Allah's Apostle used to give up a good deed, although he loved to do it, for fear that people might act on it and it might be made compulsory for them. The Prophet never prayed the Duha prayer, but I offer it.

He also said, "If people knew what there was in the call to prayer and the first row, and they could find no other way except to draw lots for it, they would draw lots for it. And if they knew what there was in doing dhuhr at its time, they would race each other to it. And if they knew what there was in the prayers of isha and maghrib, they would come to them even if they had to crawl .

Allah's Apostle distributed (Zakat) amongst (a group of) people while I was sitting there but Allah's Apostle left a man whom I thought the best of the lot. I asked, "O Allah's Apostle! Why have you left that person? By Allah I regard him as a faithful believer." The Prophet commented: "Or merely a Muslim." I remained quiet for a while, but could not help repeating my question because of what I knew about him. And then asked Allah's Apostle, "Why have you left so and so? By Allah! He is a faithful believer." The Prophet again said, "Or merely a Muslim." And I could not help repeating my question because of what I knew about him. Then the Prophet said, "O Sa'd! I give to a person while another is dearer to me, for fear that he might be thrown on his face in the Fire by Allah."

Malik said, "I heard that al-Qasim ibn Muhammad used to say, 'I have seen the people, (i.e. the companions), and they were not impressed by speech.' " Malik said, "He meant that only action and deeds would be looked at, not words."

The Prophet narrating about his Lord I'm and said, "Allah ordered (the appointed angels over you) that the good and the bad deeds be written, and He then showed (the way) how (to write). If somebody intends to do a good deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write for him a full good deed (in his account with Him); and if he intends to do a good deed and actually did it, then Allah will write for him (in his account) with Him (its reward equal) from ten to seven hundred times to many more times: and if somebody intended to do a bad deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write a full good deed (in his account) with Him, and if he intended to do it (a bad deed) and actually did it, then Allah will write one bad deed (in his account) ."

Malik related to me that he had heard that Said ibn al-Musayyab was asked about a mukatab who was shared between two men. One of them freed his portion and then the mukatab died and left a lot of money. Said replied, "The one who kept his kitaba is paid what remains due to him, and then they divide what is left between them both equally."

Malik said, "When a mukatab who fulfils his kitaba and becomes free dies, he is inherited from by the people who wrote his kitaba and their children and paternal relations - whoever is most deserving."

He said, "This is also for whoever is set free when he dies after being set free - his inheritance is for the nearest people to him of children or paternal relations who inherit by means of the wala'."

Malik said, "Brothers, written together in the same kitaba, are in the same position as children to each other when none of them have children written in the kitaba or born in the kitaba. When one of them dies and leaves property, he pays for them all that is against them of their kitaba and sets them free. The money left over after that goes to his children rather than his brothers."

Two men had a dispute in the presence of Allah's Apostle. One of them said, "O Allah's Apostle! Judge between us according to Allah's Laws." The other who was wiser, said, "Yes, O Allah's Apostle! Judge between us according to Allah's Laws and allow me to speak. The Prophet said, "Speak." He said, "My son was a laborer serving this (person) and he committed illegal sexual intercourse with his wife, The people said that my son is to be stoned to death, but I ransomed him with one-hundred sheep and a slave girl. Then I asked the learned people, who informed me that my son should receive one hundred lashes and will be exiled for one year, and stoning will be the lot for the man's wife." Allah's Apostle said, "Indeed, by Him in Whose Hand my soul is, I will judge between you according to Allah's Laws: As for your sheep and slave girl, they are to be returned to you." Then he scourged his son one hundred lashes and exiled him for one year. Then Unais Al- Aslami was ordered to go to the wife of the second man, and if she confessed (the crime), then stone her to death. She did confess, so he stoned her to death.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az- Zubayr that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not have to choose between two matters, but that he chose the easier of them as long as it was not a wrong action. If it was a wrong action, he was the furthest of people from it. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not take revenge for himself unless the limits of Allah were violated. Then he took revenge for it for Allah."

Once I came riding a she-ass and I, then, had just attained the age of puberty. Allah's Apostle was leading the people in prayer at Mina facing no wall. I passed in front of the row and let loose the sheass for grazing and joined the row and no one objected to my deed.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said, "I have heard that the first of the actions of a slave to be considered on the day of rising is the prayer. If it is accepted from him, the rest of his actions will be considered, and if it is not accepted from him, none of his actions will be considered."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Abu Qatada al-Ansari said to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "I have a lot of hair which comes down to my shoulders, shall I comb it?'' The Messenger of Allah. may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Yes, and honour it." Sometimes Abu Qatada oiled it twice in one day because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him. "Honour it."

Allah's Apostle said, "May Allah bestow His Mercy on (Prophet) Lot. (When his nation troubled him) he wished if he could betake himself to some powerful support; and if I were to remain in prison for the period Joseph had remained, I would surely respond to the call; and we shall have more right (to be in doubt) than Abraham: When Allah said to him, "Don't you believe?' Abraham said, 'Yes, (I do believe) but to be stronger in faith; (2.260)

Aisha said that whenever the Prophet intended to go on a journey, he drew lots among his wives (so as to take one of them along with him). During one of his journeys the lot fell on `Aisha and Hafsa. When night fell the Prophet would ride beside `Aisha and talk with her. One night Hafsa said to `Aisha, "Won't you ride my camel tonight and I ride yours, so that you may see (me) and I see (you) (in new situation)?" `Aisha said, "Yes, (I agree.)" So `Aisha rode, and then the Prophet came towards `Aisha's camel on which Hafsa was riding. He greeted Hafsa and then proceeded (beside her) till they dismounted (on the way). `Aisha missed him, and so, when they dismounted, she put her legs in the Idhkhir and said, "O Lord (Allah)! Send a scorpion or a snake to bite me for I am not to blame him (the Prophet ).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Abdullah ibn Masud said to a certain man, "You are in a time when men of understanding (fuqaha) are many and Qur'an reciters are few, when the limits of behaviour defined in the Qur'an are guarded and its letters are lost, when few people ask and many give, when they make the prayer long and the khutba short, and put their actions before their desires. A time will come upon men when their fuqaha are few but their Qur'an reciters are many, when the letters of the Qur'an are guarded carefully but its limits are lost, when many ask but few give, when they make the khutba long but the prayer short, and put their desires before their actions."

Allah's Apostle said, "Allah says, 'If My slave intends to do a bad deed then (O Angels) do not write it unless he does it; if he does it, then write it as it is, but if he refrains from doing it for My Sake, then write it as a good deed (in his account). (On the other hand) if he intends to do a good deed, but does not do it, then write a good deed (in his account), and if he does it, then write it for him (in his account) as ten good deeds up to seven-hundred times.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibn Yasar from Abdullah as-Sanabihi that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "A trusting slave does wudu and as he rinses his mouth the wrong actions leave it. As he cleans his nose the wrong actions leave it. As he washes his face, the wrong actions leave it, even from underneath his eyelashes. As he washes his hands the wrong actions leave them, even from underneath his fingernails. As he wipes his head the wrong actions leave it, even from his ears. And as he washes his feet the wrong actions leave them, even from underneath the toenails of both his feet." He added, "Then his walking to the mosque and his prayer are an extra reward for him."

The Prophet said, "The example of the person abiding by Allah's order and restrictions in comparison to those who violate them is like the example of those persons who drew lots for their seats in a boat. Some of them got seats in the upper part, and the others in the lower. When the latter needed water, they had to go up to bring water (and that troubled the others), so they said, 'Let us make a hole in our share of the ship (and get water) saving those who are above us from troubling them. So, if the people in the upper part left the others do what they had suggested, all the people of the ship would be destroyed, but if they prevented them, both parties would be safe."

Allah's Apostle said, "We are more liable to be in doubt than Abraham when he said, 'My Lord! Show me how You give life to the dead." . He (i.e. Allah) slid: 'Don't you believe then?' He (i.e. Abraham) said: "Yes, but (I ask) in order to be stronger in Faith." (2.260) And may Allah send His Mercy on Lot! He wished to have a powerful support. If I were to stay in prison for such a long time as Joseph did I would have accepted the offer (of freedom without insisting on having my guiltless less declared).

Ziyad related to me from Malik that he had heard a man he trusted of the people of knowledge say, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was shown the lifespans of the people (who had gone) before him, or what Allah willed of that, and it was as if the lives of the people of his community had become too short for them to be able to do as many good actions as others before them had been able to do with their long lives, so Allah gave him Laylat al- Qadr, which is better than a thousand months."

AbuZubyan said: A woman who had committed adultery was brought to Umar. He gave orders that she should be stoned.

Ali passed by just then. He seized her and let her go. Umar was informed of it. He said: Ask Ali to come to me. Ali came to him and said: Commander of the Faithful, you know that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: There are three (people) whose actions are not recorded: A boy till he reaches puberty, a sleeper till he awakes, a lunatic till he is restored to reason. This is an idiot (mad) woman belonging to the family of so and so. Someone might have done this action with her when she suffered the fit of lunacy.

Umar said: I do not know. Ali said: I do not know.

A man came to the Prophet (saws) and said: I cannot memorise anything from the Qur'an: so teach me something which is sufficient for me. He said: Say Glory be to Allah, and praise be to Allah, and there is no god but Allah, and Allah is most great, and there is no might and no strength but in Allah.

:He said: Messenger of Allah, this is for Allah, but what is for me? He said: Say: O Allah have mercy on me, and sustain me, and keep me well, and guide me. When he stood up, he made a sign with his hand (indicating that he had earned a lot).

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: He filed up his hand with virtues.

I asked the Prophet about the wall (outside the Ka`ba). "Is it regarded as part of the Ka`ba?" He replied, "Yes." I said, "Then why didn't the people include it in the Ka`ba?" He said, "(Because) your people ran short of money." I asked, "Then why is its gate so high?" He replied, ''Your people did so in order to admit to it whom they would and forbid whom they would. Were your people not still close to the period of ignorance, and were I not afraid that their hearts might deny my action, then surely I would include the wall in the Ka`ba and make its gate touch the ground."

She said: AbuHurayrah, speaking to him in Persian, my husband wishes to take my son away.

AbuHurayrah said: Cast lots for him, saying it to her in a foreign language.

Then her husband came and asked: Who is disputing with me about my son?

AbuHurayrah said: O Allah, I do not say this, except that I heard a woman who came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) while I was sitting with him, and she said: My husband wishes to take away my son, Messenger of Allah, and he draws water for me from the well of AbuInabah, and he has been good to me.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Cast lots for him. Her husband said: Who is disputing with me about my son? The Prophet (saws) said: This is your father and this your mother, so take whichever of them you wish by the hand. So he took his mother's hand and she went away with him.

Allah's Apostle distributed something (from the resources of Zakat) amongst a group of people while I was sitting amongst them, but he left a man whom I considered the best of the lot. So, I went up to Allah's Apostle and asked him secretly, "Why have you left that person? By Allah! I consider him a believer." The Prophet said, "Or merely a Muslim (Who surrender to Allah)." I remained quiet for a while but could not help repeating my question because of what I knew about him. I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Why have you left that person? By Allah! I consider him a believer. " The Prophet said, "Or merely a Muslim." I remained quiet for a while but could not help repeating my question because of what I knew about him. I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Why have you left that person? By Allah! I consider him a believer." The Prophet said, "Or merely a Muslim." Then Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) said, "I give to a person while another is dearer to me, for fear that he may be thrown in the Hell-fire on his face (by reneging from Islam)."

That she asked the Prophet , 'Have you encountered a day harder than the day of the battle) of Uhud?" The Prophet replied, "Your tribes have troubled me a lot, and the worse trouble was the trouble on the day of 'Aqaba when I presented myself to Ibn `Abd-Yalail bin `Abd-Kulal and he did not respond to my demand. So I departed, overwhelmed with excessive sorrow, and proceeded on, and could not relax till I found myself at Qarnath-Tha-alib where I lifted my head towards the sky to see a cloud shading me unexpectedly. I looked up and saw Gabriel in it. He called me saying, 'Allah has heard your people's saying to you, and what they have replied back to you, Allah has sent the Angel of the Mountains to you so that you may order him to do whatever you wish to these people.' The Angel of the Mountains called and greeted me, and then said, "O Muhammad! Order what you wish. If you like, I will let Al-Akh-Shabain (i.e. two mountains) fall on them." The Prophet said, "No but I hope that Allah will let them beget children who will worship Allah Alone, and will worship None besides Him."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Muslim ibn Abi Maryam from Abu Salih as-Samman that Abu Hurayra said, "The actions of people are presented twice each week, on Monday and Thursday. Every trusting slave is forgiven except for a slave who has enmity between him and his brother. It is said, 'Leave these two until they turn in tawba. Leave these two until they turn in tawba.' ''

Allah's Apostle said, "If any one of you improve (follows strictly) his Islamic religion then his good deeds will be rewarded ten times to seven hundred times for each good deed and a bad deed will be recorded as it is."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Suhayl ibn Abi Salih from his father from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "A muslim slave (or a trusting slave) does wudu and as he washes his face every wrong action he has seen with his eyes leaves with the water (or the last drop of water). As he washes his hands every wrong action he has done with his hands leaves with the water (orthe last drop of water). And as he washes his feet every wrong action his feet have walked to leaves with the water (or the last drop of water) so that he comes away purified of wrong actions."