Allah's Apostle said, "Allah said, 'The son of Adam hurts me for he abuses Time though I am Time: in My Hands are all things, and I cause the revolution of day and night.'

One night a house in Medina was burnt with its occupants. The Prophet spoke about them, saying, "This fire is indeed your enemy, so whenever you go to bed, put it out to protect yourselves."

Al `Abbas bin `Abdul-Muttalib asked the permission of Allah's Apostle to let him stay in Mecca during the nights of Mina in order to provide the pilgrims with water to drink, so the Prophet permitted him.

Bilal used to pronounce the Adhan at night, so Allah's Apostle? said, "Carry on taking your meals (eat and drink) till Ibn Um Maktum pronounces the Adhan, for he does not pronounce it till it is dawn.

Abu Musa said, "I came to the Prophet along with two men (from the tribe) of Ash`ariyin, one on my right and the other on my left, while Allah's Apostle was brushing his teeth (with a Siwak), and both men asked him for some employment. The Prophet said, 'O Abu Musa (O `Abdullah bin Qais!).' I said, 'By Him Who sent you with the Truth, these two men did not tell me what was in their hearts and I did not feel (realize) that they were seeking employment.' As if I were looking now at his Siwak being drawn to a corner under his lips, and he said, 'We never (or, we do not) appoint for our affairs anyone who seeks to be employed. But O Abu Musa! (or `Abdullah bin Qais!) Go to Yemen.'" The Prophet then sent Mu`adh bin Jabal after him and when Mu`adh reached him, he spread out a cushion for him and requested him to get down (and sit on the cushion). Behold: There was a fettered man beside Abu Muisa. Mu`adh asked, "Who is this (man)?" Abu Muisa said, "He was a Jew and became a Muslim and then reverted back to Judaism." Then Abu Muisa requested Mu`adh to sit down but Mu`adh said, "I will not sit down till he has been killed. This is the judgment of Allah and His Apostle (for such cases) and repeated it thrice. Then Abu Musa ordered that the man be killed, and he was killed. Abu Musa added, "Then we discussed the night prayers and one of us said, 'I pray and sleep, and I hope that Allah will reward me for my sleep as well as for my prayers.'"

The she-camel of Bara' ibn Azib entered the garden of a man and did damage to it. The Messenger of Allah (saws) gave decision that the owners of properties are responsible for guarding them by day, and the owners of animals are responsible for guarding them by night.

Ibn Shawwal (the freed slave of Umm Habiba) reported that he went to Umm Habiba (the wife of Allah's Apostle) who informed him that Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) sent her from Muzdalifa during the night.

The Prophet said, "Last night I saw (in a dream) two men coming to me. One of them said, "The person who kindles the fire is Malik, the gate-keeper of the (Hell) Fire, and I am Gabriel, and this is Michael."

Allah's Apostle said, "Two persons came to me at night (in dream) (and took me along with them). We passed by a tall man who was so tall that I was not able to see his head and that person was Abraham."

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been transmitted from al-Zuhri by Ma'mar, Malik, Ibn 'Uyainah, Shu'aib b. Abi Hamzah, and al-Laith b. Sa'd and others; but they did not mention the time in which he (the Prophet) had prayer, nor did they explain it. And similarly it has been narrated by Hisham b. 'Urwah and Habib b. Abu Mazruq from 'Urwah like the report of Ma'mar and his companions. But Habib did not make a mention of Bashir. And Wahb b. Kaisan reported on the authority of Jabir from the Prophet (saws) the time of the Maghrib prayer. He said: "Next day he (Gabriel) came to him at the time of the Maghrib prayer when the sun had already set. (He came both days) at the same time."

Abu Dawud said: Similarly, this tradition has been transmitted by Abu Hurairah from the Prophet (saws). He said: "Then he (Gabriel) led me in the sunset prayer next day at the same time."

Similarly, this tradition has been narrated through a different chain by 'Abd Allah b. 'Amr b. al-'As, through a chain from Hassan b. 'Atiyyah, from 'Amr b. Shu'aib, from his father, on the authority from the Prophet (saws).

The Prophet (saws) said: It is a duty of every Muslim (to provide hospitality) to a guest for a night. If anyone comes in the morning to his house, it is a debt due to him. If he wishes, he may fulfil it, and if he wishes he may leave it.

The Prophet said, "Allah said: "The son of Adam hurts Me by abusing Time, for I am Time; in My Hands are all things and I cause the revolution of night and day.' " (See Hadith No. 351, Vol. 6)

The Prophet offered four rak`at in Medina and then two rak`at at Dhul Hulaifa and then passed the night at Dhul-Hulaifa till it was morning and when he mounted his Mount and it stood up, he started to recite Talbiya.

Whenever Allah's Apostle left for Mecca, he used to pray in the mosque of Ash-Shajra, and when he returned (to Medina), he used to pray in the middle of the valley of Dhul-Hulaifa and used to pass the night there till morning.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr from his father that Abdullah ibn Qays ibn Makhrama told him that Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani said one night that he was going to observe the prayer of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He said, "I rested my head on his threshold. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, got up and prayed two long, long, long rakas. Then he prayed two rakas which were slightly less long than the two before them. Then he prayed two rakas which were slightly less long than the two before them. Then he prayed two rakas which were slightly less long than the two before them. Then he prayed two rakas which were slightly less long than the two before them. Then he prayed two rakas which were slightly less long than the two before them. Then he prayed an odd raka, making thirteen rakas in all."

The Prophet said, "The example of Muslims, Jews and Christians is like the example of a man who employed laborers to work for him from morning till night for specific wages. They worked till midday and then said, 'We do not need your money which you have fixed for us and let whatever we have done be annulled.' The man said to them, 'Don't quit the work, but complete the rest of it and take your full wages.' But they refused and went away. The man employed another batch after them and said to them, 'Complete the rest of the day and yours will be the wages I had fixed for the first batch.' So, they worked till the time of `Asr prayer. Then they said, "Let what we have done be annulled and keep the wages you have promised us for yourself.' The man said to them, 'Complete the rest of the work, as only a little of the day remains,' but they refused. Thereafter he employed another batch to work for the rest of the day and they worked for the rest of the day till the sunset, and they received the wages of the two former batches. So, that was the example of those people (Muslims) and the example of this light (guidance) which they have accepted willingly.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) prostrated himself at night when reciting the Qur'an. He said repeatedly: My face prostrates itself to Him Who created it and brought forth its hearing and seeing by His might and power.

The Prophet (saws) sent Umm Salamah on the night before the day of sacrifice and she threw pebbles at the jamrah before dawn. She hastened (to Mecca) and performed the circumambulation. That day was the one the Messenger of Allah (saws) spent with her.

The Prophet (saws) used to observe i'tikaf during the last ten days of Ramadan. One year he did not observe i'tikaf. When the next year came, he observed i'tikaf for twenty nights (i.e. days).

That a woman was found killed in one of the expeditions of the Messenger of Allah (saws), so the Messenger of Allah (saws) rebuked that, and he prohibited killing women and children.

There are narrations on this topic from Buraidah and Rabah - and they say he was Riyah - bin Ar-Rabi', Al-Aswad bin Sari', Ibn 'Abbas, and As-Sa'b bin Jaththamah.

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Sahih. This is acted upon according to some of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet (saws) and others. They disliked killing women and children. This is the view of Sufyan Ath-Thawri and Ash-Shafi'i.

Some of the people of knowledge made an exception for killing the women who had children with them during night attacks, this is the view of Ahmad and Ishaq, they permitted it in night attacks.

The Prophet said, "On the night of my Ascent to the Heaven, I saw Moses who was a tall brown curlyhaired man as if he was one of the men of Shan'awa tribe, and I saw Jesus, a man of medium height and moderate complexion inclined to the red and white colors and of lank hair. I also saw Malik, the gate-keeper of the (Hell) Fire and Ad-Dajjal amongst the signs which Allah showed me." (The Prophet then recited the Holy Verse): "So be not you in doubt of meeting him' when you met Moses during the night of Mi'raj over the heavens" (32.23) Narrated Anas and Abu Bakra: "The Prophet said, "The angels will guard Medina from Ad-Dajjal (who will not be able to enter the city of Medina).

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had asked Ibn Shihab whether someone doing itikaf could go into a house to relieve himself, and he said, "Yes, there is no harm in that."

Malik said, "The situation that we are all agreed upon here is that there is no disapproval of anyone doing itikaf in a mosque where jumua is held. The only reason I see for disapproving of doing itikaf in a mosque where jumua is not held is that the man doing itikaf would have to leave the mosque where he was doing itikaf in order to go to jumua, or else not go there at all. If, however, he is doing itikaf in a mosque where jumua is not held, and he does not have to go to jumua in any other mosque, then I see no harm in him doing itikaf there, because Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says, 'While you are doing itikaf in mosques,' and refers to all mosques in general, without specifying any particular kind."

Malik continued, "Accordingly, it is permissiblefor a man to do itikaf in a mosque where jumua is not held if he does not have to leave it to go to a mosque where jumua is held."

Malik said, "A person doing itikaf should spend the night only in the mosque where he is doing itikaf, except if his tent is in one of the courtyards of the mosque. I have never heard that someone doing itikaf can put up a shelter anywhere except in the mosque itself or in one of the courtyards of the mosque.

Part of what shows that he must spend the night in the mosque is the saying of A'isha, 'When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was doing itikaf, he would only go into the house to relieve himself.' Nor should he do itikaf on the roof of the mosque or in the minaret."

Malik said, "The person who is going to do itikaf should enter the place where he wishes to do itikaf before the sun sets on the night when he wishes to begin his itikaf, so that he is ready to begin the itikaf at the beginning of the night when he is going to start his itikaf. A person doing itikaf should be occupied with his itikaf, and not turn his attention to other things which might occupy him, such as trading or whatever. There is no harm, however, if some one doing itikaf tells some one to do something for him regarding his estate, or the affairs of his family, or tells someone to sell some property of his, or something else that does not occupy him directly. There is no harm in him arranging for someone else to do that for him if it is a simple matter."

Malik said, "I have never heard any of the people of knowledge mentioning any modification as far as how to do itikaf is concerned. Itikaf is an act of ibada like the prayer, fasting, the hajj, and such like acts, whether they are obligatory or voluntary. Anyone who begins doing any of these acts should do them according to what has come down in the sunna. He should not start doing anything in them that the muslims have not done, whether it is a modification that he imposes on others, or one that he begins doing himself. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, practised itikaf, and the muslims know what the sunna of itikaf is."

Malik said, "Itikaf and jiwar are the same, and Itikaf is the same for a village-dweller as it is for a nomad."