Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that he had heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say the following dua, "O Allah, it is You who makes the dawn break and makes the night a time for rest and appoints the sun and moon to reckon by. Relieve me of debt and enrich me from poverty and let me enjoy my hearing, my sight and my strength in Your way."

Allahumma faliqa'l isbah, wa ja ila'l-layli sakana, wa 'sh-shamsi wa'l-qamari husbana. Iqda anniy addayna, wa'ghnaniy mina'l faqr. Na'mti aniy bi samiy wa basariy, wa quwwatiy fi sabilik.

(the freed slave of Al-Mughira bin Shu`ba) Al-Mughira wrote to Muawiya bin Abu Sufyan that Allah's Apostle used to say at the end of every prayer after the Taslim, "La ilaha illa-l-lahu wahdahu la sharika lahu; lahu-l-mulk wa lahu-l-hamd, wahuwa 'ala kulli shai'n qadir. Allahumma la mani'a Lima a taita, wa la mu'ta Lima mana'ta, wa la yanfa'u dhal-jaddu minkal-jadd.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to make dua saying, "O Allah, I askYou for good actions and for leaving what is disapproved of and for love of the poor. And if You wish to try people, then bring me to You without being tried."

Allahumma inniy asa'luka fala'l-khayrati, wa tarqa'l-munqarati, wa hubba'l-masakin, wa idha aradta fi'n-nasi fitnatan fa'qbithni ilayka ghayra maftun.

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) used to teach us the way of doing Istikhara (Istikhara means to ask Allah to guide one to the right sort of action concerning any job or a deed), in all matters as he taught us the Suras of the Qur'an. He said, "If anyone of you thinks of doing any job he should offer a two rak`at prayer other than the compulsory ones and say (after the prayer): -- 'Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi'ilmika, Wa astaqdiruka bi-qudratika, Wa as'alaka min fadlika Al-`azlm Fa-innaka taqdiru Wala aqdiru, Wa ta'lamu Wala a'lamu, Wa anta 'allamu l-ghuyub. Allahumma, in kunta ta'lam anna hadha-lamra Khairun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa'aqibati `Amri (or 'ajili `Amri wa'ajilihi) Faqdirhu wa yas-sirhu li thumma barik li Fihi, Wa in kunta ta'lamu anna hadha-lamra shar-run li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa'aqibati `Amri (or fi'ajili `Amri wa ajilihi) Fasrifhu anni was-rifni anhu. Waqdir li al-khaira haithu kana Thumma ardini bihi.' (O Allah! I ask guidance from Your knowledge, And Power from Your Might and I ask for Your great blessings. You are capable and I am not. You know and I do not and You know the unseen. O Allah! If You know that this job is good for my religion and my subsistence and in my Hereafter--(or said: If it is better for my present and later needs)--Then You ordain it for me and make it easy for me to get, And then bless me in it, and if You know that this job is harmful to me In my religion and subsistence and in the Hereafter--(or said: If it is worse for my present and later needs)--Then keep it away from me and let me be away from it. And ordain for me whatever is good for me, And make me satisfied with it). The Prophet added that then the person should name (mention) his need.

The bowing, the prostration the sitting in between the two prostrations and the standing after the bowing of the Prophet but not qiyam (standing in the prayer) and qu`ud (sitting in the prayer) used to be approximately equal (in duration).

Allah's Apostle sent a group of the Ansar to Abu Rafi`. `Abdullah bin Atik entered his house at night and killed him while he was sleeping.

Allah's Apostle sent a group of persons to Abu Rafi`. `Abdullah bin Atik entered his house at night, while he was sleeping, and killed him.

When the Prophet went to bed, he would say: "Bismika amutu wa ahya." and when he got up he would say:" Al-hamdu li l-lahil-ladhi ahyana ba'da ma amatana wa ilaihin-nushur."

The People of Kufa complained against Sa`d to `Umar and the latter dismissed him and appointed `Ammar as their chief . They lodged many complaints against Sa`d and even they alleged that he did not pray properly. `Umar sent for him and said, "O Aba 'Is-haq! These people claim that you do not pray properly." Abu 'Is-haq said, "By Allah, I used to pray with them a prayer similar to that of Allah's Apostle and I never reduced anything of it. I used to prolong the first two rak`at of `Isha prayer and shorten the last two rak`at." `Umar said, "O Aba 'Is-haq, this was what I thought about you." And then he sent one or more persons with him to Kufa so as to ask the people about him. So they went there and did not leave any mosque without asking about him. All the people praised him till they came to the mosque of the tribe of Bani `Abs; one of the men called Usama bin Qatada with a surname of Aba Sa`da stood up and said, "As you have put us under an oath; I am bound to tell you that Sa`d never went himself with the army and never distributed (the war booty) equally and never did justice in legal verdicts." (On hearing it) Sa`d said, "I pray to Allah for three things: O Allah! If this slave of yours is a liar and got up for showing off, give him a long life, increase his poverty and put him to trials." (And so it happened). Later on when that person was asked how he was, he used to reply that he was an old man in trial as the result of Sa`d's curse. `Abdul Malik, the sub narrator, said that he had seen him afterwards and his eyebrows were overhanging his eyes owing to old age and he used to tease and assault the small girls in the way.

AbdurRahman ibn al-Akhnas said that when he was in the mosque, a man mentioned Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). So Sa'id ibn Zayd got up and said: I bear witness to the Messenger of Allah (saws) that I heard him say: Ten persons will go to Paradise: The Prophet (saws) will go to Paradise, AbuBakr will go to Paradise, Umar will go to Paradise, Uthman will go to Paradise, Ali will go to Paradise, Talhah will go to Paradise: az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam will go to paradise, Sa'd ibn Malik will go to Paradise, and AbdurRahman ibn Awf will go to Paradise. If I wish, I can mention the tenth. The People asked: Who is he: So he kept silence. The again asked: Who is he: He replied: He is Sa'id ibn Zayd.

Malik related to me that Yahya ibn Said said that he heard al- Qasim ibn Muhammad say, "A woman of the Ansar was married to Umar ibn al-Khattab. She bore Asim ibn Umar to him, and then he separated from her. Umar came to Quba and found his son Asim playing in the courtyard of the mosque. He took him by the arm and placed him before him on his mount. The grandmother of the child saw him and argued with Umar about the child so they went to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. Umar said, 'My son.' The woman said, 'My son.' Abu Bakr said, 'Do not interfere between a child and its mother.' Umar did not repeat his words."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "This is what I would have done in that situation."

A man came to Allah's Apostle while he was in the mosque, and he called him, saying, "O Allah's Apostle! I have committed illegal sexual intercourse.'" The Prophet turned his face to the other side, but that man repeated his statement four times, and after he bore witness against himself four times, the Prophet called him, saying, "Are you mad?" The man said, "No." The Prophet said, "Are you married?" The man said, "Yes." Then the Prophet said, 'Take him away and stone him to death." Jabir bin `Abdullah said: I was among the ones who participated in stoning him and we stoned him at the Musalla. When the stones troubled him, he fled, but we over took him at Al-Harra and stoned him to death.

A man came to the Prophet in the mosque and said, "I am burnt (ruined)!" The Prophet asked him, "With what (what have you done)?" He said, "I have had sexual relation with my wife in the month of Ramadan (while fasting)." The Prophet said to him, "Give in charity." He said, "I have nothing." The man sat down, and in the meantime there came a person driving a donkey carrying food to the Prophet ..... (The sub-narrator, 'Abdur Rahman added: I do not know what kind of food it was). On that the Prophet said, "Where is the burnt person?" The man said, "Here I am." The Prophet said to him, "Take this (food) and give it in charity (to someone)." The man said, "To a poorer person than l? My family has nothing to eat." Then the Prophet said to him, "Then eat it yourselves."

The Prophet took a room made of date palm leaves mats in the mosque. Allah's Apostle prayed in it for a few nights till the people gathered (to pray the night prayer (Tarawih) (behind him.) Then on the 4th night the people did not hear his voice and they thought he had slept, so some of them started humming in order that he might come out. The Prophet then said, "You continued doing what I saw you doing till I was afraid that this (Tarawih prayer) might be enjoined on you, and if it were enjoined on you, you would not continue performing it. Therefore, O people! Perform your prayers at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is what is performed at his home except the compulsory congregational) prayer." (See Hadith No. 229,Vol. 3) (See Hadith No. 134, Vol. 8)

Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az-Zubayr that Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qari said, "I went out with Umar ibn alKhattab in Ramadan to the mosque and the people there were spread out in groups. Some men were praying by themselves, whilst others were praying in small groups. Umar said, 'By Allah! It would be better in my opinion if these people gathered behind one reciter.' So he gathered them behind Ubayy ibn Kab. Then I went out with him another night and the people were praying behind their Qur'an reciter. Umar said, 'How excellent this new way is, but what you miss while you are asleep is better than what you watch in prayer.' He meant the end of the night, and people used to watch the beginning of the night in prayer."

The Prophet delivered a sermon and said, "Allah gave a choice to one of (His) slaves either to choose this world or what is with Him in the Hereafter. He chose the latter." Abu Bakr wept. I said to myself, "Why is this Sheikh weeping, if Allah gave choice to one (of His) slaves either to choose this world or what is with Him in the Here after and he chose the latter?" And that slave was Allah's Apostle himself. Abu Bakr knew more than us. The Prophet said, "O Abu Bakr! Don't weep. The Prophet added: Abu- Bakr has favored me much with his property and company. If I were to take a Khalil from mankind I would certainly have taken Abu Bakr but the Islamic brotherhood and friendship is sufficient. Close all the gates in the mosque except that of Abu Bakr.

While Allah's Apostle was sitting in the mosque (with some people) three men came, two of them came in front of Allah's Apostle and the third one went away, and then one of them found a place in the circle and sat there while the second man sat behind the gathering, and the third one went away. When Allah's Apostle finished his preaching, he said, "Shall I tell you about these three persons? One of them betook himself to Allah and so Allah accepted him and accommodated him; the second felt shy before Allah so Allah did the same for him and sheltered him in His Mercy (and did not punish him), while the third turned his face from Allah, and went away, so Allah turned His face from him likewise.

In the lifetime of the Prophet whosoever saw a dream would narrate it to Allah's Apostle. I had a wish of seeing a dream to narrate it to Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) I was a grown up boy and used to sleep in the Mosque in the lifetime of the Prophet. I saw in the dream that two angels caught hold of me and took me to the Fire which was built all round like a built well and had two poles in it and the people in it were known to me. I started saying, "I seek refuge with Allah from the Fire." Then I met another angel who told me not to be afraid. I narrated the dream to Hafsa who told it to Allah's Apostle. The Prophet said, "Abdullah is a good man. I wish he prayed Tahajjud." After that `Abdullah (i.e. Salim's father) used to sleep but a little at night.

Allah's Apostle used to practice I`tikaf in the middle ten days of Ramadan and once he stayed in I`tikaf till the night of the twenty-first and it was the night in the morning of which he used to come out of his I`tikaf. The Prophet said, "Whoever was in I`tikaf with me should stay in I`tikaf for the last ten days, for I was informed (of the date) of the Night (of Qadr) but I have been caused to forget it. (In the dream) I saw myself prostrating in mud and water in the morning of that night. So, look for it in the last ten nights and in the odd ones of them." It rained that night and the roof of the mosque dribbled as it was made of leaf stalks of date-palms. I saw with my own eyes the mark of mud and water on the forehead of the Prophet (i.e. in the morning of the twenty-first).

I entered the Mosque and saw Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri and sat beside him and asked him about Al-Azl (i.e. coitus interruptus). Abu Sa`id said, "We went out with Allah's Apostle for the Ghazwa of Banu Al-Mustaliq and we received captives from among the Arab captives and we desired women and celibacy became hard on us and we loved to do coitus interruptus. So when we intended to do coitus interrupt us, we said, 'How can we do coitus interruptus before asking Allah's Apostle who is present among us?" We asked (him) about it and he said, 'It is better for you not to do so, for if any soul (till the Day of Resurrection) is predestined to exist, it will exist."

Whenever the Prophet lay on his bed, he used to say: "Allahumma bismika amutu wa ahya," and when he woke up he would say: "Al-hamdu lil-lahilladhi ahyana ba'da ma an atana, wa ilaihi an-nushur."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abu'd-Darda used to rise in the middle of the night and say, "Eyes have slept, and stars have set, and You are the Living and Self Subsistent."

Namat'l uyun wa ghariti'n-nujum wa anta'lhayyu-l-qayyum.

Ibn `Abbas said to us, "Shall I tell you the story of Abu Dhar's conversion to Islam?" We said, "Yes." He said, "Abu Dhar said: I was a man from the tribe of Ghifar. We heard that a man had appeared in Mecca, claiming to be a Prophet. ! said to my brother, 'Go to that man and talk to him and bring me his news.' He set out, met him and returned. I asked him, 'What is the news with you?' He said, 'By Allah, I saw a man enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil.' I said to him, 'You have not satisfied me with this little information.' So, I took a waterskin and a stick and proceeded towards Mecca. Neither did I know him (i.e. the Prophet ), nor did I like to ask anyone about him. I Kept on drinking Zam zam water and staying in the Mosque. Then `Ali passed by me and said, 'It seems you are a stranger?' I said, 'Yes.' He proceeded to his house and I accompanied him. Neither did he ask me anything, nor did I tell him anything. Next morning I went to the Mosque to ask about the Prophet but no-one told me anything about him. `Ali passed by me again and asked, 'Hasn't the man recognized his dwelling place yet' I said, 'No.' He said, 'Come along with me.' He asked me, 'What is your business? What has brought you to this town?' I said to him, 'If you keep my secret, I will tell you.' He said, 'I will do,' I said to him, 'We have heard that a person has appeared here, claiming to be a Prophet. I sent my brother to speak to him and when he returned, he did not bring a satisfactory report; so I thought of meeting him personally.' `Ali said (to Abu Dhar), 'You have reached your goal; I am going to him just now, so follow me, and wherever I enter, enter after me. If I should see someone who may cause you trouble, I will stand near a wall pretending to mend my shoes (as a warning), and you should go away then.' `Ali proceeded and I accompanied him till he entered a place, and I entered with him to the Prophet to whom I said, 'Present (the principles of) Islam to me.' When he did, I embraced Islam 'immediately. He said to me, 'O Abu Dhar! Keep your conversion as a secret and return to your town; and when you hear of our victory, return to us. ' I said, 'By H him Who has sent you with the Truth, I will announce my conversion to Islam publicly amongst them (i.e. the infidels),' Abu Dhar went to the Mosque, where some people from Quraish were present, and said, 'O folk of Quraish ! I testify that None has the right to be worshipped except Allah, and I (also) testify that Muhammad is Allah's Slave and His Apostle.' (Hearing that) the Quraishi men said, 'Get at this Sabi (i.e. Muslim) !' They got up and beat me nearly to death. Al `Abbas saw me and threw himself over me to protect me. He then faced them and said, 'Woe to you! You want to kill a man from the tribe of Ghifar, although your trade and your communications are through the territory of Ghifar?' They therefore left me. The next morning I returned (to the Mosque) and said the same as I have said on the previous day. They again said, 'Get at this Sabi!' I was treated in the same way as on the previous day, and again Al-Abbas found me and threw himself over me to protect me and told them the same as he had said the day before.' So, that was the conversion of Abu Dhar (may Allah be Merciful to him) to Islam."

I heard the Prophet reciting Surat at-Tin waz Zaitun (By the Fig and the Olive) in the `Isha' prayer and I have never heard anybody with a better voice or recitation than his.

I was present with my two maternal uncles at Al-`Aqaba (where the pledge of allegiance was given). (Ibn 'Uyaina said, "One of the two was Al-Bara' bin Marur.")