the above narration (Hadith 616) from Ubai bin Ka`b: adding, "I met the sub-narrator at Mecca later on, but he did not remember whether Ka`b had announced what he had found one year or three years."

"While at Medina we were struck with famine. Ibn Az-Zubair used to provide us with dates as our food. Ibn `Umar used to pass by us and say, "Don't eat two dates together at a time as the Prophet has forbidden eating two dates together at a time (in a gathering) unless one takes the permission of one's companion brother."

Yazid ibn Abdullah said that Abdullah ibn Amr asked the Prophet (saws): In how many days should I complete the recitation of the whole Qur'an, Messenger of Allah?

He replied: In one month.

He said: I am more energetic to complete it in a period less than this. He kept on repeating these words and lessening the period until he said: Complete its recitation in seven days.

He again said: I am more energetic to complete it in a period less than this.

The Prophet (saws) said: He who finishes the recitation of the Qur'an in less than three days does not understand it.

I had a hanging lock of hair. My mother said to me: I shall not cut it, for the Messenger of Allah (saws) used to stretch it our and hold it.

The Prophet said, "An adulterer, at the time he is committing illegal sexual intercourse is not a believer; and a person, at the time of drinking an alcoholic drink is not a believer; and a thief, at the time of stealing, is not a believer." Ibn Shihab said: `Abdul Malik bin Abi Bakr bin `Abdur-Rahman bin Al- Harith bin Hisham told me that Abu Bakr used to narrate that narration to him on the authority of Abu Huraira. He used to add that Abu Bakr used to mention, besides the above cases, "And he who robs (takes illegally something by force) while the people are looking at him, is not a believer at the time he is robbing (taking).

Malik said, "The reckoning of the fingers is thirty-three dinars for each fingertip, and that is three and a third shares of camels."

Allah's Apostle said "Three persons will have a double reward:

1. A Person from the people of the scriptures who believed in his prophet (Jesus or Moses) and then believed in the Prophet Muhammad (i .e. has embraced Islam).

2. A slave who discharges his duties to Allah and his master.

3. A master of a woman-slave who teaches her good manners and educates her in the best possible way (the religion) and manumits her and then marries her."

Az-Zubair had three scars caused by the sword, one of which was over his shoulder and I used to insert my fingers in it. He received two of those wounds on the day of Badr and one on the day of Al-Yarmuk. When 'Abdullah bin Zubair was killed, 'Abdul-Malik bin Marwan said to me, "O 'Urwa, do you recognize the sword of Az-Zubair?" I said, "Yes." He said, "What marks does it have?" I replied, "It has a dent in its sharp edge which was caused in it on the day of Badr." 'Abdul- Malik said, "You are right! (i.e. their swords) have dents because of clashing with the regiments of the enemies Then 'Abdul-Malik returned that sword to me (i.e. Urwa). (Hisham, 'Urwa's son said, "We estimated the price of the sword as three-thousand (Dinars) and after that it was taken by one of us (i.e. the inheritors) and I wish I could have had it.")

I heard Allah's Apostle saying; (It will be) from among the most wicked people who will be living at the time when the Hour will be established."

The Prophet (saws) said: He who asks pardon is not a confirmed sinner, even if he returns to his sin seventy times a day.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade 'selling and lending.'

Malik said, "The explanation of what that meant is that one man says to another, 'I will take your goods for such-and-such if you lend me such-and-such.' If they agree to a transaction in this manner, it is not permitted. If the one who stipulates the loan abandons his stipulation, then the sale is permitted."

Malik said, "There is no harm in exchanging linen from Shata, for garments from Itribi, or Qass, or Ziqa. Or the cloth of Herat or Merv for Yemeni cloaks and shawls and such like as one for two or three, from hand to hand or with delayed terms. If the goods are of the same kind, and deferment enters into the transaction, there is no good in it."

Malik said, "It is not good unless they are different, and the difference between them is clear. When they resemble each other, even if the names are different, do not take two for one with delayed terms, for instance two garments of Herat for one from Merv or Quhy with delayed terms, ortwo garments of Furqub for one from Shata. All these sorts are of the same description, so do not buy two for one, on delayed terms."

Malik said, "There is no harm in selling what you buy of things of this nature, before you complete the deal, to some one other than the person from whom you purchased them if the price was paid in cash."

`Umar said, "I agreed with Allah in three things," or said, "My Lord agreed with me in three things. I said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Would that you took the station of Abraham as a place of prayer.' I also said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Good and bad persons visit you! Would that you ordered the Mothers of the believers to cover themselves with veils.' So the Divine Verses of Al-Hijab (i.e. veiling of the women) were revealed. I came to know that the Prophet had blamed some of his wives so I entered upon them and said, 'You should either stop (troubling the Prophet ) or else Allah will give His Apostle better wives than you.' When I came to one of his wives, she said to me, 'O `Umar! Does Allah's Apostle haven't what he could advise his wives with, that you try to advise them?' " Thereupon Allah revealed:-- "It may be, if he divorced you (all) his Lord will give him instead of you, wives better than you Muslims (who submit to Allah).." (66.5)

The people of pre-Islamic times used to eat some things and leave others alone, considering them unclean. Then Allah sent His Prophet (saws) and sent down His Book, marking some things lawful and others unlawful; so what He made lawful is lawful, what he made unlawful is unlawful, and what he said nothing about is allowable. And he recited: "Say: I find not in the message received by me by inspiration any (meat) forbidden to be eaten by one who wishes to eat it...." up to the end of the verse.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from 'Amra bint Abd ar-Rahman from A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that a jewish woman came to beg from her and said, "May Allah give you refuge from the punishment of the grave." So A'isha asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "Are people punished in their graves?", and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took refuge in Allah from that. Then one morning the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out on a journey and there was an eclipse of the sun, and he returned in the late morning and passed through his apartments. Then he stood and prayed, and the people stood behind him. He stood for a long time, and then went into ruku for a long time. Then he rose and stood for a long time, though less than the first time, and then went into ruku for a long time, though less than the first time. Then he rose, and went down into sajda. Then he stood for a long time, though less than the time before, and then went into ruku for a long time, though less than the time before. Then he rose and stood for a long time, though less than the time before, and then went into ruku for a long time, though less than the time before. Then he rose, and went down into sajda. When he had finished he said what Allah willed him to say, and then he told them to seek protection for themselves from the punishment of the grave."

Malik related to me from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Harmala that Said ibn al-Musayyab heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "Shaytan concerns himself with one and two. When there are three, he does not concern himself with them."

Messenger of Allah, one of us shoots at the game, and follows its mark for two or three days, and then finds it dead, and there is his arrow (pierced) in it, may he eat it? He said: Yes, if he wishes, or he said: he may eat if he wishes.

The Prophet (saws) said: A woman gets inheritance from the three following: one she has set free, a foundling, and her child about whom she has invoked a curse on herself if she was untrue in declaring he was not born out of wedlock.

Yahya said that Malik said, concerning two associates, "If they share one herdsman, one male animal, one pasture and one watering place then the two men are associates, as long as each one of them knows his own property from that of his companion If someone cannot tell his property apart from that of his fellow, he is not an associate, but rather, a co-owner "

Malik said, "It is not obligatory for both associates to pay zakat unless both of them have a zakatable amount (of livestock). If, for instance, one of the associates has forty or more sheep and goats and the other has less than forty sheep and goats, then the one who has forty has to pay zakat and the one who has less does not. If both of them have a zakatable amount (of livestock) then both of them are assessed together (i.e the flock is assessed as one) and both of them have to pay zakat. If one of them has a thousand sheep, or less, that he has to pay zakat on, and the other has forty, or more, then they are associates, and each one pays his contribution according to the number of animals he has - so much from the one with a thousand, and so much from the one with forty.

Malik said, "Two associates in camels are the same as two associates in sheep and goats, and, for the purposes of zakat, are assessed together if each one of them has a zakatable amount (of camels). That is because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'There is no zakat on less than five head of camels,' and Umar ibn al-Khattab said, 'On grazing sheep and goats, if they come to forty or more - one ewe.' "

Yahya said that Malik said, "This is what I like most out of what I have heard about the matter."

Malik said that when Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "Those separated should not be gathered together nor should those gathered together be separated in order to avoid paying zakat," what he meant was the owners of livestock.

Malik said, "What he meant when he said, 'Those separated should not be gathered together' is, for instance, that there is a group of three men, each of whom has forty sheep and goats, and each of whom thus has to pay zakat. Then, when the zakat collector is on his way ,they gather their flocks together so that they only owe one ewe between them. This they are forbidden to do. What he meant when he said, 'nor should those gathered together be separated,' is, for instance, that there are two associates, each one of whom has a hundred and one sheep and goats, and each of whom must therefore pay three ewes. Then, when the zakat collector is on his way, they split up their flocks so that they only have to pay one ewe each. This they are forbidden to do. And so it is said, 'Those separated should not be gathered together nor should those gathered together be separated in order to avoid paying zakat.' "

Malik said, "This is what I have heard about the matter."

The Prophet decreed that one should not eat two dates together at a time unless he gets the permission from his companions (sharing the meal with him).

The Prophet (saws) said: The place of assembly of the Muslims at the time of the war will be in al-Ghutah near a city called Damascus, one of the best cities in Syria.

Malik related to me from Suhayl ibn Abi Salih from his father from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Allah is pleased with three things from you, and He is angry with three things from you. He is pleased that you worship Him and do not associate anything with Him, and that you take hold of the rope of Allah altogether, and that you give good counsel to the one to whom Allah gives command over you. He is angry with you for gossip, squandering property, and asking too many questions."