Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Ziyad that Muhammad ibn Kab al-Quradhi said, ''Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan said from the mimbar, 'O people! Nothing keeps away what Allah gives and nothing gives what Allah keeps away. The earnestness of the earnest one does not profit him. When Allah desires good for him, he gives him understanding in the deen.' Then Muawiya said, 'I heard these words from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on these blocks of wood.' "

Malik related to me from a reliable source of his from Yaqub ibn Abdullah al-Ashajj from Bushr ibn Said from Sad ibn Abi Waqqas from Khawla bint Hakim that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Whoever dismounts to rest in a place should say, 'I seek refuge with the complete words of Allah from the evil of what he created,' (audhu bi kalimati-llahi at-tammati min sharri ma khalaqa), and nothing will harm him until he remounts."

During the Prophet's fatal illness, he used to recite the Mu'auwidhat (Surat An-Nas and Surat Al- Falaq) and then blow his breath over his body. When his illness was aggravated, I used to recite those two Suras and blow my breath over him and make him rub his body with his own hand for its blessings." (Ma`mar asked Az-Zuhri: How did the Prophet use to blow? Az-Zuhri said: He used to blow on his hands and then passed them over his face.)

The Prophet, during his fatal ailment used to blow (on his hands and pass them) over his body while reciting the Mu'auwidhat (Surat-an-Nas and Surat-al-Falaq). When his disease got aggravated, I used to recite them for him and blow (on his hands) and let him pass his hands over his body because of its blessing. (Ma`mar asked Ibn Shihab: How did he use to do Nafth? He said: He used to blow on his hands and then pass them over his face.)

Malik related to us from Abdullah ibn Yazid the mawla of al-Aswad ibn Sufyan, from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman from Muhammad ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Thawban from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "When the heat is fierce delay the prayer until it gets cooler, for scorching heat is a part of the blast of Jahannam."

He added, "The Fire complained to its Lord, so He allowed it two breaths in each year, a breath in winter and a breath in summer."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father from A'isha, umm al-muminin, that whenever the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did ghusl for major ritual impurity, he would begin by washing his hands, and then do wudu as for prayer. He would then put his fingers in the water and rub the roots of his hair with them. Then he would pour as much water as two hands can hold on to his head three times, and over the entire surface of his skin.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'zZinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "By Him in whose hand myself is! I had in mind to order firewood to be collected, then to order the prayer to be called, and to appoint a man to lead the people in prayer, and then to come up behind certain men and burn their houses down about them! By Him in whose hand myself is! If one of them knew that he would find a meaty bone or two good legs of meat, he would be present at isha.''

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from a man of the family of Khalid ibn Asid that he said to Abdullah ibn Umar, "Abu Abd ar-Rahman, we find the fear prayer and the prayer when settled mentioned in the Qur'an, but we do not find any mention of the travelling prayer in it." Ibn Umar said, "Son of my brother! Allah the Mighty and Majestic sent us Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and we know nothing. We only do as we saw him doing."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from an-Numan ibn Murra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,"What about drunkenness, stealing and adultery? "That was before anything had been revealed about them. They said, "Allah and His Messenger know best." He said, "They are excesses and in them is a punishment. And the worst of thieves is the one who steals his prayer." They said, "How does he steal his prayer, Messenger of Allah?" He replied, "He does not do ruku or sajda properly."

Yahya related to me 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 group of angels in the night and a group of angels in the day alternate with each other among you, and gather together at the time of the asr and fajr prayers. Then those that have spent the night among you ascend, and He asks them, and He knows best, 'How did you leave my slaves?' and they say, 'When we left them they were praying, and when we came to them they were praying.' "

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, "By the One in Whose hand my self is, the smell of the breath of a man fasting is better with Allah than the scent of musk.' He leaves his desires and his food and drink for My sake. Fasting is for Me and I reward it. Every good action is rewarded by ten times its kind, up to seven hundred times, except fasting, which is for Me, and I reward it.' "

Ziyad related to me from Malik that he had heard a man he trusted of the people of knowledge say, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was shown the lifespans of the people (who had gone) before him, or what Allah willed of that, and it was as if the lives of the people of his community had become too short for them to be able to do as many good actions as others before them had been able to do with their long lives, so Allah gave him Laylat al- Qadr, which is better than a thousand months."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ath- Thaqafi once asked Anas ibn Malik, while the two of them were going from Mina to Arafa, "What did you use to do on this day when you were with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?" He said, "Those of us who were saying the talbiya would continue doing so, and no-one disapproved of it, and those of us who were saying 'Allahu akbar' would continue doing so, and no-one disapproved of that either."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'n Nadr, the mawla of Umar ibn Ubaydullah, from Umayr, the mawla of Abdullah ibn Abbas, from Umm al-Fadl bint al-Harith, that she was present when some people were arguing on the day of Arafa about whether the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was fasting or not. Some of them said he was fasting, and some of them said he was not. So she sent a bowl of milk to him while his camel was standing still and he drank.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Uthman ibn Hafs ibn Umar ibn Khalda that Ibn Shihab had heard that Abu Lubaba ibn Abd al-Mundhir, when Allah turned to him said, "Messenger of Allah, should I leave my people's house in which I committed wrong action and keep your company, and give away all my property as sadaqa for Allah and His Messenger? "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Giving away a third of it is enough for you."

That she conceived `Abdullah bin Az-Zubair. She added, "I migrated to Medina while I was at full term of pregnancy and alighted at Quba where I gave birth to him. Then I brought him to the Prophet and put him in his lap. The Prophet asked for a date, chewed it, and put some of its juice in the child's mouth. So, the first thing that entered the child's stomach was the saliva of Allah's Apostle. Then the Prophet rubbed the child's palate with a date and invoked for Allah's Blessings on him, and he was the first child born amongst the Emigrants in the Islamic Land (i.e. Medina).

Yahya said from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Bushayr ibn Yasar informed him that Abdullah ibn Sahl al-Ansari and Muhayyisa ibn Masud went out to Khaybar, and they separated on their various businesses and Abdullah ibn Sahl was killed. Muhayyisa, and his brother Huwayyisa and Abd ar-Rahman ibn Sahl went to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and Abd ar-Rahman began to speak before his brother. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The older first, the older first.

Therefore Huwayyisa and then Muhayyisa spoke and mentioned the affair of Abdullah ibn Sahl. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to them, "Do you swear with fifty oaths and claim the blood-money of your companion or the life of the murderer?" They said, "Messenger of Allah, we did not see it and we were not present." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Will you acquit the jews for fifty oaths?' They said, "Messenger of Allah, how can we accept the oaths of a people who are kafirun?"

Yahya ibn Said said, "Bushayr ibn Yasar claimed that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, paid the blood-money from his own property."

Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things in our community and that which I heard from whoever I am content with, concerning the oath of qasama, and upon which the past and present imams agree, is that those who claim revenge begin with the oaths and swear. The oath for revenge is only obligatory in two situations. Either the slain person says, 'My blood is against so-and-so,' or the relatives entitled to the blood bring a partial proof of it that is not irrefutable against the one who is the object of the blood-claim. This obliges taking an oath on the part of those who claim the blood against those who are the object of the blood-claim. With us, swearing is only obliged in these two situations."

Malik said, "That is the sunna in which there is no dispute with us and which is still the behaviour of the people. The people who claim blood begin the swearings, whether it is an intentional killing or an accident."

Malik said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, began with Banu Harith in the case of the killing of their kinsman murdered at Khaybar."

Malik said, "If those who make the claim swear, they deserve the blood of their kinsman and whoever they swear against is slain. Only one man can be killed in the qasama. Two cannot be killed in it. Fifty men from the blood-relatives must swear fifty oaths. If their number is less or some of them draw back, they can repeat their oaths, unless one of the relatives of the murdered man who deserves blood and who is permitted to pardon it, draws back. If one of these draws back, there is no way to revenge."

Yahya said that Malik said, "The oaths can be made by those of them who remain if one of them draws back who is not permitted to pardon. If one of the blood-relatives draws back who is permitted to pardon, even if he is only one, more oaths can not be made after that by the blood- relatives. If that occurs, the oaths can be on behalf of the one against whom the claim is made. So fifty of the men of his people swear fifty oaths. If there are not fifty men, more oaths can be made by those of them who already swore. If there is only the defendant, he swears fifty oaths and is acquitted."

Yahya said that Malik said, "One distinguishes between swearing for blood and oaths for one's rights. When a man has a money-claim against another man, he seeks to verify his due. When a man wants to kill another man, he does not kill him in the midst of people. He keeps to a place away from people. Had there only been swearing in cases where there is a clear proof and had one acted in it as one acts about one's rights (i.e. needing witnesses), the right of blood retribution would have been lost and people would have been swift to take advantage of it when they learned of the decision on it. However, the relatives of the murdered man were allowed to initiate swearing so that people might restrain themselves from blood and the murderer might beware lest he was put into a situation like that (i.e. qasama) by the statement of the murdered man.' "

Yahya said, "Malik said about a people of whom a certain number are suspected of murder and the relatives of the murdered man ask them to take oaths and they are numerous, so they ask that each man swears fifty oaths on his own behalf. The oaths are not divided out between them according to their number and they are not acquitted unless each man among them swears fifty oaths on his own behalf."

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

He said, "Swearing goes to the paternal relatives of the slain. They are the blood-relatives who swear against the killer and by whose swearing he is killed."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Yazid, the mawla of al-Aswad ibn Sufyan from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf from Fatima bint Qays that Abu Amr ibn Hafs divorced her absolutely while he was away in Syria. His agent sent her some barley and she was displeased with it, saying, "By Allah, I don't expect anything from you." She went to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and mentioned it to him. He said, "You have no maintenance." He then ordered her to spend her idda in the house of Umm Sharik. Then he said, "This is a woman whom my companions visit. Spend the idda in the house of Ibn Umm Maktum. He is a blind man and you can undress at his home. When you are free to remarry, tell me."

She continued, "When I was free to remarry, I mentioned to him that Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan and Abu Jahm ibn Hisham had asked for me in marriage. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'As for Abu Jahm, he never puts down his stick from his shoulder (i.e. he is always travelling), and as for Muawiya he is a poor man with no property. Marry Usama ibn Zayd.' I objected to him and he said, 'Marry Usama ibn Zayd,' so I married him, and Allah put good in it and I was content with him."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used to say the tashahhud saying, "In the name of Allah. Greetings belong to Allah. Prayers belong to Allah. Pure actions belong to Allah. Peace be on the Prophet and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Peace be on us and on the slaves of Allah who are salihun. I testify that there is no god except Allah. I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."

"Bismillah, at-tahiyatu lillah, as-salawatu lillah, az-zakiyatu lillah. As-salamu ala'n-nabiyyi wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. As-salamu alayna wa ala ibadi'llahi's-salihin. Shahidtu an la ilaha illallah. Shahidtu anna Muhammadu'r-rasulu'llah."

He used to say this after the first two rakas and he would make supplication with whatever seemed fit to him when the tashahhud was completed. When he sat at the end of the prayer, he did the tashahhud in a similar manner, except that after the tashahhud he made supplication with whatever seemed fit to him. When he had completed the tashahhud and intended to say the taslim, he said, "Peace be on the Prophet and His mercy and blessings. Peace be upon us and on the slaves of Allah who are salihun."

"As- salamu ala'n-nabiyyi wa rahmatu'llahi wa barakatuhu. As-salamu alayna wa ala ibadi'llahi'ssalihin ."

He then said, "Peace be upon you" to his right, and would return the greeting to the imam, and if anyone said "Peace be upon you" from his left he would return the greeting to him.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ibrahim ibn Abdullah ibn Hunayn from his father Abdullah ibn Hunayn that Abdullah ibn Abbas and al-Miswar ibn Makhrama once had a disagreement at al-Abwa. Abdullah said that some one in ihram could wash his head, and al Miswar ibn Makhrama maintained that some one in ihram could not wash his head.

Abdullah ibn Hunayn continued, "Abdullah ibn Abbas sent me to Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, and I found him doing ghusl between the posts of a well, screened by a garment. I greeted him and hesaid, 'Who is that?' I replied, 'I am 'Abdullah ibn Hunayn. 'Abdullah ibn Abbas sent me to you to ask how the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to wash his head when he was in ihram.' "

He continued, "Abu Ayyub put his hand on the garment and pulled it down until I could see his head. He said to the man who was pouring out the water for him, 'Pour,' and he poured some over his head. Then he passed his hands over his head from the front to the back and then to the front again, and then said, 'I saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, doing it like this.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Abu Salih as-Samman from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Horses are a reward for one man, a protection for another, a burden for another. The one who has them as a reward is the one who dedicates them for use in the way of Allah, and tethers them in a meadow or grassland. Whatever the horse enjoys of the grassland or meadow in the length of its tether are good deeds for him. If it breaks its tether and goes over a hillock or two, its tracks and droppings are good deeds for him. If it crosses a river and drinks from it while he did not mean to allow it to drink it, that counts as good deeds for him, and the horse is a reward for him.

Another man uses his horse to gain self reliance and up- standingness and does not forget Allah's right on their necks and backs (i.e. he does not ill treat or over-work them). Horses are a protection for him .

Another man uses them out of pride to show them off and in hostility to the people of Islam. They are a burden on that man."

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked about donkeys, and he said, "Nothing has been revealed to me about them except this single all- inclusive ayat, 'Whoever does an atom of good will see it, and whoever does an atom of evil, will see it.' " (Sura 99 Ayats 7,8) .

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father said, "Once when I was young I said to A'isha, umm al-muminin, 'Have you seen the saying of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, "Safa and Marwa are among the waymarks of Allah, so whoever does hajj or umra to the House, there is no harm in his going between them," so it follows that there should be no harm for some one who does not go between them.'

A'isha said, 'No. If it were as you say, there would be no harm in his not going between them. This ayat was only revealed about the Ansar. They used to make pilgrimage to Manat, and Manat was an idol near Qudayd, and they used to avoid going between Safa and Marwa, and when Islam came they asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about this and Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, revealed, "Safa and Marwa are among the waymarks of Allah, so whoever does hajj or umra to the House, there is no harm in his going between them. " ' "

A necklace of mine was lost at Al-Baida' and we were on our way to Medina. The Prophet made his camel kneel down and dismounted and laid his head on my lap and slept. Abu Bakr came to me and hit me violently on the chest and said, "You have detained the people because of a necklace." I kept as motionless as a dead person because of the position of Allah's Apostle ; (on my lap) although Abu Bakr had hurt me (with the slap). Then the Prophet woke up and it was the time for the morning (prayer). Water was sought, but in vain; so the following Verse was revealed:-- "O you who believe! When you intend to offer prayer.." (5.6) Usaid bin Hudair said, "Allah has blessed the people for your sake, O the family of Abu Bakr. You are but a blessing for them."