in the mosque and said: O Allah's Apostle 'At which place you order us that we should assume the Ihram?' Allah's Apostle replied, 'The residents of Medina should assure the Ihram from Dhil-Hulaifa, the people of Syria from Al-Juhfa and the people of Najd from Qarn." Ibn `Umar further said, "The people consider that Allah's Apostle had also said, 'The residents of Yemen should assume Ihram from Yalamlam.' " Ibn `Umar used to say, "I do not: remember whether Allah's Apostle had said the last statement or not?"

Allah's Apostle stopped (for a while near the Jimar at Mina) during his last Hajj and the people started asking him questions. A man said, "Ignorantly I got my head shaved before slaughtering." The Prophet replied, "Slaughter (now) and there is no harm in it." Another man said, "Unknowingly I slaughtered the Hadi before doing the Rami." The Prophet said, "Do Rami now and there is no harm in it." So, on that day, when the Prophet was asked about anything (about the ceremonies of Hajj) done before or after (its stated time) his reply was, "Do it (now) and there is no harm."

Once the Prophet said (to me), "If the money of Bahrain comes, I will give you a certain amount of it." The Prophet had breathed his last before the money of Bahrain arrived. When the money of Bahrain reached, Abu Bakr announced, "Whoever was promised by the Prophet should come to us." I went to Abu Bakr and said, "The Prophet promised me so and so." Abu Bakr gave me a handful of coins and when I counted them, they were five-hundred in number. Abu Bakr then said, "Take twice the amount you have taken (besides).

Allah's Apostle in his fatal illness came out, wrapped with a sheet, and his head was wrapped with an oiled bandage. He sat on the pulpit, and praising and glorifying Allah, he said, "Now then, people will increase but the Ansar will decrease in number, so much so that they, compared with the people, will be just like the salt in the meals. So, if any of you should take over the authority by which he can either benefit some people or harm some others, he should accept the goodness of their good people (i.e. Ansar) and excuse the faults of their wrong-doers." That was the last gathering which the Prophet attended.

During the last Hajj led by `Umar, `Abdur-Rahman bin `Auf returned to his family at Mina and met me there. `AbdurRahman said (to `Umar), "O chief of the believers! The season of Hajj is the season when there comes the scum of the people (besides the good amongst them), so I recommend that you should wait till you go back to Medina, for it is the place of Migration and Sunna (i.e. the Prophet's tradition), and there you will be able to refer the matter to the religious scholars and the nobles and the people of wise opinions." `Umar said, "I will speak of it in Medina on my very first sermon I will deliver there."

The Prophet used to invoke Allah at night, saying, "O Allah: All the Praises are for You: You are the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth. All the Praises are for You; You are the Maintainer of the Heaven and the Earth and whatever is in them. All the Praises are for You; You are the Light of the Heavens and the Earth. Your Word is the Truth, and Your Promise is the Truth, and the Meeting with You is the Truth, and Paradise is the Truth, and the (Hell) Fire is the Truth, and the Hour is the Truth. O Allah! I surrender myself to You, and I believe in You and I depend upon You, and I repent to You and with You (Your evidences) I stand against my opponents, and to you I leave the judgment (for those who refuse my message). O Allah! Forgive me my sins that I did in the past or will do in the future, and also the sins I did in secret or in public. You are my only God (Whom I worship) and there is no other God for me (i.e. I worship none but You)."

Narrated Sufyan:

(regarding the above narration) that the Prophet added, "You are the Truth, and Your Word is the Truth."

A bedouin with unkempt hair came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Inform me what Allah has made compulsory for me as regards the prayers." He replied: "You have to offer perfectly the five compulsory prayers in a day and night (24 hours), unless you want to pray Nawafil." The bedouin further asked, "Inform me what Allah has made compulsory for me as regards fasting." He replied, "You have to fast during the whole month of Ramadan, unless you want to fast more as Nawafil." The bedouin further asked, "Tell me how much Zakat Allah has enjoined on me." Thus, Allah's Apostle informed him about all the rules (i.e. fundamentals) of Islam. The bedouin then said, "By Him Who has honored you, I will neither perform any Nawafil nor will I decrease what Allah has enjoined on me. Allah's Apostle said, "If he is saying the truth, he will succeed (or he will be granted Paradise).

Abu Dawud said: Malik was asked about the saying of the Prophet: "Provisions for the road what will serve for a day a night." He said: He should honor him, present him some gift, and protect him for a day and night, and hospitality for three days.

On the Day of Nahr (10th of Dhul-Hijja, in the year prior to the last Hajj of the Prophet when Abu Bakr was the leader of the pilgrims in that Hajj) Abu Bakr sent me along with other announcers to Mina to make a public announcement: "No pagan is allowed to perform Hajj after this year and no naked person is allowed to perform the Tawaf around the Ka`ba. Then Allah's Apostle sent `Ali to read out the Surat Bara'a (at-Tauba) to the people; so he made the announcement along with us on the day of Nahr in Mina: "No pagan is allowed to perform Hajj after this year and no naked person is allowed to perform the Tawaf around the Ka`ba."

Once the Prophet ascended the pulpit and it was the last gathering in which he took part. He was covering his shoulder with a big cloak and binding his head with an oily bandage. He glorified and praised Allah and said, "O people! Come to me." So the people came and gathered around him and he then said, "Amma ba'du." "From now onward the Ansar will decrease and other people will increase. So anybody who becomes a ruler of the followers of Muhammad and has the power to harm or benefit people then he should accept the good from the benevolent amongst them (Ansar) and overlook the faults of their wrong-doers."

Whenever the Prophet (p.b.u.h) lifted his head from the bowing in the last rak`a he used to say: "O Allah! Save `Aiyash bin Abi Rabi`a. O Allah! Save Salama bin Hisham. O Allah! Save Walid bin Walid. O Allah! Save the weak faithful believers. O Allah! Be hard on the tribes of Mudar and send (famine) years on them like the famine years of (Prophet) Joseph ." The Prophet further said, "Allah forgive the tribes of Ghifar and save the tribes of Aslam." Abu Az-Zinad (a sub-narrator) said, "The Qunut used to be recited by the Prophet in the Fajr prayer."

Allah's Apostle offered the funeral prayers of the martyrs of Uhud eight years after (their death), as if bidding farewell to the living and the dead, then he ascended the pulpit and said, "I am your predecessor before you, and I am a witness on you, and your promised place to meet me will be Al- Haud (i.e. the Tank) (on the Day of Resurrection), and I am (now) looking at it from this place of mine. I am not afraid that you will worship others besides Allah, but I am afraid that worldly life will tempt you and cause you to compete with each other for it." That was the last look which I cast on Allah's Apostle.

When the Prophet was healthy, he used to say, "No soul of a prophet is captured till he is shown his place in Paradise and then he is given the option." When death approached him while his head was on my thigh, he became unconscious and then recovered his consciousness. He then looked at the ceiling of the house and said, "O Allah! (with) the highest companions." I said (to myself), "Hence, he is not going to choose us." Then I realized that what he had said was the application of the narration which he used to mention to us when he was healthy. The last word he spoke was, "O Allah! (with) the highest companion."

Abu Hudhaifa bin `Utba bin Rabi`a bin `Abdi Shams who had witnessed the battle of Badr along with the Prophet adopted Salim as his son, to whom he married his niece, Hind bint Al-Walid bin `Utba bin Rabi`a; and Salim was the freed slave of an Ansar woman, just as the Prophet had adopted Zaid as his son. It was the custom in the Pre-lslamic Period that if somebody adopted a boy, the people would call him the son of the adoptive father and he would be the latter's heir. But when Allah revealed the Divine Verses: 'Call them by (the names of) their fathers . . . your freed-slaves,' (33.5) the adopted persons were called by their fathers' names. The one whose father was not known, would be regarded as a Maula and your brother in religion. Later on Sahla bint Suhail bin `Amr Al-Quraishi Al-`Amiri-- and she was the wife of Abu- Hudhaifa bin `Utba--came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! We used to consider Salim as our (adopted) son, and now Allah has revealed what you know (regarding adopted sons)." The sub-narrator then mentioned the rest of the narration.

I said to `Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, and I was at that time a young boy, "How do you interpret the Statement of Allah: "Verily, Safa and Marwa (i.e. two mountains at Mecca) are among the Symbols of Allah." So it is not harmful of those who perform the Hajj to the House of Allah) or perform the Umra, to ambulate (Tawaf) between them. In my opinion it is not sinful for one not to ambulate (Tawaf) between them." `Aisha said, "Your interpretation is wrong for as you say, the Verse should have been: "So it is not harmful of those who perform the Hajj or Umra to the House, not to ambulate (Tawaf) between them.' This Verse was revealed in connection with the Ansar who (during the Pre-Islamic Period) used to visit Manat (i.e. an idol) after assuming their Ihram, and it was situated near Qudaid (i.e. a place at Mecca), and they used to regard it sinful to ambulate between Safa and Marwa after embracing Islam. When Islam came, they asked Allah's Apostle about it, whereupon Allah revealed:-- "Verily, Safa and Marwa (i.e. two mountains at Mecca) are among the Symbols of Allah. So it is not harmful of those who perform the Hajj of the House (of Allah) or perform the Umra, to ambulate (Tawaf) between them." (2.158)

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that the people of knowledge did not disapprove of people fasting using tooth-sticks at any hour of the day in Ramadan, whether at the beginning or the end, nor had he heard any of the people of knowledge disapproving of or forbidding the practice.

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, about fasting for six days after breaking the fast at the end of Ramadan, that he had never seen any of the people of knowledge and fiqh fasting them. He said, "I have not heard that any of our predecessors used to do that, and the people of knowledge disapprove of it and they are afraid that it might become a bida and that common and ignorant people might join to Ramadan what does not belong to it, if they were to think that the people of knowledge had given permission for that to be done and were seen doing it.

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "I have never heard any of the people of knowledge and fiqh and those whom people take as an example forbidding fasting on the day of jumua. Fasting on it is good, and I have seen one of the people of knowledge fasting it, and it seemed to me that he was keen to do so."

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."

The Prophet (saws) said: Seek it (laylat al-Qadr) in the last ten days of Ramadan. Seek it on the ninth, seventh and fifth night. I (AbuNadrah) said: You know counting better than us, AbuSa'id. He said: Yes. I asked: What do you mean by the ninth, seventh and fifth night? He said: When the twenty-first night passes, the night which follows it is the night; when the twenty-third night passes, the night which follows it is the seventh; when the twenty-fifth passes, the night which follows it is the fifth.

Abu Dawud said: I do not know whether anything remained hidden from me or not.

AbuZumayl said: I asked Ibn Abbas, saying: What is that I find in my breast? He asked: What is it? I replied: I swear by Allah, I cannot speak about it. He asked me: Is it something doubtful? and he laughed. He then said: No one could escape that, until Allah, the exalted, revealed: "If thou went in doubt as to what we have revealed unto thee, and ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee." He said: If you find something in your heart, say: He is the first and the Last, the Evident and the Immanent, and He has full knowledge of all things.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Suhayl ibn Abi Salih from his father from Abu Hurayra that a man of the Aslam tribe said, "I did not sleep last night." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, "For what reason?" He said, "A scorpion bit me." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Had you said in the evening, 'I seek refuge with the complete words of Allah from the evil of what He has created, 'it would not have happened."

Audhu bi kalimati'llahi't-tammati min sharri ma khalaq .

During the ailment of the Prophet some people came to visits him. He led them in prayer while sitting. but they prayed standing, so he waved to them to sit down. When he had finished the prayer, he said, "An Imam is to be followed, so when he bows, you should bow. and when he raises his head, you should raise yours, and if he prays sitting. you should pray sitting." Abu `Abdullah said Al-Humaidi said, (The order of ) "This narration has been abrogated by the last action of the Prophet as he led the prayer sitting, while the people prayed standing behind him.'

Once I stayed overnight at the house of (my aunt ) Maimuna while the Prophet was with her, to see how was the night prayer of Allah s Apostle Allah's Apostle talked to his wife for a while and then slept. When it was the last third of the night (or part of it), the Prophet got up and looked towards the sky and recited the Verse:-- 'Verily! In the creation of the Heavens and the Earth....there are indeed signs for the men of understanding.' (3.190) Then He got up and performed the ablution, brushed his teeth and offered eleven rak`at. Then Bilal pronounced the Adhan whereupon the Prophet offered a two-rak`at (Sunna) prayer and went out to lead the people in Fajr (morning compulsory congregational prayer.

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."

Um 'Atiyya said, "One of the daughters of the Prophet died and he came out and said, 'Wash her three or five times or more, if you think it necessary, with water and Sidr, and last of all put camphor (or some camphor) and when you finish, inform me.' " Um Atiyya added, "When we finished we informed him and he gave us his waist-sheet and said, 'Shroud her in it.' " And Um 'Atiyya (in another narration) added, "The Prophet said, 'Wash her three, five or seven times or more, if you think it necessary.' " Hafsa said that Um 'Atiyya had also said, "We entwined her hair into three braids."

Um 'Atiyya (an Ansari woman who gave the pledge of allegiance to the Prophet ) came to Basra to visit her son, but she could not find him. She narrated to us, "The Prophet came to us while we were giving bath to his (dead) daughter, he said: 'Wash her three times, five times or more, if you think it necessary, with water and Sidr, and last of all put camphor, and when you finish, notify me.' " Um 'Atiyya added, "After finishing, we informed him and he gave us his waist sheet and told us to shroud her in it and did not say more than that."

Aisha said, "the Prophet used to practice I`tikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan and I used to pitch a tent for him, and after offering the morning prayer, he used to enter the tent." Hafsa asked the permission of `Aisha to pitch a tent for her and she allowed her and she pitched her tent. When Zainab bint Jahsh saw it, she pitched another tent. In the morning the Prophet noticed the tents. He said, 'What is this?" He was told of the whole situation. Then the Prophet said, "Do you think that they intended to do righteousness by doing this?" He therefore abandoned the I`tikaf in that month and practiced I`tikaf for ten days in the month of Shawwal."

I relate the traditions of Allah's Apostle to you for I would rather fall from the sky than attribute something to him falsely. But when I tell you a thing which is between you and me, then no doubt, war is guile. I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "In the last days of this world there will appear some young foolish people who will use (in their claim) the best speech of all people (i.e. the Qur'an) and they will abandon Islam as an arrow going through the game. Their belief will not go beyond their throats (i.e. they will have practically no belief), so wherever you meet them, kill them, for he who kills them shall get a reward on the Day of Resurrection."

While some people were at Quba (offering) morning prayer, a man came to them and said, "Last night Qur'anic Verses have been revealed whereby the Prophet has been ordered to face the Ka`ba (at Mecca), so you too should face it." So they, keeping their postures, turned towards the Ka`ba. Formerly the people were facing Sham (Jerusalem) (Allah said):-- "And from whence-so-ever you start forth (for prayers), turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque of Mecca (Al-Masjid-ul-Haram), and whence-so-ever you are, turn your face towards it (when you pray)" (2.150)

Abu Bakr came with a guest or some guests, but he stayed late at night with the Prophet and when he came, my mother said (to him), "Have you been detained from your guest or guests tonight?" He said, "Haven't you served the supper to them?" She replied, "We presented the meal to him (or to them), but he (or they) refused to eat." Abu Bakr became angry, rebuked me and invoked Allah to cause (my) ears to be cut and swore not to eat of it!" I hid myself, and he called me, "O ignorant (boy)!" Abu Bakr's wife swore that she would not eat of it and so the guests or the guest swore that they would not eat of it till he ate of it. Abu Bakr said, "All that happened was from Satan." So he asked for the meals and ate of it, and so did they. Whenever they took a handful of the meal, the meal grew (increased) from underneath more than that mouthful. He said (to his wife), "O, sister of Bani Firas! What is this?" She said, "O, pleasure of my eyes! The meal is now more than it had been before we started eating'' So they ate of it and sent the rest of that meal to the Prophet. It is said that the Prophet also ate of it.

When, a boy from the Ansar and I were shooting (arrows) towards two of our targets, the sun was sighted by the people at the height of two or three lances above the horizon. It became black like the black herb called tannumah.

One of us said to his companion: Let us go to the mosque; by Allah, this incident of the sun will surely bring something new in the community of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

As we reached it, we suddenly saw that he (the Prophet) had already come out (of his house). He stepped forward for a long time as much as he could do so in the prayer. But we did not hear his voice. He then performed a bowing and prolonged it as much as he could do in the prayer. But we did not hear his voice. He then prostrated himself with us and prolonged it which he never did in the prayer before. But we did not hear his voice. He then did similarly in the second rak'ah. The sun became bright when he sat after the second rak'ah. Then he uttered the salutation. He then stood up, praised Allah, and extolled Him, and testified that there was no god but Allah and testified that he was His servant and apostle. Ahmad ibn Yunus then narrated the address of the Prophet (saws).

Al-Hasan reported: Umar ibn al-Khattab gathered the people (in tarawih prayer) behind Ubayy ibn Ka'b (who led them). He used to lead them for twenty days (during Ramadan, and would not recite the supplication except in the second half of it (i.e. Ramadan). When the last ten days remained, he kept away from them, and prayed in his house. They used to say: Ubayy ran away.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition shows that whatever has been reported about the recitation of the supplication is not tenable. Moreover, these two traditions from Ubayy b. Ka'b indicate that another tradition which tells that the Prophet (saws) recited the supplication in the witr is weak.

Regarding the word ‘sufficient’ in the hadith, Imam al-Nawawi (RA) says: It was said (by scholars) that it means it will suffice him from the night prayer, and others said it means as a protection against the devils, and yet others said it means protection against harmful animals, and it is likely encompassing of all these things (and more).”

Ibn Ḥajar states: “[It] was explicitly reported by ʿĀsim from ʿAlqamah from Ibn Masʿūd, “Whoever recites (the two verses at) the end of Sūrat al-Baqarah, it will be sufficient for him instead of standing in prayer for one night.”

Zainab bint Abu Salama told me these three narrations: Zainab said: I went to Um Habiba, the wife of the Prophet when her father, Abu- Sufyan bin Herb had died. Um ,Habiba asked for a perfume which contained yellow scent (Khaluq) or some other scent, and she first perfumed one of the girls with it and then rubbed her cheeks with it and said, "By Allah, I am not in need of perfume, but I have heard Allah's Apostle saying, 'It is not lawful for a lady who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for a dead person for more than three days unless he is her husband for whom she should mourn for four months and ten days.'"

Allah's Apostle stopped (for a while near the Jimar) at Mina during his last Hajj for the people and they were asking him questions. A man came and said, "I forgot and got my head shaved before slaughtering the Hadi (sacrificing animal)." The Prophet said, "There is no harm, go and do the slaughtering now." Then another person came and said, "I forgot and slaughtered (the camel) before Rami (throwing of the pebbles) at the Jamra." The Prophet said, "Do the Rami now and there is no harm." The narrator added: So on that day, when the Prophet was asked about anything (as regards the ceremonies of Hajj) performed before or after its due time, his reply was: "Do it (now) and there is no harm."

The Prophet prayed one of the `Isha' prayer in his last days and after finishing it with Taslim, he stood up and said, "Do you realize (the importance of) this night? Nobody present on the surface of the earth tonight would be living after the completion of one hundred years from this night." The people made a mistake in grasping the meaning of this statement of Allah's Apostle and they indulged in those things which are said about these narrators (i.e. some said that the Day of Resurrection will be established after 100 years etc.) But the Prophet said, "Nobody present on the surface of earth tonight would be living after the completion of 100 years from this night"; he meant "When that century (people of that century) would pass away."

We went with Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) to the blacksmith Abu Saif, and he was the husband of the wet-nurse of Ibrahim (the son of the Prophet). Allah's Apostle took Ibrahim and kissed him and smelled him and later we entered Abu Saif's house and at that time Ibrahim was in his last breaths, and the eyes of Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) started shedding tears. `Abdur Rahman bin `Auf said, "O Allah's Apostle, even you are weeping!" He said, "O Ibn `Auf, this is mercy." Then he wept more and said, "The eyes are shedding tears and the heart is grieved, and we will not say except what pleases our Lord, O Ibrahim ! Indeed we are grieved by your separation."

When Allah 's Apostle was in good health, he used to say, "Never does a prophet die unless he is shown his place in Paradise ( before his death ), and then he is made alive or given option." When the Prophet became ill and his last moments came while his head was on my thigh, he became unconscious, and when he came to his senses, he looked towards the roof of the house and then said, "O Allah! (Please let me be) with the highest companion." Thereupon I said, "Hence he is not going to stay with us? " Then I came to know that his state was the confirmation of the narration he used to mention to us while he was in good health.

A man from Najd with unkempt hair came to Allah's Apostle and we heard his loud voice but could not understand what he was saying, till he came near and then we came to know that he was asking about Islam. Allah's Apostle said, "You have to offer prayers perfectly five times in a day and night (24 hours)." The man asked, "Is there any more (praying)?" Allah's Apostle replied, "No, but if you want to offer the Nawafil prayers (you can)." Allah's Apostle further said to him: "You have to observe fasts during the month of Ramadan." The man asked, "Is there any more fasting?" Allah's Apostle replied, "No, but if you want to observe the Nawafil fasts (you can.)" Then Allah's Apostle further said to him, "You have to pay the Zakat (obligatory charity)." The man asked, "Is there any thing other than the Zakat for me to pay?" Allah's Apostle replied, "No, unless you want to give alms of your own." And then that man retreated saying, "By Allah! I will neither do less nor more than this." Allah's Apostle said, "If what he said is true, then he will be successful (i.e. he will be granted Paradise)."

`Abdul Malik wrote to Al-Hajjaj that he should not differ from Ibn `Umar during Hajj. On the Day of `Arafat, when the sun declined at midday, Ibn `Umar came along with me and shouted near Al- Hajjaj's cotton (cloth) tent. Al-Hajjaj came Out, wrapping himself with a waist-sheet dyed with safflower, and said, "O Abu `Abdur-Rahman! What is the matter?" He said, If you want to follow the Sunna (the tradition of the Prophet (p.b.u.h) ) then proceed (to `Arafat)." Al-Hajjaj asked, "At this very hour?" Ibn `Umar said, "Yes." He replied, "Please wait for me till I pour some water over my head (i.e. take a bath) and come out." Then Ibn `Umar dismounted and waited till Al-Hajjaj came out. So, he (Al-Hajjaj) walked in between me and my father (Ibn `Umar). I said to him, "If you want to follow the Sunna then deliver a brief sermon and hurry up for the stay at `Arafat." He started looking at `Abdullah (Ibn `Umar) (inquiringly), and when `Abdullah noticed that, he said that he had told the truth.

I went out with `Abdullah , to Mecca and when we proceeded to am' he offered the two prayers (the Maghrib and the `Isha') together, making the Adhan and Iqama separately for each prayer. He took his supper in between the two prayers. He offered the Fajr prayer as soon as the day dawned. Some people said, "The day had dawned (at the time of the prayer)," and others said, "The day had not dawned." `Abdullah then said, "Allah's Apostle said, 'These two prayers have been shifted from their stated times at this place only (at Al-Muzdalifa); first: The Maghrib and the `Isha'. So the people should not arrive at Al-Muzdalifa till the time of the `Isha' prayer has become due. The second prayer is the morning prayer which is offered at this hour.' " Then `Abdullah stayed there till it became a bit brighter. He then said, "If the chief of the believers hastened onwards to Mina just now, then he had indeed followed the Sunna." I do not know which proceeded the other, his (`Abdullah's) statement or the departure of `Uthman . `Abdullah was reciting Talbiya till he threw pebbles at the Jamrat-Al- `Aqaba on the Day of Nahr (slaughtering) (that is the 10th of Dhul-Hijja).

Abu Hurairah said “When Allah, the Exalted, granted the conquest of Makkah to his Apostle, the Prophet(saws) stood among them(the people) and praised Allaah and extolled Him. He then said, Verily Allaah stopped the Elephant from Makkah, and gave His Apostle and the believers sway upon it and it has been made lawful for me only for one hour on one day then it will remain sacred till the Day of Resurrection. Its trees are not to be cut, its game is not to be molested and the things dropped there are to be picked up only by one who publicly announces it. ‘Abbas or Al ‘Abbas suggested “Apostle of Allaah(saws) except the rush(idhkir) for it is useful for our graves and our houses. The Apostle of Allaah(saws) said “Except the rush.”

Abu Dawud said “Ibn Al Musaffa added on the authority of Al Walid Abu Shah a man from the people of the Yemen stood and said “Give me in writing, Apostle of Allaah(saws)”. The Apostle of Allaah(saws) said “Give in writing to Abu Shah. I said to Al Awza’i “What does the statement mean? Give Abu Shah in writing?” He said “This was an address which he heard from the Apostle of Allaah(saws).”