Hilal bin Umaiya accused his wife of committing illegal sexual intercourse with Sharik bin Sahma' and filed the case before the Prophet. The Prophet said (to Hilal), "Either you bring forth a proof (four witnesses) or you will receive the legal punishment (lashes) on your back." Hilal said, "O Allah's Apostle! If anyone of us saw a man over his wife, would he go to seek after witnesses?" The Prophet kept on saying, "Either you bring forth the witnesses or you will receive the legal punishment (lashes) on your back." Hilal then said, "By Him Who sent you with the Truth, I am telling the truth and Allah will reveal to you what will save my back from legal punishment." Then Gabriel came down and revealed to him:-- 'As for those who accuse their wives...' (24.6-9) The Prophet recited it till he reached: '... (her accuser) is telling the truth.' Then the Prophet left and sent for the woman, and Hilal went (and brought) her and then took the oaths (confirming the claim). The Prophet was saying, "Allah knows that one of you is a liar, so will any of you repent?" Then the woman got up and took the oaths and when she was going to take the fifth one, the people stopped her and said, "It (the fifth oath) will definitely bring Allah's curse on you (if you are guilty)." So she hesitated and recoiled (from taking the oath) so much that we thought that she would withdraw her denial. But then she said, "I will not dishonor my family all through these days," and carried on (the process of taking oaths). The Prophet then said, "Watch her; if she delivers a black-eyed child with big hips and fat shins then it is Sharik bin Sahma's child." Later she delivered a child of that description. So the Prophet said, "If the case was not settled by Allah's Law, I would punish her severely."

When `Abdullah (my father) died, he left behind children and debts. I asked the lenders to put down some of his debt, but they refused, so I went to the Prophet to intercede with them, yet they refused. The Prophet said (to me), "Classify your dates into their different kinds: 'Adha bin Zaid, Lean and 'Ajwa, each kind alone and call all the creditors and wait till I come to you." I did so and the Prophet came and sat beside the dates and started measuring to each his due till he paid them fully, and the amount of dates remained as it was before, as if he had not touched them. (On another occasion) I took part in one of Ghazawat among with the Prophet and I was riding one of our camels. The camel got tired and was lagging behind the others. The Prophet hit it on its back. He said, "Sell it to me, and you have the right to ride it till Medina.'' When we approached Medina, I took the permission from the Prophet to go to my house, saying, "O Allah's Apostle! I have newly married." The Prophet asked, "Have you married a virgin or a matron (a widow or divorcee)?" I said, "I have married a matron, as `Abdullah (my father) died and left behind daughters small in their ages, so I married a matron who may teach them and bring them up with good manners." The Prophet then said (to me), "Go to your family." When I went there and told my maternal uncle about the selling of the camel, he admonished me for it. On that I told him about its slowness and exhaustion and about what the Prophet had done to the camel and his hitting it. When the Prophet arrived, I went to him with the camel in the morning and he gave me its price, the camel itself, and my share from the war booty as he gave the other people.

I never heard `Umar saying about something that he thought it would be so-and-so, but he was quite right. Once, while `Umar was sitting, a handsome man passed by him, `Umar said, "If I am not wrong, this person is still on his religion of the pre-lslamic period of ignorance or he was their foreteller. Call the man to me." When the man was called to him, he told him of his thought. The man said, "I have never seen such a day on which a Muslim is faced with such an accusation." `Umar said, "I am determined that you should tell me the truth." He said, "I was a foreteller in the pre-lslamic period of ignorance." Then `Umar said, "Tell me the most astonishing thing your female Jinn has told you of." He said, "One-day while I was in the market, she came to me scared and said, 'Haven't you seen the Jinns and their despair and they were overthrown after their defeat (and prevented from listening to the news of the heaven) so that they (stopped going to the sky and) kept following camel-riders (i.e. 'Arabs)?" `Umar said, "He is right." and added, "One day while I was near their idols, there came a man with a calf and slaughtered it as a sacrifice (for the idols). An (unseen) creature shouted at him, and I have never heard harsher than his voice. He was crying, 'O you bold evil-doer! A matter of success! An eloquent man is saying: None has the right to be worshipped except you (O Allah).' On that the people fled, but I said, 'I shall not go away till I know what is behind this.' Then the cry came again: 'O you bold evil-doer! A matter of success! An eloquent man is saying: None has the right to be worshipped except Allah.' I then went away and a few days later it was said, "A prophet has appeared."

`Ali bin Abi Talib sent a piece of gold not yet taken out of its ore, in a tanned leather container to Allah's Apostle . Allah's Apostle distributed that amongst four Persons: 'Uyaina bin Badr, Aqra bin H`Abis, Zaid Al-Khail and the fourth was either Alqama or Amir bin at-Tufail. On that, one of his companions said, "We are more deserving of this (gold) than these (persons)." When that news reached the Prophet , he said, "Don't you trust me though I am the truth worthy man of the One in the Heavens, and I receive the news of Heaven (i.e. Divine Inspiration) both in the morning and in the evening?" There got up a man with sunken eyes, raised cheek bones, raised forehead, a thick beard, a shaven head and a waist sheet that was tucked up and he said, "O Allah's Apostle! Be afraid of Allah." The Prophet said, "Woe to you! Am I not of all the people of the earth the most entitled to fear Allah?" Then that man went away. Khalid bin Al-Wahd said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall I chop his neck off?" The Prophet said, "No, for he may offer prayers." Khalid said, "Numerous are those who offer prayers and say by their tongues (i.e. mouths) what is not in their hearts." Allah's Apostle said, "I have not been ordered (by Allah) to search the hearts of the people or cut open their bellies." Then the Prophet looked at him (i.e. that man) while the latter was going away and said, "From the offspring of this (man there will come out (people) who will recite the Qur'an continuously and elegantly but it will not exceed their throats. (They will neither understand it nor act upon it). They would go out of the religion (i.e. Islam) as an arrow goes through a game's body." I think he also said, "If I should be present at their time I would kill them as the nations a Thamud were killed."

The Prophet (saws) said: If anyone gives as a dower to his wife two handfuls of flour or dates he has made her lawful for him.

AbuDawud said: This tradition has been narrated by Abdur Rahman ibn Mahdi, from Salih ibn Ruman, from Abu al-Zubayr on the authority of Jabir as his own statement (not going back to the Prophet). It has also been transmitted by AbuAsim from Salih ibn Ruman , from AbuzZubayr on the authority of Jabir who said: During the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (saws) we used to contract temporary marriage for a handful of grain.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been transmitted by Ibn Juraij from Abu al-Zubair on the authority of Jabir similar to the one narrated by Abu 'Asim.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) once delayed the congregational night prayer.

He came out and said: The talk of Tamim ad-Dari detained me. He transmitted it to me from a man who was on of of the islands of the sea. All of a sudden he found a woman who was trailing her hair. He asked: Who are you?

She said: I am the Jassasah. Go to that castle. So I came to it and found a man who was trailing his hair, chained in iron collars, and leaping between Heaven and Earth.

I asked: Who are you? He replied: I am the Dajjal (Antichrist). Has the Prophet of the unlettered people come forth now? I replied: Yes. He said: Have they obeyed him or disobeyed him? I said: No, they have obeyed him. He said: That is better for them.

Safwan ibn Umayyah sent him with some milk, a young gazelle and some small cucumbers to the Messenger of Allah (saws) when he was in the upper part of Mecca. I entered but I did not give a salutation. He said: Go back and say: "Peace be upon you"! This happened after Safwan ibn Umayyah and embraced Islam. Amr said: Ibn Safwan told me all this on the authority of Kaladah ibn Hanbal, and he did not say: I heard it from him.

Abu Dawud said: Yahya b. Habib said: Umayyah b. Safwan. He did not say: I heard from Kaladah b. Hanbal. Yahya also said: 'Amr b. 'Abd Allah b. Safwan told him that Kaladah b. al-Hanbal told him.

Malik related to me from Nafi that Safiyya bint Abi Ubayd informed him that Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "What is the matter with men who have intercourse with their slave-girls and then leave them to go? No slave-girl comes to me whose master confesses that he has had intercourse with her but that I connect her child to him, whether or not he has practised coitus interruptus or left off from intercourse with her."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "What is done in our community about an umm walad who commits a crime is that her master is liable for what she has done up to her value. He does not have to surrender her, and he cannot be made to bear more than her value for her crime."

Allah's Apostle said, "Tonight two (visitors) came to me (in my dream) and took me to a town built with gold bricks and silver bricks. There we met men who, half of their bodies, look like the mosthandsome human beings you have ever seen, and the other half, the ugliest human beings you have ever seen. Those two visitors said to those men, 'Go and dip yourselves in that river. So they dipped themselves therein and then came to us, their ugliness having disappeared and they were in the mosthandsome shape. The visitors said, 'The first is the Garden of Eden and that is your dwelling place.' Then they added, 'As for those people who were half ugly and half handsome, they were those who mixed good deeds and bad deeds, but Allah forgave them."

While we were sitting in the company of the Prophet a woman came to him and presented herself (for marriage) to him. The Prophet looked at her, lowering his eyes and raising them, but did not give a reply. One of his companions said, "Marry her to me O Allah's Apostle!" The Prophet asked (him), "Have you got anything?" He said, "I have got nothing." The Prophet said, "Not even an iron ring?" He Sa`d, "Not even an iron ring, but I will tear my garment into two halves and give her one half and keep the other half." The Prophet; said, "No. Do you know some of the Qur'an (by heart)?" He said, "Yes." The Prophet said, "Go, I have agreed to marry her to you with what you know of the Qur'an (as her Mahr)."

that Yahya bin Sa`id bin Al-`As divorced the daughter of `Abdur-Rahman bin Al-Hakarn. `Abdur- Rahman took her to his house. On that `Aisha sent a message to Marwan bin Al-Hakam who was the ruler of Medina, saying, "Fear Allah, and urge your brother) to return her to her house." Marwan (in Sulaiman's version) said, "Abdur-Rahman bin Al-Hakam did not obey me (or had a convincing argument)." (In Al-Qasim's versions Marwan said, "Have you not heard of the case of Fatima bint Qais?" Aisha said, "The case of Fatima bint Qais is not in your favor.' Marwan bin Al-Hakam said to `Aisha, "The reason that made Fatima bint Qais go to her father's house is just applicable to the daughter of `Abdur-Rahman."

A man came to the Prophet and said, "I have been ruined for I have had sexual relation with my wife in Ramadan (while I was fasting)" The Prophet said (to him), "Manumit a slave." The man said, " I cannot afford that." The Prophet said, "(Then) fast for two successive months continuously". The man said, "I cannot do that." The Prophet said, "(Then) feed sixty poor persons." The man said, "I have nothing (to feed them with)." Then a big basket full of dates was brought to the Prophet. The Prophet said, "Where is the questioner? Go and give this in charity." The man said, "(Shall I give this in charity) to a poorer person than l? By Allah, there is no family in between these two mountains (of Medina) who are poorer than we." The Prophet then smiled till his premolar teeth became visible, and said, "Then (feed) your (family with it).

Abu Musa was asked regarding (the inheritance of) a daughter, a son's daughter, and a sister. He said, "The daughter will take one-half and the sister will take one-half. If you go to Ibn Mas`ud, he will tell you the same." Ibn Mas`ud was asked and was told of Abu Musa's verdict. Ibn Mas`ud then said, "If I give the same verdict, I would stray and would not be of the rightly-guided. The verdict I will give in this case, will be the same as the Prophet did, i.e. one-half is for daughter, and one-sixth for the son's daughter, i.e. both shares make two-thirds of the total property; and the rest is for the sister." Afterwards we cams to Abu Musa and informed him of Ibn Mas`ud's verdict, whereupon he said, "So, do not ask me for verdicts, as long as this learned man is among you."

Anas bin Malik said to a woman of his family, "Do you know such-and-such a woman?" She replied, "Yes." He said, "The Prophet passed by her while she was weeping over a grave, and he said to her, 'Be afraid of Allah and be patient.' The woman said (to the Prophet). 'Go away from me, for you do not know my calamity.'" Anas added, "The Prophet left her and proceeded. A man passed by her and asked her, 'What has Allah's Apostle said to you?' She replied, 'I did not recognize him.' The man said, 'He was Allah's Apostle."' Anas added, "So that woman came to the gate of the Prophet and she did not find a gate-keeper there, and she said, 'O Allah's Apostle! By Allah. I did not recognize you!' The Prophet said, 'No doubt, patience is at the first stroke of a calamity.'"

26 Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu Ubayd, the mawla of Sulayman ibn Abd alMalik, from Ubada ibn Nusayy from Qays ibn al Harith that Abu Abdullah as-Sunabihi said, "I arrived in Madina in the khalifate of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, and I prayed maghrib behind him. He recited the umm al Qur'an and two suras from the shorter ones of the mufassal in the first two rakas. Then he stood up in the third and I drew so near to him that my clothes were almost touching his clothes. I heard him reciting the umm al-Qur'an and this ayat, 'Our Lord, do not make our hearts go astray after You have guided us, and give us mercy from Your presence. Surely You are the Giver. ' " (Sura 3 ayat 8)

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar, when asked about the fear prayer said, "The imam and a group of people go forward and the imam prays a raka with them, while another group, who have not yet prayed, position themselves between him and the enemy. When those who are with him have prayed a raka they draw back to where those who have not prayed are, and do not say the taslim. Then those who have not prayed come forward and pray a raka with him. Then the imam leaves, as he has now prayed two rakas. Everyone else in the two groups stands and prays a raka by himself after the imam has left. In this way each of the two groups will have prayed two rakas. If the fear is greater than that, then the men pray standing on their feet or mounted, either facing the qibla or otherwise."

27 Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Umar ibn al-Khattab, if he was travelling in Ramadan and knew that he would reach Madina at the begining of the day ,would do so fasting.

Yahya said that Malik said, "Someone who is travelling and knows that he will be reaching his people in the first part of the day, and then dawn breaks before he gets there, should be fasting when he gets there."

Malik said, "Someone who intends to go away (on a journey) in Ramadan, and then dawn breaks while he is still on his land before he has left, should fast that day."

Malik said that a man who returns from a journey in Ramadan and is not fasting may have sexual intercourse with his wife if he wishes, if she is not fasting and she has just become pure after her menses.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zinad from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman that some people from al-Jar came to Marwan ibn al- Hakam and asked him about eating what was cast up by the sea. He said, "There is no harm in eating it." Marwan said, "Go to Zayd ibn Thabit and Abu Hurayra and ask them about it, then come to me and tell me what they say." They went to them and asked them, and they both said, "There is no harm in eating it " They returned to Marwan and told him. Marwan said, "I told you."

Malik said that there was no harm in eating fish caught by magians, because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "In the sea's water is purity, and that which is dead in it is halal. "

Malik said, "If it is eaten when it is dead, there is no harm in who catches it."

While I was going with the Prophet through the ruins of Medina and he was reclining on a date-palm leaf stalk, some Jews passed by. Some of them said to the others: Ask him (the Prophet) about the spirit. Some of them said that they should not ask him that question as he might give a reply which would displease them. But some of them insisted on asking, and so one of them stood up and asked, "O Abul-Qasim ! What is the spirit?" The Prophet remained quiet. I thought he was being inspired Divinely. So I stayed till that state of the Prophet (while being inspired) was over. The Prophet then said, "And they ask you (O Muhammad) concerning the spirit --Say: The spirit -- its knowledge is with my Lord. And of knowledge you (mankind) have been given only a little)." (17.85)

In the last Hajj of Allah's Apostle I assumed the Ihram for Hajj along with Allah Apostle. I was one of those who intended Tamattu` (to perform Hajj and `Umra) and did not take the Hadi (animal for sacrifice) with me. I got my menses and was not clean till the night of `Arafa I said, "O Allah's Apostle! It is the night of the day of `Arafat and I intended to perform the Hajj Tamattu` with `Umra. Allah's Apostle told me to undo my hair and comb it and to postpone the `Umra. I did the same and completed the Hajj. On the night of Al-Hasba (i.e. place outside Mecca where the pilgrims go after finishing all the ceremonies of Hajj at Mina) he (the Prophet) ordered `Abdur Rahman (`Aisha's brother) to take me to at-Tan`im to assume the lhram for `Umra in lieu of that of Hajj-at-Tamattu` which I had intended to perform.

My father and I went to Abi Barza Al-Aslami and my father said to him, "Tell us how Allah's Apostle used to offer the compulsory congregational prayers." He said, "He used to pray the Zuhr prayer, which you call the first prayer, as the sun declined at noon, the `Asr at a time when one of US could go to his family at the farthest place in Medina while the sun was still hot. (The narrator forgot what Abu Barza had said about the Maghrib prayer), and the Prophet preferred to pray the `Isha' late and disliked to sleep before it or talk after it. And he used to return after finishing the morning prayer at such a time when it was possible for one to recognize the person sitting by his side and he (the Prophet) used to recite 60 to 100 'Ayat' (verses) of the Qur'an in it."

Allah's Apostle said, "While a man was going on a way, he saw a thorny branch and removed it from the way and Allah became pleased by his action and forgave him for that." Then the Prophet said, "Five are martyrs: One who dies of plague, one who dies of an Abdominal disease, one who dies of drowning, one who is buried alive (and) dies and one who is killed in Allah's cause." (The Prophet further said, "If the people knew the reward for pronouncing the Adhan and for standing in the first row (in the congregational prayer) and found no other way to get it except by drawing lots they would do so, and if they knew the reward of offering the Zuhr prayer early (in its stated time), they would race for it and if they knew the reward for `Isha' and Fajr prayers in congregation, they would attend them even if they were to crawl.

`Abdullah bin `Umar used to do Rami of the Jamrat-ud-Dunya with seven small pebbles and used to recite Takbir on throwing each stone. He, then, would proceed further till he reached the level ground, where he would stay for a long time, facing the Qibla to invoke (Allah) while raising his hands. Then he would do Rami of the Jamrat-ul-Wusta similarly and would go to the left towards the level ground, where he would stand for a long time facing the Qibla to invoke (Allah) while raising his hands. Then he would do Rami of the Jamrat-ul-Aqaba from the middle of the valley, but he would not stay by it. Ibn `Umar used to say, "I saw Allah's Apostle doing like that."

Allah's Apostle mentioned that he would practice I`tikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan. `Aisha asked his permission to perform I`tikaf and he permitted her. Hafsa asked `Aisha to take his permission for her, and she did so. When Zainab bint Jahsh saw that, she ordered a tent to be pitched for her and it was pitched for her. Allah's Apostle used to proceed to his tent after the prayer. So, he saw the tents ans asked, "What is this?" He was told that those were the tents of Aisha, Hafsa, and Zainab. Allah's Apostle said, "Is it righteousness which they intended by doing so? I am not going to perform I`tikaf." So he returned home. When the fasting month was over, he performed Itikar for ten days in the month of Shawwal.

When I visited Aisha she said, "Barirah who had a written contract for her emancipation for a certain amount came to me and said, "O mother of the believers! Buy me and manumit me, as my masters will sell me." Aisha agreed to it. Barirah said, 'My masters will sell me on the condition that my Wala will go to them." Aisha said to her, 'Then I am not in need of you.' The Prophet heard of that or was told about it and so he asked Aisha, 'What is the problem of Barirah?' He said, 'Buy her and manumit her, no matter what they stipulate.' Aisha added, 'I bought and manumitted her, though her masters had stipulated that her Wala would be for them.' The Prophet said, The Wala is for the liberator, even if the other stipulated a hundred conditions."

`Umar bin Al-Khattab said, "O Allah's Apostle! I vowed to observe I`tikaf for one day during the Prelslamic period." The Prophet ordered him to fulfill his vow. `Umar gained two lady captives from the war prisoners of Hunain and he left them in some of the houses at Mecca. When Allah's Apostle freed the captives of Hunain without ransom, they came out walking in the streets. `Umar said (to his son), "O `Abdullah! See what is the matter." `Abdullah replied, "Allah's Apostle has freed the captives without ransom." He said (to him), "Go and set free those two slave girls." (Nafi` added:) Allah's Apostle did not perform the `Umra from Al-Jarana, and if he had performed the `Umra, it would not have been hidden from `Abdullah.

The Prophet noticed the absence of Thabit bin Qais. A man said, "O Allah's Apostle! I shall bring you his news." So he went to him and saw him sitting in his house drooping his head (sadly). He asked Thabit, "What's the matter?" Thabit replied, "An evil situation: A man used to raise his voice over the voice of the Prophet and so all his good deeds have been annulled and he is from the people of Hell." The man went back and told the Prophet that Thabit had said so-and-so. (The sub-narrator, Musa bin Anas said, "The man went to Thabit again with glad tidings)." The Prophet said to him, "Go and say to Thabit: 'You are not from the people of Fire, but from the people of Paradise."

While `Umar was at home in a state of fear, there came Al-`As bin Wail As-Sahmi Abu `Amr, wearing an embroidered cloak and a shirt having silk hems. He was from the tribe of Bani Sahm who were our allies during the pre-Islamic period of ignorance. Al-`As said to `Umar "What is wrong with you?" He said, "Your people claim that they would kill me if I become a Muslim." Al-`As said, "Nobody will harm you after I have given protection to you." So Al-`As went out and met the people streaming in the whole valley. He said, "Where are you going?" They said, "We want Ibn Al-Khattab who has embraced Islam." Al-`As said, "There is no way for anybody to touch him." So the people retreated.

Some (of the Ansar) used to present date palm trees to the Prophet till Banu Quraiza and Banu An- Nadir were conquered (then he returned to the people their date palms). My people ordered me to ask the Prophet to return some or all the date palms they had given to him, but the Prophet had given those trees to Um Aiman. On that, Um Aiman came and put the garment around my neck and said, "No, by Him except Whom none has the right to be worshipped, he will not return those trees to you as he (i.e. the Prophet ) has given them to me." The Prophet go said (to her), "Return those trees and I will give you so much (instead of them)." But she kept on refusing, saying, "No, by Allah," till he gave her ten times the number of her date palms.

(describing the Fear prayer): The Imam stands up facing the Qibla and one batch of them (i.e. the army) (out of the two) prays along with him and the other batch faces the enemy. The Imam offers one rak`a with the first batch they themselves stand up alone and offer one bowing and two prostrations while they are still in their place, and then go away to relieve the second batch, and the second batch comes (and takes the place of the first batch in the prayer behind the Imam) and he offers the second rak`a with them. So he completes his two-rak`at and then the second batch bows and prostrates two prostrations (i.e. complete their second rak`a and thus all complete their prayer).

(This hadith has also been narrated through two other chain by Sahl b. Abi Hathma)

He then made a call to prayer. When he reached the words “ come to prayer, come to salvation”. He turned his neck right and left, respectively; he did not turn himself (with his whole body). He then entered (his house) and came out with a lancet. The narrator then reported the rest of the tradition.

When Abraham had differences with his wife), (because of her jealousy of Hajar, Ishmael's mother), he took Ishmael and his mother and went away. They had a water-skin with them containing some water, Ishmael's mother used to drink water from the water-skin so that her milk would increase for her child. When Abraham reached Mecca, he made her sit under a tree and afterwards returned home. Ishmael's mother followed him, and when they reached Kada', she called him from behind, 'O Abraham! To whom are you leaving us?' He replied, '(I am leaving you) to Allah's (Care).' She said, 'I am satisfied to be with Allah.' She returned to her place and started drinking water from the water-skin, and her milk increased for her child. When the water had all been used up, she said to herself, 'I'd better go and look so that I may see somebody.' She ascended the Safa mountain and looked, hoping to see somebody, but in vain. When she came down to the valley, she ran till she reached the Marwa mountain. She ran to and fro (between the two mountains) many times. They she said to herself, 'i'd better go and see the state of the child,' she went and found it in a state of one on the point of dying. She could not endure to watch it dying and said (to herself), 'If I go and look, I may find somebody.' She went and ascended the Safa mountain and looked for a long while but could not find anybody. Thus she completed seven rounds (of running) between Safa and Marwa. Again she said (to herself), 'I'd better go back and see the state of the child.' But suddenly she heard a voice, and she said to that strange voice, 'Help us if you can offer any help.' Lo! It was Gabriel (who had made the voice). Gabriel hit the earth with his heel like this (Ibn `Abbas hit the earth with his heel to Illustrate it), and so the water gushed out. Ishmael's mother was astonished and started digging. (Abu Al-Qasim) (i.e. the Prophet) said, "If she had left the water, (flow naturally without her intervention), it would have been flowing on the surface of the earth.") Ishmael's mother started drinking from the water and her milk increased for her child . Afterwards some people of the tribe of Jurhum, while passing through the bottom of the valley, saw some birds, and that astonished them, and they said, 'Birds can only be found at a place where there is water.' They sent a messenger who searched the place and found the water, and returned to inform them about it. Then they all went to her and said, 'O ishmael's mother! Will you allow us to be with you (or dwell with you)?' (And thus they stayed there.) Later on her boy reached the age of puberty and married a lady from them. Then an idea occurred to Abraham which he disclosed to his wife (Sarah), 'I want to call on my dependents I left (at Mecca).' When he went there, he greeted (Ishmael's wife) and said, 'Where is Ishmael?' She replied, 'He has gone out hunting.' Abraham said (to her), 'When he comes, tell him to change the threshold of his gate.' When he came, she told him the same whereupon Ishmael said to her, 'You are the threshold, so go to your family (i.e. you are divorced).' Again Abraham thought of visiting his dependents whom he had left (at Mecca), and he told his wife (Sarah) of his intentions. Abraham came to Ishmael's house and asked. "Where is Ishmael?" Ishmael's wife replied, "He has gone out hunting," and added, "Will you stay (for some time) and have something to eat and drink?' Abraham asked, 'What is your food and what is your drink?' She replied, 'Our food is meat and our drink is water.' He said, 'O Allah! Bless their meals and their drink." Abu Al-Qa-sim (i.e. Prophet) said, "Because of Abraham's invocation there are blessings (in Mecca)." Once more Abraham thought of visiting his family he had left (at Mecca), so he told his wife (Sarah) of his decision. He went and found Ishmael behind the Zamzam well, mending his arrows. He said, "O Ishmael, Your Lord has ordered me to build a house for Him." Ishmael said, "Obey (the order of) your Lord." Abraham said, "Allah has also ordered me that you should help me therein." Ishmael said, "Then I will do." So, both of them rose and Abraham started building (the Ka`ba) while Ishmael went on handing him the stones, and both of them were saying, "O our Lord ! Accept (this service) from us, Verily, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing." (2.127). When the building became high and the old man (i.e. Abraham) could no longer lift the stones (to such a high position), he stood over the stone of Al- Maqam and Ishmael carried on handing him the stones, and both of them were saying, 'O our Lord! Accept (this service) from us, Verily You are All-Hearing, All-Knowing." (2.127)

I was a man who was more given than others to sexual intercourse with women. When the month of Ramadan came, I feared lest I should have intercourse with my wife, and this evil should remain with me till the morning. So I made my wife like my mother's back to me till the end of Ramadan. But one night when she was waiting upon me, something of her was revealed. Suddenly I jumped upon her. When the morning came I went to my people and informed them about this matter.

I said: Go along with me to the Messenger of Allah (saws).

They said: No, by Allah. So I went to the Prophet (peace be upon him and informed him of the matter.

He said: Have you really committed it, Salamah? I said: I committed it twice, Messenger of Allah. I am content with the Commandment of Allah, the Exalted; so take a decision about me according to what Allah has shown you.

He said: Free a slave. I said: By Him Who sent you with truth, I do not possess a neck other than this: and I struck the surface of my neck.

He said: Then fast two consecutive months. I said: Whatever I suffered is due to fasting.

He said: Feed sixty poor people with a wasq of dates.

I said: By Him Who sent you with truth, we passed the night hungry; there was no food in our house.

He said: Then go to the collector of sadaqah of Banu Zurayq; he must give it to you. Then feed sixty poor people with a wasq of dates; and you and your family eat the remaining dates. Then I came back to my people, and said (to them): I found with you poverty and bad opinion; and I found with the Prophet (saws) prosperity and good opinion. He has commanded me to give alms to you.

Ibn al-Ala' added: Ibn Idris said: Bayadah is a sub-clan of Banu Zurayq.

Ghalib quoted a man who stated on the authority of his father that his grandfather reported: They lived at one of the springs. When Islam reached them, the master of the spring offered his people one hundred camels if they embraced Islam. So they embraced Islam, and he distributed the camels among them. But it occurred to him that he should take the camels back from them.

He sent his son to the Prophet (saws) and said to him: Go to the Prophet (saws) and tell him: My father extends his greetings to you. He asked his people to give them one hundred camels if they embraced Islam, and they embraced Islam. He divided the camels among them. But it occurred to him then that he should withdraw his camels from them. Is he more entitled to them or we? If he says: Yes or no, then tell him: My father is an old man, and he is the chief of the people living at the water. He has requested you to make me chief after him.

He came to him and said: My father has extended his greetings to you. He replied: On you and you father be peace. He said: My father asked his people to give them one hundred camels if they embraced Islam. So they embraced Islam, and their belief in Islam is good. Then it occurred to him that he should take his camels back from them. Is he more entitled to them or are they?

He said: If he likes to give them the camels, he may give them; and if he likes to take them back, he is more entitled to them than his people. If they embraced Islam, then for them is their Islam. If they do not embrace Islam, they will be fought against in the cause of Islam.

He said: My father is an old man; he is the chief of the people living at the spring. He has asked you to appoint me chief after him.

He replied: The office of a chief is necessary, for people must have chiefs, but the chiefs will go to Hell.