Once Malik bin Huwairith said to his friends, "Shall I show you how Allah's Apostle used to offer his prayers?" And it was not the time for any of the compulsory congregational prayers. So he stood up (for the prayer) bowed and said the Takbir, then he raised his head and remained standing for a while and then prostrated and raised his head for a while (sat up for a while). He prayed like our Sheikh `Amr Ibn Salama. (Aiyub said, "The latter used to do a thing which I did not see the people doing i.e. he used to sit between the third and the fourth rak`a). Malik bin Huwairith said, "We came to the Prophet (after embracing Islam) and stayed with him. He said to us, 'When you go back to your families, pray such and such a prayer at such and such a time, pray such and such a prayer at such and such a time, and when there is the time for the prayer then only of you should pronounce the Adhan for the prayer and the oldest of you should lead the prayer."

Once the sun eclipsed and Allah's Apostle stood up for the prayer and recited a very long Sura and when bowed for a long while and then raised his head and started reciting another Sura. Then he bowed, and after finishing, he prostrated and did the same in the second rak`a and then said, "These (lunar and solar eclipses) are two of the signs of Allah and if you see them, pray till the eclipse is over. No doubt, while standing at this place I saw everything promised to me by Allah and I saw (Paradise) and I wanted to pluck a bunch (of grapes) therefrom, at the time when you saw me stepping forward. No doubt, I saw Hell with its different parts destroying each other when you saw me retreating and in it I saw `Amr bin Luhai who started the tradition of freeing animals (set them free) in the name of idols."

The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to Allah's Apostle was in the form of good righteous (true) dreams in his sleep. He never had a dream but that it came true like bright day light. He used to go in seclusion (the cave of) Hira where he used to worship(Allah Alone) continuously for many (days) nights. He used to take with him the journey food for that (stay) and then come back to (his wife) Khadija to take his food like-wise again for another period to stay, till suddenly the Truth descended upon him while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him in it and asked him to read. The Prophet replied, "I do not know how to read." (The Prophet added), "The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it anymore. He then released me and again asked me to read, and I replied, "I do not know how to read," whereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it anymore. He then released me and asked me again to read, but again I replied, "I do not know how to read (or, what shall I read?)." Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me and then released me and said, "Read: In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists). Has created man from a clot. Read and Your Lord is Most Generous...up to..... ..that which he knew not." (96.15) Then Allah's Apostle returned with the Inspiration, his neck muscles twitching with terror till he entered upon Khadija and said, "Cover me! Cover me!" They covered him till his fear was over and then he said, "O Khadija, what is wrong with me?" Then he told her everything that had happened and said, 'I fear that something may happen to me." Khadija said, 'Never! But have the glad tidings, for by Allah, Allah will never disgrace you as you keep good reactions with your Kith and kin, speak the truth, help the poor and the destitute, serve your guest generously and assist the deserving, calamityafflicted ones." Khadija then accompanied him to (her cousin) Waraqa bin Naufal bin Asad bin `Abdul `Uzza bin Qusai. Waraqa was the son of her paternal uncle, i.e., her father's brother, who during the Pre-Islamic Period became a Christian and used to write the Arabic writing and used to write of the Gospels in Arabic as much as Allah wished him to write. He was an old man and had lost his eyesight. Khadija said to him, "O my cousin! Listen to the story of your nephew." Waraqa asked, "O my nephew! What have you ...

Malik related to me from Rabia ibn Abi Abd ar-Rahman from Yazid, the mawla of al-Munbaith that Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani said, "A man came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and asked him about finds. He said, 'Memorize the characteristics of the object found, then publicise it for a year. If the owner comes, give it to him. If not, then it is your business.' He said, 'What about lost sheep, Messenger of Allah?' He said, 'They are yours, your brother's or the wolf's.' He said, 'And the lost camel?' He said, 'It's none of your concern. It has its water and its feet. It will reach water and eat trees until its owner finds it.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that his father said, "Abdullah ibn al-Arqam said, 'Show me a riding-camel which the amir al-muminim can give me to use.' I said, 'Yes. One of the sadaqa camels.' Abdullah ibn al-Arqam said, 'Would you want a stout man on a hot day to wash for you what is under his lower garment and its folds, and then give it to you to drink?' I was angry and said, 'May Allah forgive you! Why do you say such things to me?' Abdullah ibn al-Arqam said, 'Sadaqa is the impurities of people which they wash off themselves.' "

A bedouin asked the Prophet about the Luqata. The Prophet said, "Make public announcement about it for one year and if then somebody comes and describes the container of the Luqata and the string it was tied with, (give it to him); otherwise, spend it." He then asked the Prophet about a lost camel. The face of the Prophet become red and he said, "You have o concern with it as it has its water reservoir and feet and it will reach water and drink and eat trees. Leave it till its owner finds it." He then asked the Prophet about a lost sheep. The Prophet said, "It is for you, for your brother, or for the wolf."

When the Prophet said, "Sami' al-lahu liman hamidah (Allah heard him who sent his praises to Him)" in the last rak`a of the `Isha' prayer, he used to invoke Allah, saying, "O Allah! Save `Aiyash bin Abi Rabi`a; O Allah! Save Al-Walid bin Al-Walid; O Allah! Save the weak people among the believers; O Allah! Be hard on the Tribe of Mudar; O Allah! Inflict years of drought upon them like the years (of drought) of the Prophet Joseph."

While the Prophet was offering the `Isha' prayer, he said, "Allah hears him who sends his praises to Him," and then said before falling in prostration, "O Allah, save `Aiyash bin Rabi`a. O Allah, save Salama bin Hisham. O Allah, save Al-Walid bin Al-Wahd. O Allah, save the weak ones among the believers. O Allah, let Your punishment be severe on the tribe of Mudar. O Allah, inflict upon them years (of famine) like the years of Joseph."

Habib ibn Salim said: A man called AbdurRahman ibn Hunayn had intercourse with his wife's slave-girl. The matter was brought to an-Nu'man ibn Bashir who was the Governor of Kufah. He said: I shall decide between you in accordance with the decision of the Messenger of Allah (saws). If she made her lawful for you, I shall flog you one hundred lashes. If she did not make her lawful for you, I shall stone you to death. So they found that she had made her lawful for him. He, therefore, flogged him one hundred lashes.

Qatadah said: I wrote to Habib b. Salim; so he wrote this (tradition) to me.

A man came and asked Allah's Apostle about picking a lost thing. The Prophet said, "Remember the description of its container and the string it is tied with, and make public announcement about it for one year. If the owner shows up, give it to him; otherwise, do whatever you like with it." He then asked, "What about a lost sheep?" The Prophet said, "It is for you, for your brother (i.e. its owner), or for the wolf." He further asked, "What about a lost camel?" The Prophet said, "It is none of your concern. It has its water-container (reservoir) and its feet, and it will reach water and drink it and eat the trees till its owner finds it."

Some outer garments were received the Prophet and my father (Makhrama) said to me, "Let us go to the Prophet so that he may give us something from the garments." So, my father stood at the door and spoke. The Prophet recognized his voice and came out carrying a garment and telling Makhrama the good qualities of that garment, adding, "I have kept this for you, I have sent this for you."

The Prophet (saws) said: Soon there will appear disagreement and dissension in my people; there will be people who will be good in speech and bad in work. They recite the Qur'an, but it does not pass their collar-bones. They will swerve from the religion as an animal goes through the animal shot at. They will not return to it till the arrow comes back to its notch. They are worst of the people and animals. Happy is the one who kills them and they kill him. They call to the book of Allah, but they have nothing to do with it. He who fights against them will be nearer to Allah than them (the rest of the people). The people asked: What is their sign? He replied: They shave the head.

Abu Taubah said: "Perhaps he said: 'Will reach the evening.'"

Another chain reports the same.

The Prophet delivered a sermon and said, "You (people) will be gathered before Allah (on the Day of Resurrection) bare-footed, naked and uncircumcised." (The Prophet then recited):-- 'As We began the first creation We shall repeat it. (It is) a promise We have undertaken and truly We shall do it.' and added, "The first man who will be dressed on the Day of Resurrection, will be Abraham. Lo! Some men from my followers will be brought and taken towards the left side, whereupon I will say, 'O Lord, (these are) my companions!' It will be said, 'You do not know what new things they introduced (into the religion) after you.' I will then say as the righteous pious slave, Jesus, said, 'I was a witness over them while I dwelt among them...(to His Statement)..and You are the Witness to all things.' (5.117) Then it will be said, '(O Muhammad) These people never stopped to apostate since you left them."

While the Prophet was in a funeral procession. he picked up something and started scraping the ground with it, and said, "There is none among you but has his place written for him either in the Hell Fire or in Paradise." They said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we not depend upon what has been written for us and give up deeds? He said, "Carry on doing (good) deeds, for everybody will find easy to do such deeds as will lead him to his destined place for which he has been created. So he who is destined to be among the happy (in the Hereafter), will find it easy to do the deeds characteristic of such people, while he who is destined to be among the miserable ones, will find it easy to do the deeds characteristic of such people." Then he recited: 'As for him who gives (in charity) and fears Allah, and believes in the best....' (92.5-10)

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.

Allah's Apostle, the true and truly inspired said, "(The matter of the Creation of) a human being is put together in the womb of the mother in forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period. Then Allah sends an angel who is ordered to write four things. He is ordered to write down his (i.e. the new creature's) deeds, his livelihood, his (date of) death, and whether he will be blessed or wretched (in religion). Then the soul is breathed into him. So, a man amongst you may do (good deeds till there is only a cubit between him and Paradise and then what has been written for him decides his behavior and he starts doing (evil) deeds characteristic of the people of the (Hell) Fire. And similarly a man amongst you may do (evil) deeds till there is only a cubit between him and the (Hell) Fire, and then what has been written for him decides his behavior, and he starts doing deeds characteristic of the people of Paradise."

The Prophet said, "On the night of my Ascent to the Heaven, I saw Moses who was a tall brown curlyhaired man as if he was one of the men of Shan'awa tribe, and I saw Jesus, a man of medium height and moderate complexion inclined to the red and white colors and of lank hair. I also saw Malik, the gate-keeper of the (Hell) Fire and Ad-Dajjal amongst the signs which Allah showed me." (The Prophet then recited the Holy Verse): "So be not you in doubt of meeting him' when you met Moses during the night of Mi'raj over the heavens" (32.23) Narrated Anas and Abu Bakra: "The Prophet said, "The angels will guard Medina from Ad-Dajjal (who will not be able to enter the city of Medina).

Malik related to me from Rabia ibn Abi Abd ar-Rahman from another of the ulama of that time that Abu Musa al-Ashari came and asked permission from Umar ibn al-Khattab to enter. He asked permission three times, and then went away Umar ibn al-Khattab sent after him and said, "What's wrong with you? Why didn't you come in?" Abu Musa said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Ask permission to enter three times. If you are given permission, then enter. If not, go away.' ''Umar said, "Who can confirm this? If you do not bring me someone to confirm it, I will do such-and-such to you."

Abu Musa went out until he came to an assembly in the mosque which was called the Majlis-al-Ansar. He said, "I told Umar ibn al-Khattab that I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Ask permission three times. If you are given permission, then enter. If not, go away.' Umar said, 'If you do not bring me someone who can confirm it, I will do such- and-such to you'. If any of you have heard that, let him come with me.' " They said to Abu Said al-Khudri, "Go with him". Abu Said was the youngest of them. He went with him and told Umar ibn al-Khattab about that."

Umar ibn al-Khattab said to Abu Musa, "I did not suspect you, but I feared lest people forge sayings of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace."

One day the Prophet ascended Safa mountain and said, "Oh Sabah! " All the Quraish gathered round him and said, "What is the matter?" He said, Look, if I told you that an enemy is going to attack you in the morning or in the evening, would you not believe me?" They said, "Yes, we will believe you." He said, "I am a warner to you in face of a terrible punishment." On that Abu Lahab said, "May you perish ! Is it for this thing that you have gathered us?" So Allah revealed: 'Perish the hands of Abu Lahab!...' (111.1)

I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Do you like to have (my sister) the daughter of Abu Sufyan?" The Prophet said, "What shall I do (with her)?" I said, "Marry her." He said, "Do you like that?" I said, "(Yes), for even now I am not your only wife, so I like that my sister should share you with me." He said, "She is not lawful for me (to marry)." I said, "We have heard that you want to marry." He said, "The daughter of Um Salama?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Even if she were not my stepdaughter, she should be unlawful for me to marry, for Thuwaiba suckled me and her father (Abu Salama). So you should neither present your daughters, nor your sisters, to me."

A bedouin went to the Prophet and asked him about picking up a lost thing. The Prophet said, "Make public announcement about it for one year. Remember the description of its container and the string with which it is tied; and if somebody comes and claims it and describes it correctly, (give it to him); otherwise, utilize it." He said, "O Allah's Apostle! What about a lost sheep?" The Prophet said, "It is for you, for your brother (i.e. its owner), or for the wolf." He further asked, "What about a lost camel?" On that the face of the Prophet became red (with anger) and said, "You have nothing to do with it, as it has its feet, its water reserve and can reach places of water and drink, and eat trees."

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."

I purposely looked at the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (saws), how he offered it. The Messenger of Allah (saws) stood up, faced the direction of the qiblah and uttered the takbir (Allah is most great) and then raised his hands in front of his ears, then placed his right hand on his left (catching each other).

When he was about to bow, he raised them in the same manner. He then placed his hands on his knees. When he raised his head after bowing, he raised them in the like manner. When he prostrated himself he placed his forehead between his hands.

He then sat down and spread his left foot and placed his left hand on his left thigh, and kept his right elbow aloof from his right thigh. He closed his two fingers and made a circle (with the fingers).

I (Asim ibn Kulayb) saw him (Bishr ibn al-Mufaddal) say in this manner. Bishr made the circle with the thumb and the middle finger and pointed with the forefinger.

On the day of a solar eclipse, Allah's Apostle stood up (to offer the eclipse prayer). He recited Takbir, recited a long recitation (of Holy Verses), bowed a long bowing, and then he raised h is head saying. "Allah hears him who sends his praises to Him." Then he stayed standing, recited a long recitation again, but shorter than the former, bowed a long bowing, but shorter than the first, performed a long prostration and then performed the second rak`a in the same way as he had done the first. By the time he had finished his prayer with Taslim, the solar eclipse had been over. Then he addressed the people referring to the solar and lunar eclipses saying, "These are two signs amongst the Signs of Allah, and they do not eclipse because of anyone's death or life. So, if you see them, hasten for the Prayer."

Ibrahim said: Ad-Dahhak ibn Qays intended to appoint Masruq as governor. Thereupon Umarah ibn Uqbah said to him: Are you appointing a man from the remnants of the murderers of Uthman? Masruq said to him: Ibn Mas'ud narrated to us, and he was trustworthy in respect of traditions, that when the Prophet (saws) intended to kill your father, he said: Who will look after my children? He replied: Fire. I also like for you what the Messenger of Allah (saws) liked for you.

A woman came to Allah's Apostle and said, "I present myself (to you) (for marriage). She stayed for a long while, then a man said, "If you are not in need of her then marry her to me." The Prophet said, "Have you got anything m order to pay her Mahr?" He said, "I have nothing with me except my Izar (waist sheet)." The Prophet said, "If you give her your Izar, you will have no Izar to wear, (so go) and search for something. He said, "I could not find anything." The Prophet said, "Try (to find something), even if it were an iron ring But he was not able to find (even that) The Prophet said (to him). "Do you memorize something of the Qur'an?" "Yes. ' he said, "such Sura and such Sura," naming those Suras The Prophet said, "We have married her to you for what you know of the Qur'an (by heart).