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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I replied: ...

The Prophet (saws) said: If anyone eats food and then says: "Praise be to Allah Who has fed me with this food and provided me with it through no might and power on my part," he will be forgiven his former and later sins. If anyone puts on a garment and says: "Praise be to Allah Who has clothed me with this and provided me with it through no might and power on my part," he will be forgiven his former and later sins.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z Zinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "A man said to his family that he had never done a good action, and that when he died they were to burn him and then scatter half of him on the land and half of him on the sea, and by Allah, if Allah destined it for him He would punish him with a punishment which He had not punished anyone else with in all the worlds. When the man died, they did as he had told them. Then Allah told the land to collect everything that was in it, and told the sea to collect everything that was in it, and then He said to the man, 'Why did you do this?' and he said, 'From fear of You, Lord, and You know best.' "

Abu Hurayra added, "And He forgave him."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Ibn Shihab said, "The first person to deduct zakat from allowances was Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan." (i.e. the deduction being made automatically) .

Malik said, "The agreed sunna with us is that zakat has to be paid on twenty dinars (of gold coin), in the same way as it has to be paid on two hundred dirhams (of silver)."

Malik said, "There is no zakat to pay on (gold) that is clearly less than twenty dinars (in weight) but if it increases so that by the increase the amount reaches a full twenty dinars in weight then zakat has to be paid. Similarly, there is no zakat to pay on (silver) that is clearly less than two hundred dirhams (in weight), but if it increases so that by the increase the amount reaches a full two hundred dirhams in weight then zakat has to be paid. If it passes the full weight then I think there is zakat to pay, whether it be dinars or dirhams." (i.e. the zakat is assessed by the weight and not the number of the coins.)

Malik said, about a man who had one hundred and sixty dirhams by weight, and the exchange rate in his town was eight dirhams to a dinar, that he did not have to pay any zakat. Zakat had only to be paid on twenty dinars of gold or two hundred dirhams.

Malik said, in the case of a man who acquired five dinars from a transaction or in some other way which he then invested in trade, that, as soon as it increased to a zakatable amount and then a year elapsed, he had to pay zakat on it, even if the zakatable amount was reached one day before or one day after the passing of a year. There was then no zakat to pay on it from the day the zakat was taken until a year had elapsed over it.

Malik said, in the similar case of a man who had in his possession ten dinars which he invested in trade and which reached twenty dinars by the time one year had elapsed over them, that he paid zakat on them right then and did not wait until a year had elapsed over them, (counting) from the day when they actually reached the zakatable amount. This was because a year had elapsed over the original dinars and there were now twenty of them in his possession. After that there was no zakat to pay on them from the day the zakat was paid until another year had elapsed over them.

Malik said, "What we are agreed upon (here in Madina) regarding income from hiring out slaves, rent from property, and the sums received when a slave buys his freedom, is that no zakat is due on ...

Abu `Abdur-Rahman who was one of the supporters of `Uthman said to Abu Talha who was one of the supporters of `Ali, "I perfectly know what encouraged your leader (i.e. `Ali) to shed blood. I heard him saying: Once the Prophet sent me and Az-Zubair saying, 'Proceed to such-and-such Ar-Roudah (place) where you will find a lady whom Hatib has given a letter. So when we arrived at Ar-Roudah, we requested the lady to hand over the letter to us. She said, 'Hatib has not given me any letter.' We said to her. 'Take out the letter or else we will strip off your clothes.' So she took it out of her braid. So the Prophet sent for Hatib, (who came) and said, 'Don't hurry in judging me, for, by Allah, I have not become a disbeliever, and my love to Islam is increasing. (The reason for writing this letter was) that there is none of your companions but has relatives in Mecca who look after their families and property, while I have nobody there, so I wanted to do them some favor (so that they might look after my family and property).' The Prophet believed him. `Umar said, 'Allow me to chop off his (i.e. Hatib's) neck as he has done hypocrisy.' The Prophet said, (to `Umar), 'Who knows, perhaps Allah has looked at the warriors of Badr and said (to them), 'Do whatever you like, for I have forgiven you.' " `Abdur-Rahman added, "So this is what encouraged him (i.e. `Ali).

Umayyah, daughter of AbusSalt, quoted a certain woman of Banu Ghifar, whose name was mentioned to me, as saying: The Messenger of Allah (saws) made me ride behind him on the rear of the camel saddle. By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (saws) got down in the morning. He made his camel kneel down and I came down from the back of his saddle. There was a mark of blood on it (saddle) and that was the first menstruation that I had. I stuck to the camel and felt ashamed.

When the Messenger of Allah (saws) saw what had happened to me and saw the blood, he said: Perhaps you are menstruating.

I said: Yes. He then said: Set yourself right (i.e. tie some cloth to prevent bleeding), then take a vessel of water and put some salt in it, and then wash the blood from the back of the saddle, and then return to your mount. When the Messenger of Allah (saws) conquered Khaybar, he gave us a portion of the booty. Whenever the woman became purified from her menses, she would put salt in water. And when she died, she left a will to put salt in the water for washing her (after death).

The Prophet said, "In very hot weather delay the Zuhr prayer till it becomes (a bit) cooler because the severity of heat is from the raging of the Hell-fire. The Hell-fire of Hell complained to its Lord saying: O Lord! My parts are eating (destroying) one another. So Allah allowed it to take two breaths, one in the winter and the other in the summer. The breath in the summer is at the time when you feel the severest heat and the breath in the winter is at the time when you feel the severest cold."

I went to Allah's Apostle along with a group of people from (the tribe of) Al-Ash`ari, asking for mounts. The Prophet said, "By Allah, I will not give you anything to ride, and I have nothing to mount you on." We stayed there as long as Allah wished, and after that, some camels were brought to the Prophet and he ordered that we be given three camels. When we set out, some of us said to others, "Allah will not bless us, as we all went to Allah's Apostle asking him for mounts, and although he had sworn that he would not give us mounts, he did give us." So we returned to the Prophet; and mentioned that to him. He said, "I have not provided you with mounts, but Allah has. By Allah, Allah willing, if I ever take an oath, and then see that another is better than the first, I make expiration for my (dissolved) oath, and do what is better and make expiration."

Ubaydullah ibn Salman reported on the authority of a man from the Companions of the Prophet (saws): When we conquered Khaybar, they (the people) took out their spoils which contained equipment and captives. The people began to buy and sell their spoils. When the Messenger of Allah (saws) prayed, a man came to him and said: Messenger of Allah, I have gained today so much so that no one gained from this valley. He asked: Woe unto you, how much did you gain? He replied: I kept on selling and buying until I gained three hundred uqiyahs. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: I tell you a man who gained better than you. He asked: What is that, Messenger of Allah? He replied! Two rak'ahs (of supererogatory prayer) after the (obligatory) prayer.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Humayd ibn Qays al-Makki from Tawus al Yamani that from thirty cows, Muadh ibn Jabal took one cow in its second year, and from forty cows, one cow in its third or fourth year, and when less than that (i.e. thirty cows) was brought to him he refused to take anything from it. He said, "I have not heard anything about it from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. When I meet him, I will ask him." But the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, died before Muadh ibn Jabal returned.

Yahya said that Malik said, "The best that I have heard about some one who has sheep or goats with two or more shepherds in different places is that they are added together and the owner then pays the zakat on them. This is the same situation as a man who has gold and silver scattered in the hands of various people. He must add it all u p and pay whatever zakat there is to pay on the sum total."

Yahya said that Malik said, about a man who had both sheep and goats, that they were added up together for the zakat to be assessed, and if between them they came to a number on which zakat was due, he paid zakat on them. Malik added, "They are all considered as sheep, and in Umar ibn al-Khattab's book it says, 'On grazing sheep and goats, if they come to forty or more, one ewe.' "

Malik said, "If there are more sheep than goats and their owner only has to pay one ewe, the zakat collector takes the ewe from the sheep. If there are more goats than sheep, he takes it from the goats. If there is an equal number of sheep and goats, he takes the ewe from whichever kind he wishes."

Yahya said that Malik said, "Similarly, Arabian camels and Bactrian camels are added up together in order to assess the zakat that the owner has to pay. They are all considered as camels. If there are more Arabian camels than Bactrians and the owner only has to pay one camel, the zakat collector takes it from the Arabian ones. If, however, there are more Bactrian camels he takes it from those. If there is an equal number of both, he takes the camel from whichever kind he wishes."

Malik said, "Similarly, cows and water buffaloes are added up together and are all considered as cattle. If there are more cows than water buffalo and the owner only has to pay one cow, the zakat collector takes it from the cows. If there are more water buffalo, he takes it from them. If there is an equal number of ...

Allah's Apostle addressed the people, and after praising and glorifying Allah, he said, "What do you suggest me regarding those people who are abusing my wife? I have never known anything bad about her." The sub-narrator, `Urwa, said: When `Aisha was told of the slander, she said, "O Allah's Apostle! Will you allow me to go to my parents' home?" He allowed her and sent a slave along with her. An Ansari man said, "Subhanaka! It is not right for us to speak about this. Subhanaka! This is a great lie!"

(the wife of the Prophet) The commencement (of the Divine Inspiration) to Allah's Apostle was in the form of true dreams in his sleep, for he never had a dream but it turned out to be true and clear as the bright daylight. Then he began to like seclusions, so he used to go in seclusion in the cave of Hira where he used to worship Allah continuously for many nights before going back to his family to take the necessary provision (of food) for the stay. He come back to (his wife) Khadija again to take his provision (of food) likewise, till one day he received the Guidance while he was in the cave of Hira. An Angel came to him and asked him to read. Allah's Apostle replied, "I do not know how to read." The Prophet added, "Then the Angel held me (forcibly) and pressed me so hard that I felt distressed. Then he released me and again asked me to read, and I replied, 'I do not know how to read.' Thereupon he held me again and pressed me for the second time till I felt distressed. He then released me and asked me to read, but again I replied. 'I do not know how to read.' Thereupon he held me for the third time and pressed me till I got distressed, and then he released me and said, 'Read, in the Name of your Lord Who has created (all that exists), has created man out of a clot, Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous. Who has taught (the writing) by the pen, has taught man that which he knew not." (96.1-5). Then Allah's Apostle returned with that experience; and the muscles between his neck and shoulders were trembling till he came upon Khadija (his wife) and said, "Cover me!" They covered him, and when the state of fear was over, he said to Khadija, "O Khadija! What is wrong with me? I was afraid that something bad might happen to me." Then he told her the story. Khadija said, "Nay! But receive the good tidings! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you, for by Allah, you keep good relations with your Kith and kin, speak the truth, help the poor and the destitute, entertain your guests generously and assist those who are stricken with calamities." Khadija then took him to Waraqa bin Naufil, the son of Khadija's paternal uncle. Waraqa had been converted to Christianity in the Pre-lslamic Period and used to write Arabic and write of the Gospel in Arabic as much as Allah wished him to write. He was an old man and had lost his eyesight. Khadija said (to Waraqa), "O my cousin! Listen to what your nephew is going to say." Waraqa ...

It was mentioned before `Aisha that Ibn `Umar attributed the following statement to the Prophet "The dead person is punished in the grave because of the crying and lamentation Of his family." On that, `Aisha said, "But Allah's Apostle said, 'The dead person is punished for his crimes and sins while his family cry over him then." She added, "And this is similar to the statement of Allah's Apostle when he stood by the (edge of the) well which contained the corpses of the pagans killed at Badr, 'They hear what I say.' She added, "But he said now they know very well what I used to tell them was the truth." `Aisha then recited: 'You cannot make the dead hear.' (30.52) and 'You cannot make those who are in their Graves, hear you.' (35.22) that is, when they had taken their places in the (Hell) Fire.

Some people from the Ansar asked Allah's Apostle (to give them something) and he gave to everyone of them, who asked him, until all that he had was finished. When everything was finished and he had spent all that was in his hand, he said to them, '"(Know) that if I have any wealth, I will not withhold it from you (to keep for somebody else); And (know) that he who refrains from begging others (or doing prohibited deeds), Allah will make him contented and not in need of others; and he who remains patient, Allah will bestow patience upon him, and he who is satisfied with what he has, Allah will make him self-sufficient. And there is no gift better and vast (you may be given) than patience."

Malik related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Ata ibn Yazid al-Laythi from Abu Said al-Khudri that some people of the Ansar asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he gave to them. Then they asked him again, and he gave to them until he used up what he had. Then he said, "What wealth I have, I will not hoard from you. Whoever has forbearance, Allah will help him. Whoever tries to be independent, Allah will enrich him. Whoever tries to be patient, Allah will give him patience, and no one is given a better or vaster gift than patience."

Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) said, "Anyone who takes a bath on Friday and cleans himself as much as he can and puts oil (on his hair) or scents himself; and then proceeds for the prayer and does not force his way between two persons (assembled in the mosque for the Friday prayer), and prays as much as is written for him and remains quiet when the Imam delivers the Khutba, all his sins in between the present and the last Friday will be forgiven."

The Prophet said, "He who manumits his share of a slave and has money sufficient to free the remaining portion of that slave's price (justly estimated) then he should manumit him (by giving the rest of his price to the other co-owners)." Nafi` added, "Otherwise the slave is partially free." Aiyub is not sure whether the last statement was said by Nafi` or it was a part of the Hadith.

I asked Sahl bin Sa`d, "Did Allah's Apostle ever eat white flour?" Sahl said, "Allah's Apostle never saw white flour since Allah sent him as an Apostle till He took him unto Him." I asked, "Did the people have (use) sieves during the lifetime of Allah's Apostle?" Sahl said, "Allah's Apostle never saw (used) a sieve since Allah sent him as an Apostle until He took him unto Him," I said, "How could you eat barley unsifted?" he said, "We used to grind it and then blow off its husk, and after the husk flew away, we used to prepare the dough (bake) and eat it."

The Prophet said, "Leave me as I leave you, for the people who were before you were ruined because of their questions and their differences over their prophets. So, if I forbid you to do something, then keep away from it. And if I order you to do something, then do of it as much as you can."

Ibn `Abbas said, "O Muslims? How do you ask the people of the Scriptures, though your Book (i.e. the Qur'an) which was revealed to His Prophet is the most recent information from Allah and you recite it, the Book that has not been distorted? Allah has revealed to you that the people of the scriptures have changed with their own hands what was revealed to them and they have said (as regards their changed Scriptures): This is from Allah, in order to get some worldly benefit thereby." Ibn `Abbas added: "Isn't the knowledge revealed to you sufficient to prevent you from asking them? By Allah I have never seen any one of them asking (Muslims) about what has been revealed to you."

The Prophet came to me the night my marriage was consummated and sat down on my bed as you (the sub-narrator) are sitting now, and small girls were beating the tambourine and singing in lamentation of my father who had been killed on the day of the battle of Badr. Then one of the girls said, "There is a Prophet amongst us who knows what will happen tomorrow." The Prophet said (to her)," Do not say this, but go on saying what you have spoken before."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: There will be a period of commotion in which the one who lies down will be better than the one who sits, and the one who sits is better than the one who stands, and the one who stands is better than the one who walks, and the one who walks is better than the one who runs (to it).

He asked: What do you command me to do, Messenger of Allah? He replied: He who has camels should remain with his camels, he who has sheep should remain with his sheep, and he who has land should remain with his land.

He asked: If anyone has more of these, (what should he do)?

He replied: He should take his sword, strike its edge on a stone, and then escape if he can.

A lady came to the Prophet and declared that she had decided to offer herself to Allah and His Apostle. The Prophet said, "I am not in need of women." A man said (to the Prophet) "Please marry her to me." The Prophet said (to him), "Give her a garment." The man said, "I cannot afford it." The Prophet said, "Give her anything, even if it were an iron ring." The man apologized again. The Prophet then asked him, "What do you know by heart of the Qur'an?" He replied, "I know such-andsuch portion of the Qur'an (by heart)." The Prophet said, "Then I marry her to you for that much of the Qur'an which you know by heart."

That the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "To go out in the cause of Allah in the morning, or the afternoon, is better than the world and what is in it. And the space that a bow of one of you - or the space that his hand - would occupy in Paradise is better than the world and what is in it. And if a woman among the women inhabiting Paradise were to appear to the people of the earth, then she would illuminate what is between the ( the heavens and the earth), and a pleasant scent would fill up what is between them, and the scarf on her head is better than the world and what is in it."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Sahih.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) came out, and on seeing a high-domed building, he said: What is it?

His companions replied to him: It belongs to so and so, one of the Ansar.

He said: he said nothing but kept the matter in mind. When its owner came and gave him a greeting among the people, he turned away from him. When he had done this several times, the man realised that he was the cause of the anger and the rebuff.

So he complained about it to his companions, saying: I swear by Allah that I cannot understand the Messenger of Allah (saws).

They said: He went out and saw your domed building. So the man returned to it and demolished it, levelling it to the ground. One day the Messenger of Allah (saws) came out and did not see it.

He asked: What has happened to the domed building?

They replied: Its owner complained to us about your rebuff, and when we informed him about it, he demolished it.

He said: Every building is a misfortune for its owner, except what cannot, except what cannot, meaning except that which is essential.