When the Messenger of Allah (saws) appeared as a prophet, Hamdan said to me: Will you go to this man and negotiate for us (with him)? If you accept something, we shall accept it, and if you disapprove of something, we shall disapprove of it.

I said: Yes. So I proceeded until I came to the Messenger of Allah (saws). I liked his motive and my people embraced Islam. The Messenger of Allah (saws) wrote the document for Umayr Dhu Marran. He also sent Malik ibn Murarah ar-Rahawi to all the (people of) Yemen. So Akk Dhu Khaywan embraced Islam.

Akk was told: Go to the Messenger of Allah (saws), and obtain his protection for your town and property. He therefore came (to him) and the Messenger of Allah (saws) wrote a document for him:

"In the name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful. From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Akk Dhu Khaywan. If he is true his land, property and slave, he has the security and the protection of Allah, and Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah. Written by Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-'As."

Aisha said, "Barirah came to me and said, 'My people (masters) have written the contract for my emancipation for nine Awaq ) of gold) to be paid in yearly installments, one Uqiyya per year; so help me." Aisha said (to her), "If your masters agree, I will pay them the whole sum provided the Wala will be for me." Barirah went to her masters and told them about it, but they refused the offer and she returned from them while Allah's Apostles was sitting. She said, "I presented the offer to them, but they refused unless the Wala' would be for them." When the Prophet heard that and `Aisha told him about It, he said to her, "Buy Barirah and let them stipulate that her Wala' will be for them, as the Wala' is for the manumitted." `Aisha did so. After that Allah's Apostle got up amidst the people, Glorified and Praised Allah and said, "What is wrong with some people who stipulate things which are not in Allah's Laws? Any condition which is not in Allah's Laws is invalid even if there were a hundred such conditions. Allah's Rules are the most valid and Allah's Conditions are the most solid. The Wala is for the manumitted."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'r-Rijal, Muhammad ibn Abdar-Rahman ibn Haritha that his mother, Amra bint Abd ar-Rahman used to sell her fruit and keep some of it aside.

Malik said, "The generally agreed upon way of doing things among us is that when a man sells the fruit of his orchard, he can keep aside up to a third of the fruit, but that is not to be exceeded. There is no harm in what is less than a third."

Malik added that he thought there was no harm for a man to sell the fruit of his orchard and keep aside only the fruit of a certain palm-tree or palm-trees which he had chosen and whose number he had specified, because the owner was only keeping aside certain fruit of his own orchard and everything else he sold.

The Holy Prophet (saws) gave a decision between two men, and the one against whom the decision was given turned away and said: For me Allah sufficeth, and He is the best dispenser of affairs. The Holy Prophet (saws) said: Allah, Most High, blames for falling short, but apply intelligence, and when the matter gets the better of you, say; For me Allah sufficeth, and He is the best disposer of affairs.

The verse "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Apostle, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite side or exile from the land...most merciful" was revealed about polytheists. If any of them repents before they are arrested, it does not prevent from inflicting on him the prescribed punishment which he deserves.

I went with a deputation of Banu Amir to the apostle of Allah (saws), and we said: You are our lord (sayyid). To this he replied: The lord is Allah, the Blessed and Exalted. Then we said: And the one of us most endowed with excellence and superiority. To this he replied: Say what you have to say, or part of what you have to say, and do not let the devil make you his agents.

The Prophet (saws) said: None of you must say: "My slave" (abdi) and "My slave-woman" (amati), and a slave must not say: "My lord" (rabbi or rabbati). The master (of a slave) should say: "My young man" (fataya) and "My young woman" (fatati), and a slave should say "My master" (sayyidi) and "My mistress" (sayyidati), for you are all (Allah's slave and the Lord is Allah, Most High.

The Prophet (saws) said: Allah, Most High, has removed from you the pride of the pre-Islamic period and its boasting in ancestors. One is only a pious believer or a miserable sinner. You are sons of Adam, and Adam came from dust. Let the people cease to boast about their ancestors. They are merely fuel in Jahannam; or they will certainly be of less account with Allah than the beetle which rolls dung with its nose.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Beware of suspicion. Suspicion is the most untrue speech. Do not spy and do not eavesdrop. Do not compete with each other and do not envy each other and do not hate each other and do not shun each other. Be slaves of Allah, brothers."

The Prophet fasted Al-Wisal on the last days of the month. Some people did the same, and when the news reached the Prophet he said, "If the month had been prolonged for me, then I would have fasted Wisal for such a long time that the most exaggerating ones among you would have given up their exaggeration. I am not like you; my Lord always makes me eat and drink."

Abu Bakr As-Siddiq said to the Prophet "O Allah's Apostle! Teach me an invocation with which I may invoke Allah in my prayers." The Prophet said, "Say: O Allah! I have wronged my soul very much (oppressed myself), and none forgives the sins but You; so please bestow Your Forgiveness upon me. No doubt, You are the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zihad ibn Abi Ziyad the mawla of Abdullah ibn Ayyash ibn Abi Rabia from Talha ibn Ubaydullah ibn Kariyz that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The most excellent dua is the dua on the Day of Arafa, and the best of what I and the prophets before me have said, is 'There is no god but Allah, alone, without partner.'"

The Messenger of Allah (saws) taught us how to pray. He then uttered the takbir (Allah is most great) and raised his hands; when he bowed, he joined his hands and placed them between his knees. When this (report) reached Sa'd, he said: My brother said truly. We used to do this; then we were later on commanded to do this, that is, to place the hands on the knees.

The Prophet said, "The first batch (of people) who will enter Paradise will be (glittering) like the full moon, and the batch next to them will be (glittering) like the most brilliant star in the sky. Their hearts will be as if the heart of a single man, for they will have neither enmity nor jealousy amongst themselves; everyone will have two wives from the houris, (who will be so beautiful, pure and transparent that) the marrow of the bones of their legs will be seen through the bones and the flesh."

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been transmitted by Shu'aib b. Abi Hamzah from Abi al-Zinad through different chain of narrators. This version has the words "akhna' ismin" (most obscene name) instead of "akhna ismin" (the vilest name).

Allah's Apostle mentioned the greatest sins or he was asked about the greatest sins. He said, "To join partners in worship with Allah; to kill a soul which Allah has forbidden to kill; and to be undutiful or unkind to one's parents." The Prophet added, "Shall I inform you of the biggest of the great sins? That is the forged statement or the false witness." Shu`ba (the sub-narrator) states that most probably the Prophet said, "the false witness."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ata al-Khurasani that he heard Said ibn al Musayyab say, "A traveller who has decided to remain somewhere for four nights does the prayer in full."

Malik said, "That is what I prefer most out of what I have heard."

Malik when asked about the prayer of a prisoner, said, "It is the same as the prayer of a person who remains in one place, except if he is travelling."

Yahya related to me from Ziyad from Malik that he saw some of the people of knowledge who, when they did itikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan, would not go back to their families until they had attended the Id al-Fitr with everybody.

Ziyad said that Malik said, "I heard this from the people of excellence who have passed away, and it is what I like most out of what I have heard about the matter."

The Prophet never fasted in any month more than in the month of Sha'ban. He used to say, "Do those deeds which you can do easily, as Allah will not get tired (of giving rewards) till you get bored and tired (of performing religious deeds)." The most beloved prayer to the Prophet was the one that was done regularly (throughout the life) even if it were little. And whenever the Prophet offered a prayer he used to offer it regularly .

The Prophet (saws) used to say on the day of the breaking of the fast seven takbirs in the first rak'ah and then recite the Qur'an, and utter the takbir (Allah is most great). Then he would stand, and utter the takbir four times. Thereafter he would recite the Qur'an and bow.

Abu Dawud said: This has been narrated by Waki' and Ibn al-Mubarak. Their version goes: "Seven (in the first rak'ah) and five (in the second)."

"The Prophet (saws) was met by some affair that made him happy, so he prostrated to Allah."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Gharib, we do not know of it except from this route, as a narration of Bakkar bin 'Abdul-'Aziz.

This is acted upon according to most of the people of knowledge, they held the view that one could perform the prostration of gratitude. And Bakkar bin 'Adbul-'Aziz bin Abi Bakrah is Muqarib (average) in Hadith.

I said to Tawus, "I wish you would give up Mukhabara (Sharecropping), for the people say that the Prophet forbade it." On that Tawus replied, "O `Amr! I give the land to sharecroppers and help them. No doubt; the most learned man, namely Ibn `Abbas told me that the Prophet had not forbidden it but said, 'It is more beneficial for one to give his land free to one's brother than to charge him a fixed rental."

Allah's Apostle said, "You see that the people are of different natures. Those who were the best in the pre-lslamic period, are also the best in Islam if they comprehend religious knowledge. You see that the best amongst the people in this respect (i.e. ambition of ruling) are those who hate it most. And you see that the worst among people is the double faced (person) who appears to these with one face and to the others with another face (i.e a hypocrite).

The Prophet (saws) said: There are two qualities or characteristics which will not be returned by any Muslim without his entering Paradise. While they are easy, those who act upon them are few. One should say: "Glory be to Allah" ten times after every prayer, "Praise be to Allah" ten times and "Allah is Most Great" ten times. That is a hundred and fifty on the tongue, but one thousand and five hundred on the scale. When he goes to bed, he should say: "Allah is Most Great" thirty-four times, "Praise be to Allah" thirty-three times, and Glory be to Allah thirty-three times, for that is a hundred on the tongue and a thousand on the scale. (He said:) I saw the Messenger of Allah (saws) counting them on his hand.

The people asked: Messenger of Allah! How is it that while they are easy, those who act upon them are few?

He replied: The Devil comes to one of you when he goes to bed and he makes him sleep, before he utters them, and he comes to him while he is engaged in prayer and calls a need to his mind before he utters them.

Allah's Prophet said, "When Allah decrees some order in the heaven, the angels flutter their wings indicating complete surrender to His saying which sounds like chains being dragged on rock. And when the state of fear disappears, they ask each other, "What has your Lord ordered? They say that He has said that which is true and just, and He is the Most High, the Most Great." (34.23). Then the stealthy listeners (devils) hear this order, and these stealthy listeners are like this, one over the other." (Sufyan, a sub-narrator demonstrated that by holding his hand upright and separating the fingers.) A stealthy listener hears a word which he will convey to that which is below him and the second will convey it to that which is below him till the last of them will convey it to the wizard or foreteller. Sometimes a flame (fire) may strike the devil before he can convey it, and sometimes he may convey it before the flame (fire) strikes him, whereupon the wizard adds to that word a hundred lies. The people will then say, 'Didn't he (i.e. magician) tell such-and-such a thing on such-and-such date?' So that magician is said to have told the truth because of the Statement which has been heard from the heavens."

A time is certainly coming to mankind when people will bite each other and a rich man will hold fast, what he has in his possession (i.e. his property), though he was not commanded for that. Allah, Most High, said: "And do not forget liberality between yourselves." The men who are forced will contract sale while the Prophet (saws) forbade forced contract, one which involves some uncertainty, and the sale of fruit before it is ripe.

The Prophet (saws) said: When you hear....(Musa's version has): When a man says people have perished, he is the one who has suffered that fate most.

Abu Dawud said: Malik said: If he says that out of sadness for the decadence of religion which he sees among the people, I do not think there is any harm in that. If he says that out of self-conceit and servility of the people, it is an abominable act which has been prohibited.