He said, "O people! We pass (in our recitation) verses to be prostrated at, so whoever prostrates has done the right thing, and there is no sin upon the one who does not prostrate." [al-Bukhari reported it]. It also contains the words: 'Allah the Most High has not made the prostration (of recitation) compulsory, unless one wishes (to do so).' [This Hadith is in the Muwatta' of Imam Malik).

Allāhumma fa'ayyumā mu'minin sababtuhu faj`al dhālika lahu qurbatan ilayka yawma ‘l-qiyāmah. O Allah, whomever of the believers I have abused, give him the reward of a sacrificial slaughter for it on the Day of Resurrection. Reference: Al-Bukhari, cf. Al-Asqalani, Fathul-Bari 11/171, Muslim 4/2007. The wording in Muslim's report is: 'make it a purification for him and a source of mercy.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said, "I have been ordered to fight against the people until they testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and until they establish the salah and pay the zakat. And if they do that then they will have gained protection from me for their lives and property, unless [they commit acts that are punishable] in Islam, and their reckoning will be with Allah." [Bukhari & Muslim]

Let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day speak good, or keep silent; and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his neighbour; and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his guest. [Al-Bukhari] [Muslim]

A man said to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), “Counsel me,” so he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Do not become angry.” The man repeated [his request for counsel] several times, and [each time] he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Do not become angry.” [Al-Bukhari]

Allah said: Sons of Adam inveigh against [the vicissitudes of] Time, and I am Time, in My hand is the night and the day (1). (1) As the Almighty is the Ordainer of all things, to inveigh against misfortunes that are part of Time is tantamount to inveighing against Him. It was related by al-Bukhari (also by Muslim).

Allah (mighty and sublime be He) says: My faithful servant's reward from Me, if I have taken to Me his best friend from amongst the inhabitants of the world and he has then borne it patiently for My sake, shall be nothing less than Paradise. It was related by al-Bukhari.

Jubair bin Mut’am (RAA) narrated, “Uthman Ibn 'Affan and I went to the Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H.) &, and said to him, ‘O Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H.)! You have given the family of Banu Al-Muttalib from the fifth of the war booty of Khaibar and left us out, while we and they are of the same status.’ The Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H.) replied, “Banu Al-Muttalib and Banu Hashim are one.” Related by al-Bukhari.

'Aishah (RAA) narrated, 'When my vindication was revealed, the Prophet (PBUH) mounted the pulpit and mentioned what happened and recited the verses of the Quran (which had been revealed). When he came down from the pulpit he ordered that two men and a women should be given the prescribed flogging (for this false accusation of 'Aishah (RAA) which is eighty lashes).' Related by Ahmad and the four Imams. Al-Bukhari refereed to it.

Allah's Messenger (SAW) said, "The food of Walima on the first day is a duty, that on the second day is a Sunnah, while the third is showing off. Whoever (does something) to show-off, Allah will expose him (in the Hereafter)." [Reported by at-Tirmidhi who considered it Gharib (transmitted through a single narrator)]. [It is incorrectly claimed that] its narrators are those who are reported from in the Sahih (collection of al-Bukhari)].

He married Umm Yahya, daughter of Abu Ihab, and a woman came and said, "I have suckled both of you." So he asked the Prophet (SAW) and he replied, "How (can you hesitate) while it has been said (that you are foster brothers and sisters)?" 'Uqbah therefore separated from her and she married another husband. [al-Bukhari reported it].

The Prophet (SAW) was with one of his wives when one of the Mothers of the Believers (another of his wives) sent a bowl containing food with a servant of hers. Then, she (in whose house he was) struck it with her hand and the bowl was broken. He collected the pieces of the bowl and began to collect the follow in it and said, "You eat," and gave an unbroken bowl to the messenger (servant) and kept the broken one. [Reported by al-Bukhari].

Narrated Abu Sa’id Al-Khudrī, “A man heard another man reciting (Sūrah Al-Ikhlāṣ) ‘Say He is Allah, (the) One.’ repeatedly. The next morning, he came to Allah’s Messenger ﷺ and informed him about it as if he thought that it was not enough to recite. On that Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “By Him in Whose Hand my life is, this Sūrah is equal to one-third of the Qur’an!” Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 5013.

My father 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) said: When (his daughter) Hafsah (May Allah be pleased with her) became a widow, I met 'Uthman bin 'Affan (May Allah be pleased with him) and offered Hafsah for marriage to him. 'Uthman said: "I shall think over the matter." I waited for a few days and then 'Uthman met me and said: "It occurred to me that I should not marry at present." Then I met Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) and said to him: "If you are willing, I shall marry my daughter Hafsah to you." Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) remained silent and did not utter any word to me in reply. I grew more angry with him than with 'Uthman. I had waited for only a few days when Messenger of Allah (PBUH) asked for her hand in marriage and I married her to him. Thereafter, I met Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) who said, "Perhaps you were angry with me when you offered Hafsah to me and I said nothing in reply." I said, "Yes, that is so." He said, "Nothing stopped me to respond to your offer except that I knew that Messenger of Allah (PBUH) had mentioned her and I could not disclose the secret of Messenger of Allah (PBUH). Had Messenger of Allah (PBUH) left her, I would have accepted her."

[Al-Bukhari].

"One of the earlier Prophets who was out on an expedition proclaimed among his people that no man should follow him who had married a woman with whom he wished to cohabit but had not yet done so, or who had built houses on which he had not yet put the roofs, or who had bought sheep or pregnant she-camels and was expecting them to produce young. He, then, went on the expedition and approached the town at the time of the 'Asr prayer or little before it. He then told the sun that both it and he were under command and prayed Allah to hold it back for them, so it was held back till Allah gave him victory. He collected the spoils and it (meaning fire) came to devour these, but did not. He said that among the people there was a man who stole from the booty. He told them that a man from every tribe must swear allegiance to him, and when a man's hand stuck to his, he said: "There is thief among you and every individual of your tribe must swear allegiance to me". (In course of swearing of allegiance,) hands of two or three persons stuck to his hand. He said: "The thief is among you". They brought him a head of gold like a cow's head and when he laid it down, the fire came and devoured the spoils. Spoils were not allowed to anyone before us, then Allah allowed spoils to us as He saw our weakness and incapacity and allowed them to us".

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

My uncle Anas bin An-Nadr (May Allah be pleased with him) was absent from the battle of Badr and he said: "O Messenger of Allah! I was absent from the first battle you fought against the pagans, and if Allah let me participate in a battle against the pagans, Allah will see what I do." So he encountered the day of Uhud Battle. The Muslims left the positions (the Prophet (PBUH) told them to keep) and were defeated, he said: "O Allah! excuse these people (i.e., the Muslims) for what they have done, and I am clear from what the pagans have done". Then he went forward with his sword and met Sa'd bin Mu'adh (fleeing) and said to him: "By the Rubb of the Ka'bah! I can smell the fragrance of Jannah from a place closer than Uhud Mount". Sa'd said: "O Messenger of Allah, what he did was beyond my power". Anas said: "We saw over eighty wounds on his body caused by stabbing, striking and shooting of arrows and spears. We found that he was killed, and mutilated by the polytheists. Nobody was able to recognize him except his sister who recognized him by the tips of his fingers." Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) said: "We believe that the Ayah 'Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah [i.e., they have gone out for Jihad (holy fighting), and showed not their backs to the disbelievers]...' (33:23), refers to him and his like".

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

When Messenger of Allah (PBUH) told the women that they should give Sadaqah (charity), even if it should be some of their jewellery, I returned to 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud and said, "You are a man who does not possess much, and Messenger of Allah (PBUH) has commanded us to give Sadaqah. So go and ask him if giving to you will serve the purpose; otherwise, I shall give it to someone else." He asked me that I should better go myself. I went and found a woman of the Ansar at the door of Messenger of Allah (PBUH), waiting to ask a similar question as mine. The Prophet (PBUH) was endowed with dignity, and so we could not go in. When Bilal (May Allah be pleased with him) came out to us, we said to him: "Go to Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and tell him that there are two women at the door who have come to ask him whether it will serve them to give Sadaqah to their husbands and to orphans who are in their charge, but do not tell him who we are. Bilal (May Allah be pleased with him) went in and asked him, and Messenger of Allah (PBUH) asked him who the women were. When he told him that they were a woman of the Ansar and Zainab, he asked him which Zainab it was, and when he was told it was the wife of 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud, he (PBUH) said, "They will have a double reward, one for maintaining the ties of kinship and another for Sadaqah".

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (PBUH) sent us to Huraqat, a tribe of Juhainah. We attacked that tribe early in the morning and defeated them, (then) a man from the Ansar and I caught hold of a man (of the defeated tribe). When we overcame him, he said: 'La ilaha illallah (There is no true god except Allah).' At that moment, the Ansari spared him, but I attacked him with my spear and killed him. By the time we went back to Al-Madinah, news had already reached Messenger of Allah (PBUH). He said to me, "O Usamah, did you kill him after he professed La ilaha illallah (There is no true god except Allah)?" I said, "O Messenger of Allah! He professed it only to save his life." Messenger of Allah (PBUH) repeated, "Did you kill him after he had professed La ilaha illallah?" He went on repeating this to me until I wished I had not embraced Islam before that day (so that I would have not committed this sin).

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Another narration is: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Did you kill him in spite of his professing La ilaha illallah?" I said, "O Messenger of Allah! He said out of fear of our arms." He (PBUH) said, "Why did you not cut his heart open to find out whether he had done so sincerely or not?" He continued repeating it until I wished that I had embraced Islam only that day.

While God's messenger was praying at the Ka'ba and the company of Quraish were in the places where they sat, someone said, "Which of you will go to the sacrificial camel of the family of so and so, make for the contents of its stomach, its blood and the skin over the foetus then wait and put it on his shoulders when he prostrates himself?" The most wretched one among them* then went off, and when he prostrated himself put it on his shoulders; and as the Prophet remained in prostration, they laughed to such an extent that they rolled against one another. Someone went to tell Fatima who came running, and the Prophet remained in prostration till she threw it off him, faced them and reviled them. Then when God's messenger finished the prayer, he said three times, "0 God, deal with Quraish (it being his practice when he made supplication to make it three times and when he made a request to make it three times); 0 God, deal with 'Amr b. Hisham, `Utba b. Rabi'a, Shaiba b. Rabi'a, al Walid b. `Utba, Umayya b. Khalaf, `Uqba b. Abu Mu'ait, and `Umara b. al-Walid." `Abdallah said: I swear by God that I have seen them prostrate at the battle of Badr, after which they were dragged to the well, the well of Badr; and God's messenger said, "Those thrown into the well have been followed with a curse." *Mirqat, 5:409, says this was either Abu Jahl, or `Uqba b. Abu Mu'ait, adding that Nawawi said it was the latter. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

While I was with the Prophet a man came to him and complained to him of poverty; then another came to him and complained to him of highway robbery. He then said, "Have you seen al-Hira, `Adi? If you live long enough you will certainly see a woman travelling from al-Hira to go round the Ka'ba, fearing no one but God; if you live long enough the treasures of Kisra will certainly be conquered; if you live long enough you will certainly see a man coming out with a handful of gold or silver looking for someone to accept it but finding no one to accept it from him.[1] One of you will certainly meet God on the day he meets Him with no one between them to interpret for him. He will then certainly say, `Did I not send you a messenger who was conveying the message to you?' He will reply, `Certainly.' He will then say, `Did I not give you property and show favour to you?' He will reply, `Certainly;' then he will look to his right and see only Jahannam, and he will look to his left and see only Jahannam. Guard against hell, even though it be with half a date;[2] and if anyone cannot get so much, he should do it with a good word." `Adi said: I have seen a woman travelling from al-Hira to go round the Ka'ba, fearing no one but God; I was among those who conquered the treasures of Kisra, son of Hurmuz; and if you live long enough you will see what the Prophet Abul Qasim said, one coming out with his hand full. Because there will be no poor at that time. As alms. Bukhari transmitted it.

Anas told that 'Abdallah b. Salam heard of the arrival of God's messenger when he was in an orchard gathering dates, so he went to the Prophet and said, "I shall ask you about three things which only a prophet knows What is the first sign of the last hour? What is the first thing the inhabitants of paradise will eat? And what makes a boy look like his father or his mother?" He replied, "Gabriel has just informed me about them. The first sign of the last hour will be a fire which will collect mankind from the east to the west; the first thing the inhabitants of paradise will eat will be the ligament of a fish's liver; and when the man's liquid comes before the woman's he attracts the child to his likeness, but when the woman's liquid comes first, she attracts it to her likeness." He said, "I testify that there is no god but God and that you are God's messenger. The Jews, messenger of God, are slanderous people, and if they know of my acceptance of Islam before you ask them, they will slander me." When the Jews came, he asked, "What kind of a man is `Abdallah among you?" They replied, "Our best one and the son of our best one, our chief and the son of our chief." He said, "Tell me what you will do supposing he accepts Islam," to which they replied, "God preserve him from that!" `Abdallah then came out and said, "I testify that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God's messenger." They said, "He is the worst of us and the son of the worst of us," and belittled him, whereupon he said, "This is what I feared, messenger of God." Bukhari transmitted it.

When I stood in the rank at the battle of Badr I looked to my right and my left, and when I saw that I was between two young men of the Ansar I wished that I had been between men who were stronger than they. One of them pinched me and said, "Do you know Abu Jahl, uncle?" and I replied, "Yes, but what do you want with him, nephew?” He said, “I have been told that he reviles God's Messenger. By Him in whose hand my soul is, if I see him I shall not leave him till the one of us who is to die first dies.” I was astonished at that, and then the other pinched me and said the same to me. Before long I saw Abu Jahl going round among the people and I said, “Look, this is the man about whom you were asking.” They then hastened to him with their swords and struck him till they killed him, after which they went to God’s Messenger and informed him. He asked which of them had killed him and they both claimed to have done so. He then asked if they had wiped their swords, and when they replied that they had not he looked at the swords and said, “Both of you killed him.” God’s Messenger then decided that what was taken from him should go to Mu'adh b. ‘Amr b. al-Jamuh. The two men were Mu'adh b. ‘Amr b. al-Jamah and Mu'adh b. ‘Afra’.* *’Afra’ was his mother. His father was al-Harith. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

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.)

We wrote down nothing on the authority of God’s messenger but the Qur’an and what this document contains. He reported God’s messenger as saying, “Medina is sacred from ‘Air to Thaur, ( This phrase has been much discussed. ‘Air is known as a hill at Medina and Thaur at Mecca. Because of the difficulty some have suggested that Uhud should be read instead of Thaur, but others feel that that is unjustifiable.) so if anyone produces an innovation in it, or gives protection to an innovator, the curse of God, the angels, and all men will rest upon him, and no repentance or ransom (Lane in his Lexicon gives a variety of meanings for this phrase, la yuqbal minhu sarf wald 'adl. The one used above seems the most suitable here) will be accepted from him. The protection granted by Muslims is one and must be respected by the humblest of them, so if anyone breaks a covenant made by a Muslim the curse of God, the angels, and all men will rest upon him and no repentance or ransom will be accepted from him. If anyone gives the rights of inheritance to people without the permission of his masters, (This is explained in relation to a slave who has been set free, for the rights of inheritance still belong to his master who set him free. Cf. Book 12, ch. 6, third tradition) the curse of God, the angels, and all men will rest upon him, and no repentance or ransom will be accepted from him.’’ Bukhari and Muslim. A version given by both of them says, “ If anyone makes a false claim to paternity or to being a client, the curse of God, the angels and all men will rest upon him, and no repentance or ransom will be accepted from him.”

Abu Hurairah (RAA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H.) said, “When one of you sneezes, he should say, ‘Alhamdulillah (Praise is to Allah) and his (Muslim) brother should say to him, ‘Yarhamuka Allah (May Allah have mercy on you). When he says this to him (the last phrase), he should reply, ‘Yahdikum Allah (May Allah guide you) and grant you well being.” Related by Al-Bukhari.

Ibn 'Umar (RAA) narrated, ‘Allah’s Messenger (P.B.U.H.) took hold of my shoulders and said, “Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a passerby.” Ibn ’Umar used to say, “If you are alive in the evening, do not expect to be alive till the morning and if you are alive in the morning do not expect to be alive till the evening, and take from your health for your sickness, and from your life for your death.” Related by Al-Bukhari.

Al·Miswar bin Makhramah and Marwan narrated, ‘The Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H.) went out in the year of al-Hudaibiyah (reconciliation)- the narrator narrated a long hadith which contained, ‘this is what Muhammad bin 'Abdullah has reconciled with Suhail bin ’Amro, to stop fighting for 10 years during which time people will live safely, and refrain from lighting one another...’ Related by Abu Dawud. It is part of a long hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari.

Allāhumma ‘innī ẓalamtu nafsī ẓulman kathīran, wa lā yaghfiru-dhdhunūba illā 'anta, faghfir lī maghfiratam’min `indika warḥamnī innaka 'anta ‘l-Ghafūr ur-Rahīm. O Allah, I have greatly wronged myself, and no one forgives sins but You. So, grant me forgiveness and have mercy on me. Surely, you are Forgiving, Merciful. Reference: Al-Bukhari 8/168, Muslim 4/2078.

Two words are light on the tongue, weigh heavily in the balance, and are loved by the Most Merciful One: Subḥānallāhi wa biḥamdih, Subḥānallāhi ‘l-`Aẓīm. Allah's Messenger (SAW) said: Two words are light on the tongue, weigh heavily in the balance, and are loved by the Most Merciful One: Glorified is Allah and praised is He, Glorified is Allah the Most Great. Reference: Al-Bukhari 7/168, Muslim 4/2072.

Allah's Messenger (SAW) said, "When you swear an oath and then consider something else to be better than it, make atonement for your oath and do the thing that is better." [Agreed upon]. A wording of al-Bukhari has: "Do the thing that is better and make atonement for your oath." In a narration by Abu Dawud: "Make atonement for your oath, then do the thing that is better." [The chains of narrators of both Ahadith are Sahih (authentic)].

I said, "O Allah's Messenger, I have accepted Islam and I am married to two sisters." Allah's Messenger (SAW)then said, "Divorce whichever of them you wish." [Reported by Ahmad and al-Arba'a, except an-Nasa'i. Ibn Hibban, ad-Daraqutni and al-Baihaqi graded it Sahih (authentic) but al-Bukhari considered it defective].

Allah's Messenger (SAW) said, "No descendant of Adam may make a vow concerning something he does not possess, or set free (a slave) that he does not possess, or divorce (a woman) whom he does not possess (in marriage)." [Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi reported it; the latter graded it Sahih (authentic), and transmitted from al-Bukhari his statement that it is the most authentic Hadith on this subject].

A man was reciting Sūrat Al-Kahf and his horse was tied with two ropes beside him. A cloud came down and spread over that man, and it kept on coming closer and closer to him till his horse started jumping (as if afraid of something). When it was morning, the man came to the Prophet, and told him of that experience. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "That was tranquility which descended because of (the recitation of) the Qur'an." Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 5011

It was narrated from ʿĀ’ishah that when the Prophet ﷺ went to bed every night, he would hold his hands together and blow into them, and recite into them (by cupping his hands together) the last three chapters of the Qur'ān. Then he would wipe them over whatever he could of his body, starting with his head and face and the front of his body, and he would do that three times. Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 5017.

There was amongst those before you a man who had a wound. He was in [such] anguish that he took a knife and made with it a cut in his hand, and the blood did not cease to flow till he died. Allah the Almighty said: My servant has himself forestalled Me; I have forbidden him Paradise. It was related by al-Bukhari.

I asked the Prophet (PBUH) "Have you ever experienced a day harder than the day of the battle of Uhud?" He replied, "Indeed, I experienced them (dangers) at the hands of your people (i.e., the disbelievers from amongst the Quraish tribe). The hardest treatment I met from them was on the Day of 'Aqabah when I went to Ibn 'Abd Yalil bin 'Abd Kulal (who was one of the chiefs of Ta'if) with the purpose of inviting him to Islam, but he made no response (to my call). So I departed with deep distress. I did not recover until I arrived at Qarn ath-Tha'alib. There, I raised my head and saw a cloud which had cast its shadow on me. I saw in it Jibril (Gabriel) (PBUH) who called me and said: 'Indeed, Allah, the Exalted, heard what your people said to you and the response they made to you. And He has sent you the angel in charge of the mountains to order him to do to them what you wish.' Then the angel of the mountains called me, greeted me and said: 'O Muhammad, Allah listened to what your people had said to you. I am the angel of the mountains, and my Rubb has sent me to you so that you may give me your orders. (I will carry out your orders). If you wish I will bring together the two mountains that stand opposite to each other at the extremities of Makkah to crush them in between."' But Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "I rather hope that Allah will raise from among their descendants people as will worship Allah the One, and will not ascribe partners to Him (in worship)."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

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].

Prophet of Allah (PBUH) said: "There was a man from among a nation before you who killed ninety-nine people and then made an inquiry about the most learned person on the earth. He was directed to a monk. He came to him and told him that he had killed ninety-nine people and asked him if there was any chance for his repentance to be accepted. He replied in the negative and the man killed him also completing one hundred. He then asked about the most learned man in the earth. He was directed to a scholar. He told him that he had killed one hundred people and asked him if there was any chance for his repentance to be accepted. He replied in the affirmative and asked, 'Who stands between you and repentance? Go to such and such land; there (you will find) people devoted to prayer and worship of Allah, join them in worship, and do not come back to your land because it is an evil place.' So he went away and hardly had he covered half the distance when death overtook him; and there was a dispute between the angels of mercy and the angels of torment. The angels of mercy pleaded, 'This man has come with a repenting heart to Allah,' and the angels of punishment argued, 'He never did a virtuous deed in his life.' Then there appeared another angel in the form of a human being and the contending angels agreed to make him arbiter between them. He said, 'Measure the distance between the two lands. He will be considered belonging to the land to which he is nearer.' They measured and found him closer to the land (land of piety) where he intended to go, and so the angels of mercy collected his soul".

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "I was shown the past nations. I saw a Prophet who had a very small group (less than ten in total) with him, another Prophet who was accompanied by only one or two men and some did not have even one. Suddenly I was shown a huge crowd and I thought that they were my Ummah, but I was told: 'This is Musa (Moses) and his people, but look towards the other side.' I looked and beheld a great assemblage. I was told: 'These are your people and amongst them there are seventy thousand who shall enter Jannah without being taken to account or torment". Then the Prophet (PBUH) stood up and went into his apartment, and the Companions began to guess who may be those people who would enter Jannah without any accounting or torment. Some said: "Probably, they are the ones who kept company with Messenger of Allah (PBUH)". Others said: "Probably, they are the ones who have been born as Muslims and have never associated anyone with Allah in worship". Then Messenger of Allah (PBUH) came out and asked, "What are you discussing?" So they told him. He then said, "They are those who do not make Ruqyah (blowing over themselves after reciting the Qur'an or some prayers and supplications the Prophet (PBUH) used to say) nor seek it, nor perceive omens (i.e., they are not pessimistic) but keep trust in their Rubb (Allah)." On this 'Ukashah bin Mihsan stood up and asked: "Pray to Allah to make me one of them." The Prophet (PBUH) said, "You are one of them." Then another man stood up and asked the same thing. The Prophet (PBUH) answered, "'Ukashah has surpassed you".

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) used to make me sit with the noble elderly men who had participated in the battle of Badr. Some of them disliked it and said to 'Umar: "Why do you bring in this boy to sit with us when we have sons like him?" 'Umar replied: "Because of the status he has, which you already know about (i.e., belongs to the source of knowledge and the house of the Prophet (PBUH))." One day, 'Umar called me and seated me in the gathering of those people; and I think that he called me just to show them (of my religious knowledge). 'Umar then questioned them (in my presence). "How do you interpret the ayah of Allah: 'When there comes the Help of Allah (to you, O Muhammad (PBUH) against your enemies) and the Conquest (of Makkah)."' Someone said that when Allah's Help and the Conquest (of Makkah) came to us, we were called upon to celebrate the Praise of Allah and ask for His forgiveness. Some others remained silent and did not utter a word. Thereupon 'Umar asked me: "Ibn 'Abbas! Do you say the same." I replied: "No". He said: "What do you say then?" I replied: "That is the sign of the Prophet's death about which he had been informed. Allah, the Exalted, says:

'When there comes the help of Allah (to you, O Muhammad (PBUH) against your enemies) and the Conquest (of Makkah)'.

So declare the remoteness of your Rubb from every imperfection, and ask for His forgiveness. Verily, He is the One Who accepts the repentance and Who forgives".

On that 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) said: "I do not know anything about it other than what you have said".

[Al- Bukhari]

`A'isha told that she asked God's messenger whether he had experienced a day more severe than that of Uhud, and that he replied, "I have experienced things from your people, but the most severe thing I experienced from them was on the day of the `Aqaba when I offered myself to Ibn `Abd Yalil b. Kulal and he did not agree to what I wanted.1 I then went off full of care not noticing where I was going, and did not come to my senses till I was at Qarn ath-Tha'alib[2]. Raising my head, I saw a cloud which overshadowed me, and when I looked, I saw Gabriel in it. He called to me, told me God had heard the words of my people and their rejection of me, and said He had sent me the angel of the mountains for me to order him to do to them what I wanted. The angel of the mountains then called to me, saying, after giving me a salutation, `God has heard the words of your people, Muhammad, and I am the angel of the mountains whom your Lord has sent to you to order me if you wish to cover them with al-Akhshaban[3].'" God's messenger replied, "No, I hope God may bring forth from their loins people who will worship God alone, associating nothing with Him." Ibn 'Abd Yalil belonged to at-Ta'if. His father was one of the leading men, but he was 'Abd Ya`lil b. 'Amr b. `Umair (see Isti'ab, p. 410). Yaqut, Mu'jam, 4:72, sats it is a day and a night's journey from Mecca when one comes from Najd. Two hills near Mecca. Cf. Yaqut, Mu'jam, 1:163. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

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.)

The people in the Suffa were poor men, and the Prophet said, "Let him who has food for two take a third, and let him who has food for four take a fifth, or a sixth*." Abu Bakr brought three men and the Prophet went off with ten. Abu Bakr had supper with the Prophet, then remained till the evening prayer was said, after which he went back and stayed till the Prophet had had his supper. Then when so much of the night as God willed had passed, he came home and his wife asked what had kept him away from his guests. He asked if she had not given them their supper, and when she told him they had refused to take it till he came he was angry and said, "I swear by God that I will never taste it." His wife swore that she would not taste it, and the guests swore that they would not taste it; so Abu Bakr, saying this came from the devil, called for the food and ate, and they ate also. Whenever they raised a morsel to their mouths the place from which it was taken increased in quantity, so Abu Bakr said to his wife, "You who come from the B. Firas, what does this mean?" She replied, "I swear by my wellbeing that it is three times as great as it was." They ate and he sent it to the Prophet, and it is mentioned that he ate some of it. *It is not clear whether there is doubt about whether a fifth or a sixth is correct, or whether the words "or a sixth" indicate that two extra people may be invited when there is enough for four. The construction of the sentence rather suggests this latter meaning. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

We, the Prophet's wives, were once with him when Fatima came along, her style of walking being indistinguishable from that of God's messenger. When he saw her, he said, "Welcome, my daughter," and made her sit down. He then said something privately to her and she wept bitterly, so when he saw her grief, he said something else privately to her and she began to laugh. When God's messenger got up and left, I asked her what he had said to her privately, but she replied, "I am not one to publish God's messenger's secrets." After his death I said, "I adjure you by my right over you to tell me," And she replied, "Now I am agreeable. When he spoke privately to me about the first matter, he informed me that Gabriel was in the habit of going over the Quran with him once annually but that he had done it twice that year, so he felt his appointed time was near. He then told me to fear God and show endurance, for he was a good forerunner for me. I wept, and when he saw my distress, he spoke to me privately a second time saying, `Are you not pleased, Fatima, that you will be the chief lady among the female inhabitants of paradise (or, of the women of the believers)'?" A version has, "He spoke to me privately informing me that he would die of his pain, so I wept. He then spoke to me privately informing me that I would be the first member of his family to follow him, so I laughed." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

When we were with `Umar he asked which of us remembered the tradition of God's messenger about the fitna, and I replied that I remembered it just as he had uttered it. Telling me to relate it, and remarking that I was daring, he asked how he had spoken and I replied that I had heard God's messenger say, "A man's fitna concerns his family, his property, his person, his children and his neighbour for any shortcoming in which atonement made by fasting, prayer, sadaqah recommending what is reputable and reproving what is disreputable.[1] `Umar said that this was not what he meant, for he was thinking of the fitna which swells like the waves of the sea.[2] I asked the commander of the faithful what he had to do with it, for between him and it there was a closed door. He asked whether the door would be broken down or opened, and when I replied that it would be broken down, he said it would never likely be closed. Hudhaifa was asked if `Umar knew who the door was and he replied that he knew it as well as he knew that a night comes before tomorrow, adding that he had told him a tradition which included no misleading language. They were afraid to ask Hudhaifa who the door was, so they asked Masruq to ask him, and when he did so he replied that it was `Umar.3 A man who has these responsibilities may fall short of what is due from him, but can make atonement for his shortcoming. Contention which leads to strife and warfare. The point of the tradition is that the fitna would not occur in `Umar's lifetime, but that as he was to be assassinated there was no hope of peaceful conditions ever returning. The opening of the door indicates a natural death and the breaking down of the door a violent death. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

We lived by water which people passed. Riders would pass by us and we would ask them, "What has happened to the people? What has happened to the people? What is this man like?” and they would reply, "He asserts that God has sent him, has made a revelation to him, has made a revelation to him to this effect.”I was remembering those words with the result that they seemed to be glued in my breast. By their acceptance of Islam the Arabs were expecting victory for they would say ‘Let him and his people alone, for if be gets the better of them, he is a true prophet.’ Then when the battle of the conquest of Mecca took place every tribe hastened to accept Islam, and my father was the first of my tribe to accept it. When he returned he said: I swear by God that I have come to you from him who is truly the Prophet. He said, “Pray such and such a prayer at such and such a time, and such and such a prayer at such and such a time. When the time of prayer comes one of you should call the >i>adhan and the one of you who knows most of the Qur’an should act as your imam” So they considered, and there was no one who knew more of the Our’an than I did because of what I had received from the riders. They therefore put me forward in front of them, and I was only six or seven years old. I wore a mantle which, when I prostrated myself, went up on me, and a woman of the clan said, “Why do you not cover the backside of your reader from us?” So they bought and cut out a shirt for me, and I have never been so pleased about anything as I was about that shirt. Bukhari transmitted it.

I spent a night with my maternal aunt Maimuna when the Prophet was with her. After talking to his family for a time he had a sleep, then when the last third of the night came, or a little later, he sat up, looked at the sky, and recited, “In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day there are indeed signs for people of understanding,"(Al-Qur’an; 3:190) to the end of the sura. Then getting up and going to the bucket, he loosened its cord and poured some water into a bowl, then performed a good ablution between the two extremes, not going to great length, and when he had done it fully he stood up and prayed. I got up, and when I had performed ablution I stood at his left side, whereupon he took me by the ear and made me go round to his right side. His prayer was altogether thirteen rak'as. Then he lay down and slept, and he snored as was his custom. When Bilal made the call to prayer for him he prayed without performing ablution, and his supplication included these words, “O God, place light in my heart, light in my eyesight, light in my hearing, light on my right hand, light on my left hand, light above me, light below me, light in front of me, light behind me, and grant me light." Some added, “and light in my tongue," and mentioned, “my joints, my flesh, my blood, my hair, my skin." (Bukhari and Muslim.) In a version by both of them he said, “Place light in my soul, and give me abundant light." In another by Muslim he said, “O God, give me light."

The Prophet (SAW) said, "When you get up to pray, perform ablution perfectly, then face the Qiblah and say: 'Allahu Akbar' (Allah is the Most Great). Then recite a convenient portion of the Qur'an; then bow and remain calmly in that position for a moment, then rise up and stand erect; then prostrate and remain calmly in that position for a moment, then rise up and sit calmly, then prostrate and remain calmly in that position for a moment; then do that throughout your prayer." [Reported by as-Sab'a and the wording is that of al-Bukhari].

Allah's Messenger (SAW) used to seek Allah's protection by invoking this supplication (Du'a) at the end of every Salat (prayer): "O Allah, I seek refuge in You from stinginess, I seek refuge in You from cowardice, I seek refuge in You from old age (and senility), I seek refuge in You from the temptation of the world and I seek refuge in You from the punishment in the grave." [Reported by al-Bukhari].