"I was ill during the year of the Conquest (of Makkah) with an illness bringing me to the brink of death. So The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W) came to visit me, and I said: 'O Messenger of Allah (S.A.W)! Indeed I have a great deal of wealth and I do not have any heirs except my daughter, so should I will all of my wealth?' He said: 'No.' I said: 'Then two-thirds of my wealth?' He said: 'No.' I said: 'Then half?' He said: 'No.' I said: 'Then a third' He said: 'No.' A third and a third is too much. If you leave your heirs without need it is better than to leave them in poverty begging from the people. Indeed you do not do any spending (on your family) except that you are rewarded for it, even the morsel of food you raise to your wife's mouth.'" He said: "I said: 'Will I be left behind from my emigration?' He said: 'You will not be left behind after me,and do righteous deeds intending Allah's Face, except that it will add to your elevation in rank. Perhaps you will remain until some people benefit from you and others will be harmed by you. O Allah! Complete the emigration of my companions and do not turn them on their heels. But the case of Sa'd bin Khawlah is sad.'" the Messenger of Allah (S.A.W) felt sorry for him dying in Makkah.

On the day of the battle of Tabuk, the Muslims were hard pressed by hunger and they asked Messenger of Allah (PBUH): "O Messenger of Allah, grant us permission to slaughter our camels to eat and use their fat". He (PBUH) accorded permission. On this 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) came and said: "O Messenger of Allah, if it is done, we shall suffer from lack of transportation. I suggest you pool together whatever has been left and supplicate Allah to bless it." Allah will bestow His Blessing upon it. Messenger of Allah (PBUH) agreed and called for leather mat and had it spread out, and asked people to bring the provisions left over. They started doing it. One brought a handful of corn, another brought a handful of dates, a third brought a piece of bread; thus some provisions were collected on the mat. Messenger of Allah (PBUH) invoked blessings, and then said, "Now take it up in your vessels". Everyone filled his vessel with food, so that there was not left a single empty vessel in the whole camp. All of them ate to their fill and there was still some left over. Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Any slave who meets Allah, testifying there is no true god except Allah, and that I am His Messenger, without entertaining any doubt about these (two fundamentals), will not be banished from entering Jannah."

[Muslim].

He said that while they were sitting with the Prophet a man came to him and said, “Messenger of God, I am undone.” He asked him what had happened to him and he replied that he had had intercourse with his wife while he was fasting. God’s messenger then asked him whether he could get a slave to free, but he replied that he could not. He asked if he could fast two consecutive months, but he replied that he could not. He asked if he could provide food for sixty poor people, and when he replied that he could not, he told him to sit down. The Prophet then waited for a time, and meanwhile an ‘araq containing dates was brought to him, an ‘araq being a huge basket.* He asked where the man who had questioned him was, and when he replied, "[Here] I am," he said, "Take this and give it as sadaqa." The man replied, “Am I to give it to one who is poorer than I am, messenger of God? I swear by God that there is no poorer family than mine between the two lava plains of Medina," i.e. the two harras. The Prophet thereupon laughed so that his eye-teeth became visible and said, "Give it to your family to eat." *In explaining the word 'araq the tradition calls it a hugh miktal. The miktal was a basket containing fifteen sa's. It is also said to have had double that capacity. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Abu Huraira told that when a man came to God's messenger and told him he was suffering from distress he sent a message to one of his wives who said, "I swear by Him who sent you with the truth that I have nothing but water. He sent to another who said the same, and when they had all said the same God's messenger said, "Who will provide entertainment for him? God have mercy on him!" One of the Ansar called Abu Talha got up and said, "I shall, messenger of God." He then, took him to his house and asked his wife if she had anything, and when she replied that they had nothing but the children's food he said, "Put them off with something and put them to sleep. Then when our guest enters make him think we are eating, and when he puts forward his hand to eat get up, go to the lamp to adjust it, and put it out." She did so and they sat down, and the guest ate but they spent the night hungry. In the morning he came to God's messenger who said, "God is charmed with (or, has smiled on) such and such a man and such and such a woman." A version has the same without his naming Abu Talha, and at the end it says that God most high then sent down, "And they give preference to others over themselves even though they are suffering poverty[*]." *Quran; 59:9. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

that al-'Abbas and 'Ali came to 'Umar quarreling, each of them saying to his companion: “You are such-and-such, you are such-and-such!” 'Umar therefore said to Talha, az-Zubair, 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn 'Awf and Sa'd (may Allah the Exalted be well pleased with them): “I adjure you by Allah, have you heard Allah’s Messenger say (Allah bless him and give him peace): ‘Every possession of a Prophet is a charitable donation, except what provides him with food. No one shall inherit from us!'"(This tradition is part of a longer story.)

'Ikrima was heard to say, "I do not know which o f them, either Ibn 'Abbas or Ibn 'Umar, was giving his companions food, and a slavegirl was working in their presence. One of them said to her, 'Harlot!' He said, 'Easy! If she does not exact the hadd punishment (i.e. for slander) from you in this world, she will take it from you in the Next World.' The man said, 'And what do you think if it (what I said) is the truth?' He replied, 'Allah does not love anyone who greatly exceeds the sounds in speaking of indecencies."

That he went out one day to Al-Baqi', which is the graveyard, to relieve himself. People used to go out to relieve themselves only every two or three days, and their faces was like that of a camel (because of hunger and rough food). Then he entered a ruin and while he was squatting to relieve himself, he saw a rat bringing a Dinar out of a hole, then it went in and brought out another, until it had brought out seventeen Dinars. Then it brought out a piece of red rag.Miqdad said: “I picked up the rag and found another Dinar inside it, thus completing eighteen Dinar. I took them out and brought them to the Messenger of Allah (SAW), and told him what had happened. I said, 'Take its Sadaqah (charity), O Messenger of Allah (SAW).' He said: 'Take them back, for no Sadaqah is due on them. May Allah (SWT) bless them for you.' Then he said: 'Perhaps you put your hand in the hole?' I said: 'No, by the One Who has honored you with the truth.”

Allah (mighty and sublime be He) will say on the Day of Resurrection: O son of Adam, I fell ill and you visited Me not. He will say: O Lord, and how should I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so had fallen ill and you visited him not? Did you not know that had you visited him you would have found Me with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food and you fed Me not. He will say: O Lord, and how should I feed You when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so asked you for food and you fed him not? Did you not know that had you fed him you would surely have found that (the reward for doing so) with Me? O son of Adam, I asked you to give Me to drink and you gave Me not to drink. He will say: O Lord, how should I give You to drink when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: My servant So-and-so asked you to give him to drink and you gave him not to drink. Had you given him to drink you would have surely found that with Me.
It was related by Muslim.

Ibrahim ibn Abi 'Abla said, "My wife was ill and I used to go to Umm ad-Darda'. She asked me, 'How's your family?' 'Ill,' I replied. She called for some food for me and I ate. Then I went back and she did the same thing again. I visited her yet again and she asked, 'How are they?' 'They are almost well,' I replied. She said, 'I called for good for you when you told me that your family were ill. Since they are almost well know, we will not call for anything for you.'"

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that al-Qasim ibn Muhammad was asked about a man who bought goods for 10 dinars cash or fifteen dinars on credit. He disapproved of that and forbade it.

Malik said that if a man bought goods from a man for either 10 dinars or 15 dinars on credit, that one of the two prices was obliged on the buyer. It was not to be done because if he postponed paying the ten, it would be 15 on credit, and if he paid the ten, he would buy with it what was worth fifteen dinars on credit.

Malik said that it was disapproved of for a man to buy goods from someone for either a dinar cash or for a described sheep on credit and that one of the two prices was obliged on him. It was not to be done because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade two sales in one sale. This was part of two sales in the one sale.

Malik spoke about a man saying to another, "'I will either buy these fifteen sa of ajwa dates from you, or these ten sa of sayhani dates or I will buy these fifteen sa of inferior wheat or these ten sa of Syrian wheat for a dinar, and one of them is obliged to me.' Malik said that it was disapproved of and was not halal. That was because he obliged him ten sa of sayhani, and left them and took fifteen sa of ajwa, or he was obliged fifteen sa of inferior wheat and left them and took ten sa of Syrian wheat. This was also disapproved of, and was not halal. It resembled what was prohibited in the way of two sales in one sale. It was also included under the prohibition against buying two for one of the same sort of food."

"Verily, Tamim Ad-Dari narrated a story to me, and it made me happy, so I wanted to narrate it to you[what he narrated to me]. Some people among the inhabitants of Palestine traveled by boat in the sea, taking them here and there, until it cast them on an island among the islands at sea. There they found a beast, clothed with its hair flowing out. They said: 'What are you?' It said: 'I am Al-Jassasah.' They said: 'Give us some news.' It said: 'I shall not give you any news, nor do I want any of your news. But go to the furthest village, for there is someone who will give you news and seek your news.' So we went to the furthest village, and there was a man fettered with chains. He said: 'Inform me about the spring of Zughar.' We said: ' It is full and flowing.' He said: 'Inform me about Al-Buhairah.' We said,'It is full and flowing.' He said: 'Inform me about the date groves of Baysan which is between Jordan and Palestine, do they produce food?' We said: 'Yes.' He said: 'Inform me about the Prophet, has he been sent?' We said: 'Yes.' He said: 'Inform me how the people came to him.' We said: 'Quickly.' He leaped up to try and escape.' We said: 'What are you?' He said: 'I am the Dajjal.'" (The Prophet(s.a.w) said) "He will enter all of the lands except At-Taibah, and At-Taibah is Al-Madinah."

Abu Huraira reported God's messenger as saying, "The last hour will not come before two parties which make the same profession fight together and a great slaughter results, before about thirty lying dajjals are sent forth each of them asserting that he is God's messenger, before knowledge is withheld, earthquakes are abundant, the time becomes short, dissensions appear, and there is much harj, which means slaughter, before wealth is abundant and overflowing among you, before one who possesses property is anxious to find someone who will accept his sadaqa, before he offers it and the one to whom it is offered says he has no need of it, before people try to outstrip one another in building, before a man passes another's grave and expresses the desire that he were in his place, and before the sun rises in its place of setting. Then when it rises and people see it, they will all believe, but that is a time when a soul will not be benefited by faith it did not have before, or acquire any good from its faith. The last hour will certainly come when two men have spread out their garment between them, but they will not complete the transaction or fold up the garment; the last hour will certainly come when a man has gone off with the milk of his milch camel, but he will not taste it; the last hour will certainly come when a man is repairing his tank, but he will not water his camels from it; and the last hour will certainly come when one has raised his food to his mouth, but he will not taste it." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

this is the messenger of the Lord of the universe whom God is commissioning as a mercy to the universe." Some shaikhs of Quraish asked him how he knew, and he replied, "When you came over the hill not a tree or a stone failed to bow in prostration, and they prostrate themselves only before a prophet. I recognise him by the seal of prophecy, like an apple, below the end of his shoulder-blade." He then went and prepared food for them, and when he brought it to them the Prophet was looking after the camels, so he told them to send for him. He came with a cloud above him shading him, and when he approached the people, he found they had gone before him into the shade of a tree. Then when he sat down the shade of the tree inclined over him, and the monk said, "Look how the shade of the tree has inclined over him. I adjure you by God to tell me which of you is his guardian." On being told that it was Abu Talib he kept adjuring him to send him back until he did so. Abu Bakr sent Bilal along with him and the monk gave him provision of coarse bread and olive-oil. Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Abu Mahdhura said, "I was sitting with 'Umar when Safwan ibn Umayya brought him a bowl which some people were carrying in a robe. They set it down in front of 'Umar. 'Umar then invited some poor people and some slaves belonging to the people around him and they ate with him. Then he aid, 'Allah will do a people - or else he said, 'Allah will curse a people' - who dislike having their slaves eat with them.' Safwan said, 'By Allah, we do not dislike them, but we prefer ourselves to them, and by Allah, we do not find good food which we can eat and feed it to them as well.'"

I asked, "O Messenger of Allah, what are the rights of a wife of one of us on her husband?" He replied, "You should give her food when you eat, clothe her when you clothe yourself, not strike her on the face, and do not revile her or desert her except within the house." [Reported by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, an-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah, al-Bukhari mentioned part of it [the last sentence] as Mu'allaq (a broken chain from the side of the collector, i.e. al-Bukhari), Ibn Hibban and al-Hakim graded it Sahih (authentic)].

Allah (mighty and sublime be He) says: Fasting is Mine and it is I who give reward for it. [A man] gives up his sexual passion, his food and his drink for my sake. Fasting is like a shield, and he who fasts has two joys: a joy when he breaks his fast and a joy when he meets his Lord. The change in the breath of the mouth of him who fasts is better in Allah's estimation than the smell of musk. It was related by al-Bukhari (also by Muslim, Malik, at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah).

“Do I not have the right that you should listen to me and obey?” They said: “Yes.” He said: “And if I command you to do something, will you not do it?” They said: “Of course.” He said: “Then I command you to jump into this fire.” Some people got up and got ready to jump, and when he saw that they were about to jump, he said: “Restrain yourselves, for I was joking with you.” When we came to Al-Madinah, they mentioned that to the Prophet (saw), and the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Whoever among you commands you to do something that involves disobedience to Allah, do not obey him.”

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, "Whoever makes an oath and then sees that something else would be better than it, should do kaffara for his oath and do what is better."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "Anyone who says that he has a vow but does not mention the name of Allah, is still obliged to make the kaffara for an oath (if he breaks it)".

Malik said, "Emphasis is when a man swears one thing several times, repeating the oath in his speech time after time. For instance, the statement, 'By Allah, I will not decrease it from such-and-such,' sworn three times or more. The kaffara of that is like the kaffara of one oath. If a man swears, 'I will not eat this food or wear these clothes or enter this house,' that is all in one oath, and he is only obliged to do one kaffara. It is the same for a man who says to his wife, 'You are divorced if I clothe you in this garment or let you go to the mosque,' and it is one entire statement in the normal pattern of speech. If he breaks any of that oath, divorce is necessary, and there is no breaking of oath after that in whatever he does. There is only one oath to be broken in that."

Malik said, "What we do about a woman who makes a vow without her husband's permission is that she is allowed to do so and she must fulfill it, if it only concerns her own person and will not harm her husband. If, however, it will harm her husband, he may forbid her to fulfill it, but it remains an obligation against her until she has the opportunity to complete it."

Messenger of Allah (PBUH) visited me in my illness which became severe in the year of Hajjat-ul-Wada' (Farewell Pilgrimage). I said, "O Messenger of Allah, you can see the pain which I am suffering and I am a man of means and there is none to inherit from me except one daughter. Should I give two-thirds of my property in charity?" He (PBUH) said, "No". I asked him, "Then half?" He said, "No". Then I asked, "Can I give away one-third". He said, "Give away one-third, and that is still too much. It is better to leave your heirs well-off than to leave them poor, begging people. You will not expend a thing in charity for the sake of Allah, but you will be rewarded for it; even the morsel of food which you feed your wife". I said, "O Messenger of Allah, would I survive my companions?" He said, "If you survive others and accomplish a thing for the sake of Allah, you would gain higher ranking and standing. You will survive them ... your survival will be beneficial to people (the Muslim) and harmful to others (the enemies of Islam). You will survive others till the people will derive benefit from you, and others would be harmed by you." Messenger of Allah (PBUH) further said, "O Allah, complete for my Companions their emigration and do not cause them to retract." Sa'd bin Khaulah was unfortunate. Messenger of Allah (PBUH) lamented his death as he died in Makkah.

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

I noticed a man whose opinion was followed by everyone, and no one acted contrary to what he said. I asked who he was, and I was informed that he was the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). I said to him twice: "Alaikas- salam ya Rasul-Allah (May Allah render you safe)." He said, "Do not say: 'Alaikas-salamu.' This is the salutation to the dead (during the time of Jahiliyyah). Say, instead: 'As-salamu 'alaika (May Allah render you safe)."' I asked: "Are you the Messenger of Allah?" He replied, "(Yes) I am the Messenger of Allah, The One Who (Allah) will remove your affliction when you are in trouble and call upon Him, Who will cause food to grow for you when you are famine-stricken and call upon Him, and Who will restore to you your lost riding animal in the desert when you call upon Him." I said to him: "Give me instructions (to act upon)." He (PBUH) said, "Do not abuse anyone." (Since then I have never abused anyone, neither a freeman, nor a slave, nor a camel, nor a sheep). He (PBUH) continued, "Do not hold in contempt even an insignificant act of goodness because even talking to your brother with a cheerful countenance is an act of goodness. Hold up your lower garment half way to the leg, and at least above the ankles; for trailing it is arrogance, and Allah dislikes pride. And if a man attributes to you bad things he knows you possess, do not attribute to him bad things that you know he has for he will assume the evil consequences of his abuse."

[Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi].

When we were digging at the battle of the Trench a huge piece of rock appeared as an obstruction, so they went to the Prophet and told him that this piece of rock had appeared as an obstruction in the trench. Saying, "I shall go down," he stood up (and he had a stone tied on his belly[*], for we had been three days without tasting any food). The Prophet then took the pick and struck it and it became a mound of sand pouring down. I then went off to my wife and asked her if she had anything, for I had seen the Prophet was very hungry, and she brought out a bag containing a sa` of barley. We had a tame lamb which I killed and she ground the barley, and we put the meat in the pot. I then went to the Prophet and told him secretly that we had killed a small lamb and my wife had ground a sa' of barley, inviting him to come and bring some people with him. So, the Prophet shouted, "You who are working at the trench, Jabir has prepared a repast, so come on." God's messenger then said, "Do not take off your pot and do not bake your dough till I come." When he came, I brought out dough for him and he spat in it and invoked a blessing. He then went to our pot, spat, invoked a blessing, and then said, "Call a woman to bake along with you, and take ladlefuls from your pot but do not take it off." There were a thousand present, and I swear by God that they ate till they left it and went away, and our pot was boiling as it had been and our dough was being baked as before. *For the purpose of allaying the pangs of hunger. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

When the Prophet was newly married to Zainab, my mother Umm Sulaim took some dates, clarified butter and curd, and made hais[1]. When she had prepared it in a cooking-pot she said, "Take this to God's messenger, Anas, say your mother has sent this to him along with her good wishes, and tell him this is a small gift to him from us." When I had gone and repeated this, he told me to put it down, then said, "Go and invite so and so, so and so, and so and so (naming some men) to come to me, and invite those whom you meet to come to me." I invited those he named and those I met, and when I returned the house was crowded with people[2]. (Anas was asked how many there were and replied that there were about three hundred.) I saw the Prophet put his hand on that bit of hais and say such words as God wished. He then began to invite them to eat in groups of ten, and he was saying to them, "Mention God's name, and let each man eat from the place nearest him." When they had eaten to their satisfaction one party went out and another entered till they had all eaten. He told me to remove the food and I did so, and I do not know whether there was more of it when I set it down or when I removed it. Hais (special dish prepared from dried yoghourt, butter and dates). This is what the Arabic says, but in view of what follows about the people being admitted in tens, it probably means that the house was surrounded by a great throng. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

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 a sa of ajwa for a sa of poor dates. He would only give him that because of the excellence of kabis dates.

"Or it is like a man asking some one to sell him three sa of white wheat for two and a half sa of Syrian wheat, and being told that it was not good except like for like, and so offering two sa of wheat and one sa of barley intending to make the sale possible between them. That is not good because no one would have given a sa of barley for a sa of white wheat had that sa been by itself. It was only given because of the excellence of Syrian wheat over the white wheat. This is not good. It is the same as the case of the unminted gold."

Malik said, "Where gold, silver and food, things which should only be sold like for like, are concerned, something disliked and of poor quality should not be put with something good and desirable in order to make the sale possible and to make a bad situation halal. When something of desirable quality is put with something of poor quality and it is only included so that its excellence in quality is noticed, something is being sold which if it had been sold on its own, would not have been accepted and to which the buyer would not have paid any attention. It is only accepted by the buyer because of the superiority of what comes with it over his own goods. Transactions involving gold, silver, or food, must not have anything of this description enter into them. If the owner of the poor quality goods wants to sell them, he sells them on their own, and does not put anything with them. There is no harm if it is like that."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Malik ibn Aus ibn al-Hadathan an-Nasri that one time he asked to exchange 100 dinars. He said, "Talha ibn Ubaydullah called me over and we made a mutual agreement that he would make an exchange for me. He took the gold and turned it about in his hand, and then said, 'I can't do it until my treasurer brings the money to me from al-Ghaba.' Umar ibn al- Khattab was listening and Umar said, 'By Allah! Do not leave him until you have taken it from him!' Then he said, 'The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Gold for silver is usury except hand to hand. Wheat for wheat is usury except hand to hand. Dates for dates is usury except hand to hand. Barley for barley is usury except hand to hand." "'

Malik said, "When a man buys dirhams with dinars and then finds a bad dirham among them and wants to return it, the exchange of the dinars breaks down, and he returns the silver and takes back his dinars. The explanation of what is disapproved of in that is that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Gold for silver is usury except hand to hand.' and Umar ibn al-Khattab said, 'If someone asks you to wait to be paid until he has gone back to his house, do not leave him.' When he returns a dirham to him from the exchange after he has left him, it is like a debt or something deferred. For that reason, it is disapproved of, and the exchange collapses. Umar ibn al-Khattab wanted that all gold, silver and food should not be sold for goods to be paid later. He did not want there to be any delay or deferment in any such sale, whether it involved one commodity or different sorts of commodities."

That he heard Anas [bin Malik] saying: "The Messenger of Allah (saws) used to visit Umm Haram bint Milhan, who would offer him meals. Umm Haram was the wife of 'Ubadah bin As-Samit. Once the Messenger of Allah (saws) visited her and she provide him with some food and started inspecting this head for lice. Then the Messenger of Allah (saws) slept and afterwards he awoke smiling.

She said: 'I said: "What causes you to smile, O the Messenger of Allah (saws) ?" He said: "Some of my followers who were displayed before me )in a dream) as fighters in Allah's cause, riding on a ship this ocean who were kings upon thrones, or like kings upon thrones." I said: "O Messenger of Allah! Supplicate to Allah to make me among them.'" So he supplicated for her. Then he lay down his head to sleep. Then he woke up and he was smiling. She said: 'So I said to him: "What causes you to smile, O the Messenger of Allah (saws)?" He said: "Some of my followers who were displayed before me (in a dream) as fighters in Allah's cause," and he said similar to what he said earlier. She said: 'I said: "O Messenger of Allah! Supplicate to Allah to make me among them." He said: "You are the earlier ones.'" He said: "So Umm Haram rode on the sea during the time of Mu'awiyah bin Abu Sufyan. She was thrown from the riding animal after she arrived from the ocean voyage, and she died."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Sahih. Umm Haram bint Milhan is the daughter of Umm Sulaim, the maternal aunt of Anas bin Malik.

I heard Ameer al-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) say: I met Fatimah, al-’Abbas and Zaid bin Harithah in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Al-`Abbas said, O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), I have grown old and my bones have grown weak, and I need more sustenance. If you see fit, O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), to order such and such measure of food for me, then do so. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `We will do it.` Fatimah said: O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), if you see fit to order that I be given what you have given to your paternal uncle, then do so. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `We will do it.` Then Zaid bin Harithah said: O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), you gave me land from which I made my livelihood, then you took it back; if you see fit to return it to me, then do so. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `We will do that.` I said: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) , if you see fit to put me in charge of the use of share of the khumus that Allah has decreed for us in His Book, I shall divide it whilst you are still alive so that no one will dispute it with me after you are gone. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “We will do that.” And the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) appointed me in charge of it and I divided it during his lifetime. Then Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) put me in charge of it and I divided it during his lifetime. Then ‘Umar (رضي الله عنه)put me in charge of it and I divided it during his lifetime until the last year of ‘Umar`s reign, when a great deal of wealth came to him.

One early morning when they were with God’s messenger some people came to him who were scantily clad, wearing striped woollen garments,* with swords over their shoulders; most, nay all of them, belonging to Mudar. God’s messenger showed signs of anger on his face because of the poverty-stricken state in which he saw them, and went in. After a little he came out and gave orders to Bilal who uttered the call to prayer and announced that the time to begin prayer had come. When the Prophet had prayed, he delivered an address in which he said, “ ‘Fear your Lord, people, who created you from one soul . . . God watches over you.’[Qur’an, iv, 1] ‘Fear God, and let a soul look to what it has sent forward for the morrow. [Ibid., lix, 18] Let a man give sadaqa from his dinars and dirhams, his clothing, his sa‘ of wheat and sa‘ of dates, even if it is only half a date.” Jarir said: One of the Ansar brought a purse which was almost too big for his hand to hold, indeed it was too big. Then people came one after the other till I saw two mounds of food and clothing, with the result that I saw the face of God’s messenger glowing as if it were golden. He then said, “If anyone establishes a good sunna in Islam he will have a reward for it and the equivalent of the rewards of those who act upon it after him, without theirs being diminished in any respect; but he who establishes a bad sunna in Islam will bear the responsibility of it and the responsibility of those who act upon it after him, without theirs being diminished in any respect.” Muslim transmitted it. *[The text has an-nimar au al-'aba, thus giving an alternative word. This is not indicated in the translation above.]

'Abdullah ibn 'Umar reported that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab spoke in the Year of the Drought*, which was a severe, disastrous year, after 'Umar had done his best to help the Bedouins with camels, wheat and oil from the fields to the point where all the fields were dried up as a result of those efforts. he stood up to make supplication, saying, "O Allah! Provide them at the tops of the mountains!" Allah answered that supplication for him and the Muslims. When abundant rain fell, he said, "Praise belongs to Allah! By Allah, if Allah had not given us relief, I would not have left the people of any Muslim's house with wealth without putting a like number of poor people with him. Two will not die with food which will support one person."

The Prophet (PBUH) said, "Allah, the Exalted, and Glorious, said; 'O My slaves, I have prohibited Myself injustice; and have made oppression unlawful for you, so do not oppress one another. O My slaves, all of you are liable to err except the one whom I guide on the Right Path, so seek guidance from Me so that I will guide you to the Right Path. O My slaves, all of you are hungry except the one whom I feed, so ask food from Me, I will feed you. O My slaves, all of you are naked except those whom I clothe, so ask clothing of Me and I shall clothe you. O My slaves, you commit sins night and day and I forgive all sins, so seek My forgiveness and I shall forgive you. O My slaves, you can neither do Me any harm nor can you do Me any good. O My slaves, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any man of you, that would not increase My domain a thing. O My slaves, were the first of you, and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any man of you, that would not decrease My domain in a thing. O My slaves, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to stand in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more than a needle decrease the sea if put into it. O My slaves, it is but your deeds that I reckon for you and then recompense you for, so let him who finds good (i.e., in the Hereafter) praise Allah and let him who finds other than that blame no one but himself."'.

[Muslim].

`Ali bin Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) said to me: “O son of A’bud, do you know what the rights of the food are?” I said: “What are its rights, O son of Abu Talib?” He said: “To say: in the Name of Allah; O Allah, bless for us what You have provided for us. Do you know how to express gratitude when you have finished eating?” I said: “What is gratitude for it?” He said: “To say: Praise be to Allah Who has fed us and given us to drink.” Then he said: “Shall I not tell you about me and Fatimah (رضي الله عنها)? She was the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and she was one of the dearest of his family to him, and she was my wife. She worked with the millstone until the millstone left marks on her hand, and she brought water with a bucket until the bucket left marks on her chest. She took care of the house until her garment became dusty and she lit a fire under the pot until her garment became dirty, and she suffered hardship because of that. Some female captives (or servants) were brought to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and I said to her: “Go to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and ask him for a servant to relieve you of the hardship you are in.” So she went to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and she found some servants with him. Then she came back and did not ask him for one. (And he narrated the hadeeth - And he [the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)] said: `Shall I not tell you of something that is better for you than a servant? When you go to your bed, glorify Allah thirty three times, praise Him thirty three times, and magnify Him thirty four times.” She stuck her head out and said: “I am content with Allah and His Messenger,” twice. (And he narrated a hadeeth like that of Ibn ‘Ulayyah from al-Jurairi or similar to it.)

Abu Dharr quoted God’s messenger as saying among the things he transmitted from God who is blessed and exalted that He has said, “My servants, I have made oppression unlawful for myself and I have made it unlawful among you, so do not oppress one another. My servants, you are all straying except those whom I guide, but if you ask for my guidance I will guide you. My servants, you are all hungry except those whom I feed, but if you ask me for food I will feed you. My servants, you are all naked except those whom I have clothed, but if you ask me for clothing I will clothe you. My servants, you are all sinning night and day, but I forgive all sins, so if you ask me forgiveness I will forgive you. My servants, you will not be able to injure me and succeed in such a purpose, neither will you be able to benefit me and succeed in such a purpose. My servants, even if the first and last of you, men and jinn, were as pious as the one with the most pious heart among you, that would not cause any increase in my dominion. My servants, if the first and last of you, men and jinn, were as wicked as the man with the most wicked heart among you, that would not cause any diminution in my dominion. My servants, if the first and last of you, men and jinn, were to stand in one plain and make request of me and I were to give every man what he asked, that would make no more diminution of what I possess than a needle would when put into the sea. My servants, they are only your deeds which I put to your account and then pay you in full for them; so let him who experiences good praise God, and let him whose experience is different blame no one but himself.” Muslim transmitted it.

"Abu Talhah said to Umm Sulaim: 'I heard the voice of the Messenger of Allah (SAW) sounding weak and I sensed some hunger in it. Do you have anything? She said: 'Yes.' So she got some loaves of wheat bread, then she took out a Khimar of hers, and put the bread in it. Then she put it under my arm, and wrapped my upper body with part of it, and she sent me to the Messenger of Allah (SAW)." He said: "So I brought it to him, and I found the Messenger of Allah (SAW) sitting in the Masjid, and there were people with him. So I stood among them, and the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: 'Has Abu Talhah sent you?' I said: 'Yes.' He said: 'With food?' I said: 'Yes.' So the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said to those with him: 'Stand up.'" So they left, and I left in front of them, until I came to Abu Talhah, and I told him (that they were coming). Abu Talhah said: 'O Umm Sulaim! The Messenger of Allah (SAW) is coming with people, and we don't have anything to feed them.' Umm Sulaim said: 'Allah and His Messenger know best.'" He said: "So Abu Talhah departed until he met up with the Messenger of Allah (SAW). The Messenger of Allah came, while Abu Talhah was with him, until they entered, when the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: 'Come O Umm Sulaim! What do you have?' So she brought him that bread, and he (SAW) ordered that it be broken into pieces. Umm Sulaim poured some butter from an oil-skin upon them, then the Messenger of Allah (SAW) recited whatever Allah willed for him to say over it. Then he said: 'Let ten come.' So ten were admitted, and they ate until they were full, and then they left. Then he said: 'Let ten come.' So ten were admitted, and they ate until they were full, and they left. Then he said: 'Let ten come.' So ten were admitted, and they ate until they were full, and there were seventy or eighty men."

We were with Messenger of Allah (PBUH) shortly after dawn when there came to him some people clad in woollen rags, or covered with sleeveless blankets; and with swords hanging down from their necks. Most of them rather, all of them, belonged to the Mudar tribe. The face of the Prophet (PBUH) changed when he saw them starving. Then he went into his house and came out; then he commanded Bilal (May Allah be pleased with him) to proclaim Adhan (call to prayers). So he proclaimed Adhan and recited Iqamah and the Prophet (PBUH) led the Salat. Then he delivered a Khutbah saying, "O mankind! Be dutiful to your Rubb, Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife (Eve), and from them both He created many men and women; and fear Allah through Whom you demand your (natural) rights, and do not sever the relations of kinship. Surely, Allah is Ever an All-Watcher over you." (4:1) He also recited the Ayah which is in the end of Surat Al-Hashr: "O you who believe! Fear Allah and keep your duty to Him. And let every one look what he has sent forth for the tomorrow". (59:18). Thereafter, every man gave in charity Dinar, Dirham, clothes, measure-fulls of wheat and measure-fulls of dates till he said: "(Give in charity) be it half a date". Then a man of the Ansar came with a bag which was difficult for him to hold in his hand. Thereafter, the people came successively (with charity) till I saw two heaps of food and clothes. I noticed that the face of Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was glowing like that of the bright moon or glittering gold. Then he (PBUH) said, "Whosoever introduces a good practice in Islam, there is for him its reward and the reward of those who act upon it after him without anything being diminished from their rewards. And whosoever introduces an evil practice in Islam, will shoulder its sin and the sins of all those who will act upon it, without diminishing in any way their burden"

[Muslim].

"A group entered the presence of Zaid ibn Thabit and said to him: 'Relate to us the traditions of Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace).' He said: 'What shall I relate to you? I was his neighbor, so when the revelation descended upon him, he notified me and I recorded it in writing for him. When we talked about this world, he would talk about it with us, when we talked about the Hereafter, he would talk about it with us, and when we talked about food, he would talk about it with us, so I shall relate to you what Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) had to say about all of this.'” .

Bilal ibn Ka'b al-'Ukki said, "We - Ibrahim ibn Adham, 'Abdu'l-'Aziz ibn Qarir, Musa ibn Yasar and I - visited Yahya ibn Hassan (al-Bakri al-Filistini) in his village. He brought us some food, but Musa held back because he was fasting. Yahya said, 'We had a man with the kunya of Abu Qursafa from the Banu Kinana who had been one of the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he was in this mosque for forty years. He would fast one day and break the fast the next day, My father had a son born to him and he invited this man on the day that he was fasting and he broke his fast.' Ibrahim stood up and swept him with cloak and Musa broke his fast."

Abu Hurairah (RAA) narrated, The Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H.) forbade us from practicing wisal in fasting (i.e. fasting continuously without breaking one’s fast in the evening or eating before the following dawn). So a man said to him, ‘But you practice wisal O Messenger of Allah!’ The Prophet Allah (P.B.U.H.) replied, “Which one of you is like me? I am given food and drink during my sleep by Allah." So when people refused to stop wisal, the Prophet fasted day and night continuously along with them for a day and then another day and then they saw the crescent (of the new month of Shawwal). The Prophet said to them, "If the crescent had not appeared, I would have made you fast for a longer period." That was a punishment for them because they refused to stop (practicing Wisal). Agreed upon.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Ata ibn Abdullah al-Khurasani said that an old man from Suq al-Buram in Kufa had related to him that Kab ibn Ujra said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to me while I was blowing under a cooking pot belonging to my companions and my head and beard were full of lice. He took my forehead and said, 'Shave your hair and fast three days or feed six poor people.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was aware that I did not have anything with me to sacrifice.'"

Malik said, concerning paying compensation (fidya) for the relief of physical discomfort, "The custom concerning it is that no one pays compensation until he has done something which makes it obligatory to pay compensation just as making amends (kaffara) is only done when it has become obligatory for the one who owes it. The person can pay the compensation wherever he wishes, regardless of whether he has to sacrifice an animal or fast or give sadaqa -- in Makka or in any other town."

Malik said, "It is not correct for a person in ihram to pluck out any of his hair or to shave it or cut it until he has left ihram, unless he is suffering from an ailment of the head, in which case he owes the compensation Allah the Exalted has ordered. It is not correct for a person in ihram to cut his nails, or to kill his lice, or to remove them from his head or from his skin or his garment to the ground. If a person in ihram removes lice from his skin or his garment, he must give away the quantity of food that he can scoop up with both hands. "

Malik said,"Anyone who, while in ihram, plucks out hairs from his nose or armpit or rubs his body with a depilatory agent or shaves the hair from around a head wound out of necessity or shaves his neck for the place of the cupping glasses, regardless of whether it is in forgetfulness or in ignorance, owes compensation in all these instances, and he must not shave the place of the cupping glasses. Someone, who, out of ignorance, shaves his head before he stones the jamra. must also pay compensation."

the Messenger of Allah said: "Indeed Allah accepts charity, and He accepts it with His Right (Hand) to nurture it for one of you, just like one of you would nurture his foal, until the bite (of food) becomes as large as Uhud." The Book of Allah, the Mighty and Sublime testifies to that: 'He accepts repentance from His worshipers, and accepts charity.'And: 'Allah will destroy Riba and give increase for charity.'¹
And: 'Allah will destroy Riba and will give increase for charity.'² (Abu 'Eisa) said: This Hadith is (Hasan) Sahih. It has been reported from'Aishah from the Prophet similarly. More than one of the people of knowledge have spoken about this Hadith, and the narrations that resemble it about the Attributes and the Descent of the Lord, Blessed and Most High, every night to the lowest Heaven. They said: "The narrations about these are affirmed and should be believed in without misinterpreting them nor saying 'how'." It has been reported like this from Malik (bin Anas), Suf'ãn bin 'Uyainah, 'Abdullãh bin A1-Mubarak; they would say about these Hadith: They are conveyed without saying how. This is the view of the people of knowledge among Ahl As-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah. As for the Jahmiyyah, they reject these narrations and they say that this is Tashbih.³ And in other places in His Book, Allah, Blessed and Most High is He, has mentioned the Hand, the Hearing, the Seeing, so the Jahmiyyah misinterpret these Ayãt and give them interpretations other than the interpretations of the people of knowledge. They say that Allah did not create Adam with His Hand, and they say the meaning of Hand is merely power. Isaq bin Ibrahim said: At-Tashbih is only when one says 'Hand; like a hand or similar to a hand' or 'Hearing; like hearing or similar to hearing.' So when one says 'Hearing; like hearing or similar to hearing' then this is the Tashbih. As for when one says as Allah (Most High) said, Hand, Hearing, Seeing, and he does not say 'how' nor say 'similar to hearing' nor 'like hearing' then this is not Tashbih. It is merely as Allah, Blessed and Most High is He said: 'There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.'(Ash-Shüra 42:11).

1: At-Tawbah 9:104.

2: Al-Baqarah 2:276.

3: Anthropomorphism, resembling Allah to creatures.

Messenger of Allah (PBUH) sent us in an expedition under the command of Abu 'Ubaidah (May Allah be pleased with him) to intercept a caravan of the Quraish. He provided us with a bag of dates, apart from which he found nothing for us. Abu 'Ubaidah (May Allah be pleased with him) gave each of us one date (every day). He (the narrator) was asked: "What did you do with that?" He said: We sucked that just like a baby and then drank water over that, and it was sufficient for us for the day until night. We beat off leaves with the help of our sticks, then drenched them with water and ate them. We then went to the seaside, when there appeared before us something like a big mound. We came near it and we found that it was a beast called Al-Anbar. Abu 'Ubaidah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: "It is dead (so it useless for us)." He then said: "No (but it does not matter), we have been sent by Messenger of Allah (PBUH) in the way of Allah and you are hard-pressed (on account of the scarcity of food), so you can eat that." We, three hundred in number, stayed there for a month until we fattened up (having plenty to eat of that fish). He (Jabir) said: I saw how we extracted pitcher after pitcher full of fat from the cavity of its eye, and sliced from it compact piece of meat equal to a bull or almost like a bull. Abu 'Ubaidah (May Allah be pleased with him) called thirteen men from us and he made them sit in the cavity of its eye, and he held one of its ribs and raised it erect and then saddled the biggest of the camels we had with us and it passed through it (the arched rib), and we carried large pieces of meat for use in our journey. When we came back to Al-Madinah we went to Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and told him about that, whereupon he said, "That was a sustenance Allah had brought forth for you. Do you have any piece of meat left with you, for us to eat." Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) said: We sent to Messenger of Allah (PBUH) some of that (meat) and he ate it.

[Muslim].

Malik said there was no harm if a man who sold some drapery and excluded some garments by their markings, stipulated that he chose the marked ones from that. If he did not stipulate that he would choose from them when he made the exclusion, I think that he is partner in the number of drapery goods which were purchased from him. That is because two garments can be alike in marking and be greatly different in price.

Malik said, "The way of doing things among us is that there is no harm in partnership, transferring responsibility to an agent, and revocation when dealing with food and other things, whether or not possession was taken, when the transaction is with cash, and there is no profit, loss, or deferment of price in it. If profit or loss or deferment of price from one of the two enters any of these transactions, it becomes sale which is made halal by what makes sale halal, and made haram by what makes sale haram, and it is not partnership, transferring responsibility to an agent, or revocation."

Malik spoke about some one who bought drapery goods or slaves, and the sale was concluded, then a man asked him to be his partner and he agreed and the new partner paid the whole price to the seller and then something happened to the goods which removed them from their possession. Malik said, "The new partner takes the price from the original partner and the original partner demands from the seller the whole price unless the original partner stipulated on the new partner during the sale and before the transaction with the seller was completed that the seller was responsible to him. If the transaction has ended and the seller has gone, the pre-condition of the original partner is void, and he has the responsibility."

Malik spoke about a man who asked another man to buy certain goods to share between them, and he wanted the other man to pay for him and he would sell the goods for the other man. Malik said, "That is not good. When he says, 'Pay for me and I will sell it for you,' it becomes a loan which he makes to him in order that he sell it for him and if those goods are destroyed, or pass, the man who paid the price will demand from his partner what he put in for him. This is part of the advance which brings in profit."

Malik said, "If a man buys goods, and they are settled for him, and then a man says to him, 'Share half of these goods with me, and I will sell them all for you,' that is halal, there is no harm in it. The explanation of that is that this is a new sale and he sells him half of the goods provided that he sells the whole lot."

God’s Messenger was detained one morning from observing the prayer with us till the sun had almost appeared over the horizon. He then came cut quickly, and when the iqama had been uttered he conducted the prayer in a shortened form; then when he had given the salutation he called out to us saying, “Keep to your rows as you were.” Then turning to us he said, “I shall tell you what detained me from you this morning. I got up during the night, performed ablution, and prayed what I could; but during my prayer I dozed and was overcome, and there and then I saw my Lord in the most beautiful form. He addressed me by name, and when I replied, ‘At Thy service, my Lord,’ He asked, ‘What do the angels near My presence dispute about?’ and I replied that I did not know. He asked it three times. Then I saw Him put the palm of His hand between my shoulder-blades, so that I experienced the coolness of His fingers between my nipples so everything became clear to me and I attained knowledge. He then addressed me by name, and when I replied, ‘At Thy service, my Lord,’ He asked, ‘What do the angels near My presence dispute about?’ I replied, ‘Expiation.’ He asked what they were, and I replied, ‘Walking on foot to the congregational prayers, sitting in the mosques after the prayers are over, and performing complete ablution in difficult circumstances. He asked what next they disputed about, and when I said it was about degrees, He asked what they were and I replied, ‘Providing food, speaking gently, and praying at night when people are asleep.’ He then told me to make a request, and I said, ‘O God, I ask Thee for power to do good things and abandon objectionable things, for love towards the poor, that Thou shouldest forgive me and show mercy to me, and that when Thou intendest to test any people Thou wilt take me to Thyself without being led astray. And I ask for Thy love, the love of those who love Thee, and a love of doing things which will bring me near to Thy love.’” Then God’s Messenger said, “It is true, so study it and learn it.” Ahmad and Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Tirmidhi said, “This is a hasan sahih tradition. I asked Muhammad b. Isma'il (Al-Bukhari) about this tradition, and he said it is a sahih tradition.”

wheat, barley, sult (a kind of barley), sorghum, pearl millet, rice, lentils, peas, beans, sesame seeds and other such grains and seeds which are used for food. Zakat is taken from them after they have been harvested and are in the form of grai n or seed." He said, "People are entrusted with the assessment and whatever they hand over is accepted ."

Malik was asked whether the tenth or the twentieth was taken out of olives before they were sold or after and he said, "The sale is not taken into consideration. It is the people who produce the olives that are asked about the olives, just as it is the people who produce foodstuffs that are asked about it, and zakat is taken from them by what they say. Someone who gets five awsuq or more of olives from his olive trees has a tenth taken from the oil after pressing. Whereas someone who does not get five awsuq from his trees does not have to pay any zakat on the oil."

Malik said, "Someone who sells his crops when they are ripe and are ready in the husk has to pay zakat on them but the one who buys them does not. The sale of crops is not valid until they are ready in the husk and no longer need water."

Malik said, concerning the word of Allah the Exalted, "And give its due on the day of its harvesting," that it referred to zakat, and that he had heard people saying that.

Malik said, "If someone sells his garden or his land, on which are crops or fruit which have not yet ripened, then it is the buyer who has to pay the zakat. If, however, they have ripened, it is the seller who has to pay the zakat, unless paying the zakat is one of the conditions of the sale."

86 Malik related to me from Musa ibn Maysara that he heard a man ask Said ibn al-Musayyab, "I am a man who sells for a debt." Said said, "Do not sell except for what you take to your camel."

Malik spoke about a person who bought goods from a man provided that he provide him with those goods by a specific date, either in time for a market in which he hoped for their saleability, or to fulfil a need at the time he stipulated. Then the seller failed him about the date, and the buyer wanted to return those goods to the seller. Malik said, "The buyer cannot do that, and the sale is binding on him. If the seller does bring the goods before the completion of the term, the buyer cannot be forced to take them."

Malik spoke about a person who bought food and measured it. Then some one came to him to buy it and he told him that he had measured it for himself and taken it in full. The new buyer wanted to trust him and accept his measure. Malik said, "Whatever is sold in this way for cash has no harm in it but whatever is sold in this way on delayed terms is disapproved of until the new buyer measures it out for himself. The sale with delayed terms is disapproved of because it leads to usury and it is feared that it will be circulated in this way without weight or measure. If the terms are delayed it is disapproved of and there is no disagreement about that with us."

Malik said, "One should not buy a debt owed by a man whether present or absent, without the confirmation of the one who owes the debt, nor should one buy a debt owed to a man by a dead person even if one knows what the deceased man has left. That is because to buy that is an uncertain transaction and one does not know whether the transaction will be completed or not completed."

He said, "The explanation of what is disapproved of in buying a debt owed by someone absent or dead, is that it is not known what unknown debtor may be connected to the dead person. If the dead person is liable for another debt, the price which the buyer gave on strength of the debt may become worthless."

Malik said, "There is another fault in that as well. He is buying something which is not guaranteed for him, and so if the deal is not completed, what he paid becomes worthless. This is an uncertain transaction and it is not good."

Malik said, "One distinguishes between a man who is only selling what he actually has and a man who is being paid in advance for something which is not yet in his possession. The man advancing the money brings his gold which he intends to buy with. The seller says, 'This is 10 dinars. What do you want me to buy for you with it?' It is as if he sold 10 dinars cash for 15 dinars to be paid later. Because of this, it is disapproved of. It is something leading to usury and fraud."

"Abu Talib departed to Ash-Sham, and the Prophet (SAW) left with him, along with some older men from the Quraish. When they came across the monk they stopped there and began setting up their camp, and the monk came out to them. Before that they used to pass by him and he wouldn't come out nor pay attention to them." He said: "They were setting up their camp when the monk was walking amidst them, until he came and took the hand of the Messenger of Allah (SAW). Then he said: 'This is the master of the men and jinn, this is the Messenger of the Lord of the worlds. Allah will raise him as a mercy to the men and jinn.' So some of the older people from the Quraish said: 'What do you know?' He said: 'When you people came along from the road, not a rock nor a tree was left, except that it prostrated, and they do not prostrate except for a Prophet. And I can recognize him by the seal of the Prophethood which is below his shoulder blade, like an apple.' Then he went back, and made them some food, and when he brought it to them, he [the Prophet (SAW)] was tending to the camels. So he said: 'Send for him.' So he came, and there was a cloud over him that was shading him. When he came close to the people, he found that they had beaten him to the tree's shade. So when he sat down, the shade of the tree leaned towards him. He (the monk) said: 'Look at the shade of the tree leaning towards him.'" He said: "So while he was standing over them, telling them not to take him to Rome with him - because if the Romans were to see him, they would recognize him by his description, and they would kill him - he turned, and there were seven people who had come from Rome. So he faced them and said: 'Why have you come?' They said: 'We came because this Prophet is going to appear during this month, and there isn't a road left except that people have been sent to it, and we have been informed of him, and we have been send to this road of yours.' So he said: 'Is there anyone better than you behind you?' They said: 'We only have news of him from this road of yours.' He said: 'Do you think that if there is a matter which Allah wishes to bring about, there is anyone among the people who can turn it away?' They said: 'No.'" He said: "So they gave him their pledge, and they stayed with him. And he said: 'I ask you by Allah, which of you is his guardian?' They said: 'Abu Talib.' So he kept adjuring him until Abu Talib returned him (back to Makkah) and he sent Abu Bakr and Bilal with him. And the monk gave him provisions of Ka'k (a type of bread) and olive oil."

Abu Talha told Umm Sulaim[*] he had noticed God's messenger's voice was weak and realised that he was suffering from hunger, so he suggested she might have something. Replying that she had, she brought out some barley loaves, then took out a head-covering of hers in part of which she wrapped the bread, and when she had put it under my arm, she wound part of it round my head and sent me to God's messenger. When I went with it, I found God's messenger in the mosque accompanied by some people. I gave them a salutation and God's messenger asked me if Abu Talha had sent me. I replied that he had, and he asked if he had sent me with food. When I replied that that was so he told the people who were with him to get up. He set off and I went in front of them, and when I came to Abu Talha, I informed him. He said, "God's messenger has come with some people, Umm Sulaim, and we have nothing to give them to eat." When she replied that God and His messenger knew best, he went off till he met God's messenger, who then came accompanied by Abu Talha and said, "Bring what you have, Umm Sulaim." She brought that bread, and he then ordered that the bread be broken into small pieces, and when Umm Sulaim had squeezed a skin and put seasoning on its God's messenger said regarding it what God willed him to say. He then asked permission for ten to enter, and when that was granted, they ate till they had had enough'. When they had gone out, he asked permission for one group of ten after another to enter, and all the people ate and had enough. They numbered seventy or eighty men. *She had married Malik b. an-Nadr to whom she bore Anas. Miltk had gone to Syria, where he died, and she married Abu Talha. (Bukhari and Muslim.) In a version by Muslim he said, "Permit ten to enter," and when they entered, he said, "Eat, mentioning God's name." They ate until he had done that with eighty men, after which the Prophet and the members of the household ate, and he left something over. In a version by Bukhari he said, "Enter by tens," until he had counted forty. Then the Prophet ate, and I began to look whether it had diminished at all. A version by Muslim says he then took what remained and collected it, then invoked a blessing on it, and when it returned to its original state he said, "Take this."

Three of the Banu Sa'd related from their father that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, visited Sa'd (ibn Abi Waqqas) in Makka and Sa'd wept. He asked, "Why are your weeping?" Sa'd replied, "I fear that I will die in the land from which I have emigrated as Sa'd (ibn Khawla) died." The Prophet said, "O Allah, heal Sa'd!" three times. Sa'd said, "I have a lot of property which my daughter will inherit. Shall I will all of it away?" "No," he replied. Sa'd asked, "Two-thirds?" "No," he replied. "A half then?" Sa'd asked. "No," he answered. Sa'd asked, "A third?" "A third," he said, "but a third is a lot. What you give as sadaqa from your property is sadaqa. What you spend on your family is sadaqa. What your wife eats of your food is sadaqa for you. It is better for you to leave your family in a state of plenty (or he said "livelihood") than to leave them where they have to importune people."

Abu Hurairah (RAA) narrated that A man came to the Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H.) and said, “l am ruined O Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H.)!" The Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H.) asked him, “What has ruined you?" The man replied, ‘I had intercourse with my wife during the day in Ramadan while fasting)’ The Prophet said to him, "Are you able to free a slave?" The man said, ‘No.’ The Prophet said, "Can you fast for two consecutive months?" He said, ‘NO.' The Prophet then asked him, "Can you provide food for sixty poor people?" He said, ‘No.’ Then the man sat down. A basket of dates was brought to the Prophet and he said to the man, “Give this as Sadaqah (voluntary charity)” The man said, ‘To someone who is poorer than us!’ There is no one in this city (Al-Madinah) who is in need of these dates more than us!’ The Prophet laughed until his molar teeth could be seen and said to the man, “Go and feed your family with these dates.” Related by the seven Imams and the wording is from Muslim.

I met Bilal, the Mu'adhdhin of the Messenger of Allah (saws) at Aleppo, and said: Bilal, tell me, what was the financial position of the Messenger of Allah (saws)?

He said: He had nothing. It was I who managed it on his behalf since the day Allah made him Prophet of Allah (saws) until he died. When a Muslim man came to him and he found him naked, he ordered me (to clothe him). I would go, borrow (some money), and purchase a cloak for him. I would then clothe him and feed him.

A man from the polytheists met me and said: I am well off, Bilal. Do not borrow money from anyone except me. So I did accordingly. One day when I performed ablution and stood up to make call to prayer, the same polytheist came along with a body of merchants.

When he saw me, he said: O Abyssinian. I said: I am at your service. He met me with unpleasant looks and said harsh words to me. He asked me: Do you know how many days remain in the completion of this month? I replied: The time is near. He said: Only four days remain in the completion of this month. I shall then take that which is due from you (i.e. loan), and then shall return you to tend the sheep as you did before. I began to think in my mind what people think in their minds (on such occasions). When I offered the night prayer, the Messenger of Allah (saws) returned to his family. I sought permission from him and he gave me permission.

I said: Messenger of Allah, may my parents be sacrificed for you, the polytheist from whom I used to borrow money said to me such-and-such. Neither you nor I have anything to pay him for me, and he will disgrace me. So give me permission to run away to some of those tribes who have recently embraced Islam until Allah gives His Apostle (saws) something with which he can pay (the debt) for me. So I came out and reached my house. I placed my sword, waterskin (or sheath), shoes and shield near my head. When dawn broke, I intended to be on my way.

All of a sudden I saw a man running towards me and calling: Bilal, return to the Messenger of Allah (saws). So I went till I reached him. I found four mounts kneeling on the ground with loads on them. I sought permission.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said to me: Be glad, Allah has made arrangements for the payment (of your debt). He then asked: Have you not seen the four mounts kneeling on the ground?

I replied: Yes. He said: You may have these mounts and what they have on them. There are clothes and food on them, presented to me by the ruler of Fadak. Take them away and pay off your debt. I did so.

He then mentioned the rest of the tradition. I then went to the mosque and found that the Messenger of Allah (saws) was sitting there. I greeted him.

He asked: What benefit did you have from your property? I replied: Allah Most High paid everything which was due from the Messenger of Allah (saws). Nothing remains now.

He asked: Did anything remain (from that property)? I said: Yes. He said: Look, if you can give me some comfort from it, for I shall not visit any member of my family until you give me some comfort from it. When the Messenger of Allah (saws) offered the night prayer, he called me and said: What is the position of that which you had with you (i.e. property)?

I said: I still have it, no one came to me. The Messenger of Allah (saws) passed the night in the mosque.

He then narrated the rest of the tradition. Next day when he offered the night prayer, he called me and asked: What is the position of that which you had (i.e. the rest of the property)?

I replied: Allah has given you comfort from it, Messenger of Allah. He said: Allah is Most Great, and praised Allah, fearing lest he should die while it was with him. I then followed him until he came to his wives and greeted each one of them and finally he came to his place where he had to pass the night. This is all for which you asked me.

Abu Naufal Mu'awiya b. Muslim told that he saw `Abdallah b. az-Zubair on the hill-road leading to Medina[1]. Quraish and others began to go past him, and when `Abdallah b. `Umar came past he stopped where he was and said, "Peace be upon you, Abu Khubaib; peace be upon you, Abu Khubaib; peace be upon you, Abu Khubaib! I swear by God that I was forbidding you to do what would lead to this. I swear by God that I was forbidding you to do what would lead to this. I swear by God that I was forbidding you to do what would lead to this. I swear by God that I have known you were given to fasting, praying by night and joining ties of relationship. I swear by God that a people among whom you are reckoned the worst is a wicked people[2]." A version has, ``a good people". `Abdallah b. `Umar then moved on. When al-Hajjaj heard of 'Abdallah stopping and of what he had said, he sent and had Ibn az-Zubair taken down from his palm-trunk and cast among the graves of the Jews. He then sent for his mother, Asma' daughter of Abu Bakr, but she refused to go to him. He then sent the messenger back to say she must come, or he would send someone for her who would drag her by the hair. She refused to go saying, "I swear by God that I shall not go to you till you send someone for me to drag me by my hair." He called for his smooth leather sandals, and taking them went off in a hurry[3]. Then when he went in to see her, he said, "What do you think of the way I have dealt with God's enemy?" She replied, "I consider that you have spoiled his worldly interests and that he has spoiled your interests in the next world. I heard that you were addressing him as the son of the woman with two girdles. I swear by God that I am the woman with two girdles, one of which was used by me to tie up the food of God's messenger and of Abu Bakr out of reach of animals, and the other is the girdle with which no woman can dispense. God's messenger told us that Thaqif would have among them a great liar and one who would cause destruction, and I consider that the one who was to cause destruction is no other than you." He then got up and left her, and said no more to her. 1. The reference is to Abdallah's dead body where he was crucified on the outskirts of Mecca. 2. Mirqat, 5:515, explains this as meaning that a people who think such a good man to be the worst of them are indeed wicked. The version which follows gives a twist to the meaning, suggesting that a people among whom he is the worst must be very good. 3. Or, swaggering. Muslim transmitted it.

"Together with Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace), Khalid ibn al-Walid and I entered the presence of Maimuna, whereupon she brought us a vessel of milk and Allah’s Messenger drank (Allah bless him and give him peace), while I was on his right side and Khalid was on his left. He said to me: 'The drink is yours, but if you wish, you may let Khalid have it.' I said: 'I wouldn't give up your leftover drink for anyone!' Then Allah’s Messenger said (Allah bless him and give him peace): 'If Allah feeds someone a meal, let him say: ‘O Allah, bless us in it, and give us something even better!’ If Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) gives a person some milk to drink, let him say: ‘O Allah, bless us in it, and grant us more of it!’ Then Allah’s Messenger said (Allah bless him and give him peace): 'Nothing but milk can substitute for both food and drink'!"