Yahya related to me from Malik that Yazid ibn Abdullah ibn Qusayt saw Said ibn al-Musayyab sell gold counterpoising for gold. He poured his gold into one pan of the scales, and the man with whom he was counterpoising put his gold in the other pan of the scale and when the tongue of the scales was balanced, they took and gave.

Malik said, "According to the way things are done among us there is no harm in selling gold for gold, and silver for silver by counterpoising weight, even if 11 dinars are taken for 10 dinars hand to hand, when the weight of gold is equal, coin for coin, even if the number is different. Dirhams in such a situation are treated the same way as dinars."

Malik said, "If, when counterpoising gold for gold or silver for silver, there is a difference of weight, one party should not give the other the value of the difference in silver or something else. Such a transaction is ugly and a means to usury because if one of the parties were permitted to take the difference for a separate price, it could be as if he had bought it separately, so he would be permitted. Then it would be possible for him to ask for many times the value of the difference in order to permit the completion of the transaction between the two parties.

Malik said, "If he had really been sold the difference without anything else with it, he would not have taken it for a tenth of the price for which he took it in order to put a 'legal front' on the transaction. This leads to allowing what is forbidden . The matter is forbidden."

Malik said that it was not good when counterpoising to give good old gold coins and put along with them unminted gold in exchange for worn kufic gold, which was unpopular and to then treat the exchange as like for like.

Malik said, "The commentary on why that is disapproved is that the owner of the good gold uses the excellence of his old gold coins as an excuse to throw in the unminted gold with it. Had it not been for the superiority of his (good) gold over the gold of the other party, the other party would not have counterpoised the unminted gold for his kufic gold, and the deal would have been refused.

"It is like a man wanting to buy three sa of ajwa dried dates for two sa and a mudd of kabis dates, and on being told that it was not good, then offering two sa of kabis and a sa of poor dates desiring to make the sale possible. That is not good because the owner of the ajwa should not give him ...

that Heraclius had sent for him to come along with a group of the Quraish who were trading in Sha'm, and they came to him. Then Abu Sufyan mentioned the whole narration and said, "Heraclius asked for the letter of Allah's Apostle . When the letter was read, its contents were as follows: 'In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. From Muhammad, Allah's slave and His Apostle to Heraclius, the Chief of Byzantines: Peace be upon him who follows the right path (guidance)! Amma ba'du (to proceed )...' (See Hadith No 6, Vol 1 for details)

When the Prophet came to Medina, he found (the Jews) fasting on the day of 'Ashura' (i.e. 10th of Muharram). They used to say: "This is a great day on which Allah saved Moses and drowned the folk of Pharaoh. Moses observed the fast on this day, as a sign of gratitude to Allah." The Prophet said, "I am closer to Moses than they." So, he observed the fast (on that day) and ordered the Muslims to fast on it.

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 ...

A lady came to Allah's Apostle and she talked to him about something, and he gave her some order. She said, "O Allah's Apostle! If I should not find you?" He said, "If you should not find me, then go to Abu Bakr." Ibrahim bin Sa`d said, "As if she meant the death (of the Prophet).

I asked Abu Wail, "Did you witness the battle of Siffin between `Ali and Muawiya?" He said, "Yes," and added, "Then I heard Sahl bin Hunaif saying, 'O people! Blame your personal opinions in your religion. No doubt, I remember myself on the day of Abi Jandal; if I had the power to refuse the order of Allah's Apostle, I would have refused it. We have never put our swords on our shoulders to get involved in a situation that might have been horrible for us, but those swords brought us to victory and peace, except this present situation.' " Abu Wail said, "I witnessed the battle of Siffin, and how nasty Siffin was!"

Allah's Apostle deputed me to keep Sadaqat (al-Fitr) of Ramadan. A comer came and started taking handfuls of the foodstuff (of the Sadaqa) (stealthily). I took hold of him and said, "By Allah, I will take you to Allah's Apostle ." He said, "I am needy and have many dependents, and I am in great need." I released him, and in the morning Allah's Apostle asked me, "What did your prisoner do yesterday?" I said, "O Allah's Apostle! The person complained of being needy and of having many dependents, so, I pitied him and let him go." Allah's Apostle said, "Indeed, he told you a lie and he will be coming again." I believed that he would show up again as Allah's Apostle had told me that he would return. So, I waited for him watchfully. When he (showed up and) started stealing handfuls of foodstuff, I caught hold of him again and said, "I will definitely take you to Allah's Apostle. He said, "Leave me, for I am very needy and have many dependents. I promise I will not come back again." I pitied him and let him go.

In the morning Allah's Apostle asked me, "What did your prisoner do." I replied, "O Allah's Apostle! He complained of his great need and of too many dependents, so I took pity on him and set him free." Allah's Apostle said, "Verily, he told you a lie and he will return." I waited for him attentively for the third time, and when he (came and) started stealing handfuls of the foodstuff, I caught hold of him and said, "I will surely take you to Allah's Apostle as it is the third time you promise not to return, yet you break your promise and come." He said, "(Forgive me and) I will teach you some words with which Allah will benefit you." I asked, "What are they?" He replied, "Whenever you go to bed, recite "Ayat-al-Kursi"-- 'Allahu la ilaha illa huwa-l-Haiy-ul Qaiyum' till you finish the whole verse. (If you do so), Allah will appoint a guard for you who will stay with you and no satan will come near you till morning. " So, I released him. In the morning, Allah's Apostle asked, "What did your prisoner do yesterday?" I replied, "He claimed that he would teach me some words by which Allah will benefit me, so I let him go." Allah's Apostle asked, "What are they?" I replied, "He said to me, 'Whenever you go to bed, recite Ayat-al-Kursi ...

When Khaibar was conquered, Allah's Apostle was presented with a poisoned (roasted) sheep. Allah's Apostle said, "Collect for me all the Jews present in this area." (When they were gathered) Allah's Apostle said to them, "I am going to ask you about something; will you tell me the truth?" They replied, "Yes, O Abal-Qasim!" Allah's Apostle said to them, "Who is your father?" They said, "Our father is so-and-so." Allah's Apostle said, "You have told a lie. for your father is so-and-so," They said, "No doubt, you have said the truth and done the correct thing." He again said to them, "If I ask you about something; will you tell me the truth?" They replied, "Yes, O Abal-Qasim! And if we should tell a lie you will know it as you have known it regarding our father," Allah's Apostle then asked, "Who are the people of the (Hell) Fire?" They replied, "We will remain in the (Hell) Fire for a while and then you (Muslims) will replace us in it" Allah's Apostle said to them. ''You will abide in it with ignominy. By Allah, we shall never replace you in it at all." Then he asked them again, "If I ask you something, will you tell me the truth?" They replied, "Yes." He asked. "Have you put the poison in this roasted sheep?" They replied, "Yes," He asked, "What made you do that?" They replied, "We intended to learn if you were a liar in which case we would be relieved from you, and if you were a prophet then it would not harm you."

While we were with Allah's Apostle who was distributing (i.e. some property), there came Dhu-l- Khuwaisira, a man from the tribe of Bani Tamim and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Do Justice." The Prophet said, "Woe to you! Who could do justice if I did not? I would be a desperate loser if I did not do justice." `Umar said, "O Allah's Apostle! Allow me to chop his head off." The Prophet said, "Leave him, for he has companions who pray and fast in such a way that you will consider your fasting negligible in comparison to theirs. They recite Qur'an but it does not go beyond their throats (i.e. they do not act on it) and they will desert Islam as an arrow goes through a victim's body, so that the hunter, on looking at the arrow's blade, would see nothing on it; he would look at its Risaf and see nothing: he would look at its Na,di and see nothing, and he would look at its Qudhadh ( 1 ) and see nothing (neither meat nor blood), for the arrow has been too fast even for the blood and excretions to smear. The sign by which they will be recognized is that among them there will be a black man, one of whose arms will resemble a woman's breast or a lump of meat moving loosely. Those people will appear when there will be differences amongst the people." I testify that I heard this narration from Allah's Apostle and I testify that `Ali bin Abi Talib fought with such people, and I was in his company. He ordered that the man (described by the Prophet ) should be looked for. The man was brought and I looked at him and noticed that he looked exactly as the Prophet had described him.

While I was with Ibn `Abbas a man came and said, "O father of `Abbas! My sustenance is from my manual profession and I make these pictures." Ibn `Abbas said, "I will tell you only what I heard from Allah's Apostle . I heard him saying, 'Whoever makes a picture will be punished by Allah till he puts life in it, and he will never be able to put life in it.' " Hearing this, that man heaved a sigh and his face turned pale. Ibn `Abbas said to him, "What a pity! If you insist on making pictures I advise you to make pictures of trees and any other unanimated objects."

When Abu Huraira accompanied by his slave set out intending to embrace Islam they lost each other on the way. The slave then came while Abu Huraira was sitting with the Prophet. The Prophet said, "O Abu Huraira! Your slave has come back." Abu Huraira said, "Indeed, I would like you to witness that I have manumitted him." That happened at the time when Abu Huraira recited (the following poetic verse):-- 'What a long tedious tiresome night! Nevertheless, it has delivered us From the land of Kufr (disbelief).

I was with the Prophet at one of the farms of Medina while he was leaning on a date palm leaf-stalk. He passed by a group of Jews and some of them said to the other, Ask him (the Prophet) about the spirit. Some others said, "Do not ask him, lest he should tell you what you dislike" But they went up to him and said, "O Abal Qasim! Inform us bout the spirit." The Prophet stood up for a while, waiting. I realized that he was being Divinely Inspired, so I kept away from him till the inspiration was over. Then the Prophet said, "(O Muhammad) they ask you regarding the spirit, Say: The spirit its knowledge is with my Lord (i.e., nobody has its knowledge except Allah)" (17.85) (This is a miracle of the Qur'an that all the scientists up till now do not know about the spirit, i.e, how life comes to a body and how it goes away at its death) (See Hadith No. 245, Vol. 6)

The Prophet said, (what is ascribed to him in the following Hadith):

Narrated Abu Salih As-Samman:

I saw Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri praying on a Friday, behind something which acted as a Sutra. A young man from Bani Abi Mu'ait [??] , wanted to pass in front of him, but Abu Sa`id repulsed him with a push on his chest. Finding no alternative he again tried to pass but Abu Sa`id pushed him with a greater force. The young man abused Abu Sa`id and went to Marwan and lodged a complaint against Abu Sa`id and Abu Sa`id followed the young man to Marwan who asked him, "O Abu Sa`id! What has happened between you and the son of your brother?" Abu Sa`id said to him, "I heard the Prophet saying, 'If anybody amongst you is praying behind something as a Sutra and somebody tries to pass in front of him, then he should repulse him and if he refuses, he should use force against him for he is a Shaitan (a Satan).' "

The Prophet (saws) wrote a letter to Heraclius: "From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql (Heraclius), Chief of the Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance." Ibn Yahya reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas that AbuSufyan said to him: We then came to see Hiraql (Heraclius) who seated us before him. He then called for the letter from the Messenger of Allah (saws). Its contents were: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, from Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, to Hiraql, chief of Byzantines. Peace be to those who follow the guidance. To proceed."

Some people said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection?" He said, "Do you crowd and squeeze each other on looking at the sun when it is not hidden by clouds?" They replied, "No, Allah's Apostle." He said, "Do you crowd and squeeze each other on looking at the moon when it is full and not hidden by clouds?" They replied, No, O Allah's Apostle!" He said, "So you will see Him (your Lord) on the Day of Resurrection similarly Allah will gather all the people and say, 'Whoever used to worship anything should follow that thing. 'So, he who used to worship the sun, will follow it, and he who used to worship the moon will follow it, and he who used to worship false deities will follow them; and then only this nation (i.e., Muslims) will remain, including their hypocrites. Allah will come to them in a shape other than they know and will say, 'I am your Lord.' They will say, 'We seek refuge with Allah from you. This is our place; (we will not follow you) till our Lord comes to us, and when our Lord comes to us, we will recognize Him. Then Allah will come to then in a shape they know and will say, "I am your Lord.' They will say, '(No doubt) You are our Lord,' and they will follow Him. Then a bridge will be laid over the (Hell) Fire." Allah's Apostle added, "I will be the first to cross it. And the invocation of the Apostles on that Day, will be 'Allahumma Sallim, Sallim (O Allah, save us, save us!),' and over that bridge there will be hooks Similar to the thorns of As Sa'dan (a thorny tree). Didn't you see the thorns of As-Sa'dan?" The companions said, "Yes, O Allah's Apostle." He added, "So the hooks over that bridge will be like the thorns of As-Sa-dan except that their greatness in size is only known to Allah. These hooks will snatch the people according to their deeds. Some people will be ruined because of their evil deeds, and some will be cut into pieces and fall down in Hell, but will be saved afterwards, when Allah has finished the judgments among His slaves, and intends to take out of the Fire whoever He wishes to take out from among those who used to testify that none had the right to be worshipped but Allah. We will order the angels to take them out and the angels will know them by the mark of the traces of prostration (on their foreheads) for Allah banned the f ire to consume the traces of prostration on the body of Adam's son. So they will take them out, and by then they ...

Yahya related to me from Malik from Humayd ibn Qays al-Makki that Mujahid said, "I was with Abdullah ibn Umar and an artisan came to him and said, 'Abu Abd ar-Rahman - I fashion gold and then sell what I have made for more than its weight. I take an amount equivalent to the work of my hand.' Abdullah forbade him to do that, so the artisan repeated the question to him, and Abdullah continued to forbid him until he came to the door of the mosque or to an animal that he intended to mount. Then Abdullah ibn Umar said, 'A dinar for a dinar, and a dirham for a dirham. There is no increase between them. This is the command of ourProphet to us and our advice to you.' "

Once Allah's Apostle gave a letter to a person and ordered him to go and deliver it to the Governor of Bahrain. (He did so) and the Governor of Bahrain sent it to Chousroes, who read that letter and then tore it to pieces. (The sub-narrator (Ibn Shihab) thinks that Ibn Al-Musaiyab said that Allah's Apostle invoked Allah against them (saying), "May Allah tear them into pieces, and disperse them all totally.)"

During the affliction of Ibn Az-Zubair, two men came to Ibn `Umar and said, "The people are lost, and you are the son of `Umar, and the companion of the Prophet, so what forbids you from coming out?" He said, "What forbids me is that Allah has prohibited the shedding of my brother's blood." They both said, "Didn't Allah say, 'And fight then until there is no more affliction?" He said "We fought until there was no more affliction and the worship is for Allah (Alone while you want to fight until there is affliction and until the worship become for other than Allah." Narrated Nafi` (through another group of sub-narrators): A man came to Ibn `Umar and said, "O Abu `Abdur Rahman! What made you perform Hajj in one year and Umra in another year and leave the Jihad for Allah' Cause though you know how much Allah recommends it?" Ibn `Umar replied, "O son of my brother! Islam is founded on five principles, i.e. believe in Allah and His Apostle, the five compulsory prayers, the fasting of the month of Ramadan, the payment of Zakat, and the Hajj to the House (of Allah)." The man said, "O Abu `Abdur Rahman! Won't you listen to why Allah has mentioned in His Book: 'If two groups of believers fight each other, then make peace between them, but if one of then transgresses beyond bounds against the other, then you all fight against the one that transgresses. (49.9) and:--"And fight them till there is no more affliction (i.e. no more worshiping of others along with Allah)." Ibn `Umar said, "We did it, during the lifetime of Allah's Apostle when Islam had only a few followers. A man would be put to trial because of his religion; he would either be killed or tortured. But when the Muslims increased, there was no more afflictions or oppressions." The man said, "What is your opinion about `Uthman and `Ali?" Ibn `Umar said, "As for `Uthman, it seems that Allah has forgiven him, but you people dislike that he should be forgiven. And as for `Ali, he is the cousin of Allah's Apostle and his son-in-law." Then he pointed with his hand and said, "That is his house which you see."

Allah's Apostle wrote to Caesar and invited him to Islam and sent him his letter with Dihya Al-Kalbi whom Allah's Apostle ordered to hand it over to the Governor of Busra who would forward it to Caesar. Caesar as a sign of gratitude to Allah, had walked from Hims to Ilya (i.e. Jerusalem) when Allah had granted Him victory over the Persian forces. So, when the letter of Allah's Apostle reached Caesar, he said after reading it, 'Seek for me any one of his people! (Arabs of Quraish tribe) if present here, in order to ask him about Allah's Apostle. At that time Abu Sufyan bin Harb was in Sham with some men from Quraish who had come (to Sham) as merchants during the truce that had been concluded between Allah's Apostle; and the infidels of Quraish. Abu Sufyan said, Caesar's messenger found us somewhere in Sham so he took me and my companions to Ilya and we were admitted into Ceasar's court to find him sitting in his royal court wearing a crown and surrounded by the senior dignitaries of the Byzantine. He said to his translator. 'Ask them who amongst them is a close relation to the man who claims to be a prophet." Abu Sufyan added, "I replied, 'I am the nearest relative to him.' He asked, 'What degree of relationship do you have with him?' I replied, 'He is my cousin,' and there was none of Bani Abu Manaf in the caravan except myself. Caesar said, 'Let him come nearer.' He then ordered that my companions stand behind me near my shoulder and said to his translator, 'Tell his companions that I am going to ask this man about the man who claims to be a prophet. If he tells a lie, they should contradict him immediately." Abu Sufyan added, "By Allah! Had it not been shameful that my companions label me a liar, I would not have spoken the truth about him when he asked me. But I considered it shameful to be called a liar by my companions. So I told the truth. He then said to his translator, 'Ask him what kind of family does he belong to.' I replied, 'He belongs to a noble family amongst us.' He said, 'Have anybody else amongst you ever claimed the same before him? 'I replied, 'No.' He said, 'Had you ever blamed him for telling lies before he claimed what he claimed? ' I replied, 'No.' He said, 'Was anybody amongst his ancestors a king?' I replied, 'No.' He said, "Do the noble or the poor follow him?' I replied, 'It is the poor who follow him.' He said, 'Are they increasing or decreasing (day by day)?' I replied,' ...

The Prophet went towards Al-Baqi (the graveyard at Medina) on the day of Id-ul-Adha and offered a two-rak`at prayer (of `Id-ul-Adha) and then faced us and said, "On this day of ours, our first act of worship is the offering of prayer and then we will return and slaughter the sacrifice, and whoever does this concords with our Sunna; and whoever slaughtered his sacrifice before that (i.e. before the prayer) then that was a thing which he prepared earlier for his family and it would not be considered as a Nusuk (sacrifice.)" A man stood up and said, "O, Allah's Apostle! I slaughtered (the animal before the prayer) but I have a young she-goat which is better than an older sheep." The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said to him, "Slaughter it. But a similar sacrifice will not be sufficient for anybody else after you."

There was a dispute between Abu Bakr and `Umar, and Abu Bakr made `Umar angry. So `Umar left angrily. Abu Bakr followed him, requesting him to ask forgiveness (of Allah) for him, but `Umar refused to do so and closed his door in Abu Bakr's face. So Abu Bakr went to Allah's Apostle while we were with him. Allah's Apostle said, "This friend of yours must have quarrelled (with somebody)." In the meantime `Umar repented and felt sorry for what he had done, so he came, greeted (those who were present) and sat with the Prophet and related the story to him. Allah's Apostle became angry and Abu Bakr started saying, "O Allah's Apostle! By Allah, I was more at fault (than `Umar)." Allah's Apostle said, "Are you (people) leaving for me my companion? (Abu Bakr), Are you (people) leaving for me my companion? When I said, 'O people I am sent to you all as the Apostle of Allah,' you said, 'You tell a lie.' while Abu Bakr said, 'You have spoken the truth ."