Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established till the sun rises from the west, and when it rises (from the west) and the people see it, then all of them will believe (in Allah). But that will be the time when 'No good it will do to a soul to believe then. If it believed not before.."' (6.158) The Hour will be established (so suddenly) that two persons spreading a garment between them will not be able to finish their bargain, nor will they be able to fold it up. The Hour will be established while a man is carrying the milk of his she-camel, but cannot drink it; and the Hour will be established when someone is not able to prepare the tank to water his livestock from it; and the Hour will be established when some of you has raised his food to his mouth but cannot eat it."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used to pray dhuhr, asr, maghrib, isha and subh at Mina. Then in the morning, after the sun had risen, he would go to Arafa .

Malik said, "What we are all agreed upon here (in Madina) is that the imam does not recite the Qur'an out loud in dhuhr on the day of Arafa, and that he gives a khutba to the people on that day, and that the prayer on the day of Arafa is really a dhuhr prayer, and even if it coincides with a jumua it is still a dhuhr prayer, but one which has been shortened because of travelling."

Malik said that the imam of the pilgrims should not pray the jumua prayer if the day of Arafa, the day of sacrifice or one of the three days after the day of sacrifice, was a Friday.

It has been narrated on the authority of 'Abdullah that, the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) turned his face towards the Ka'ba and invoked God's imprecations upon six men of the Quraish, amorig whom were Abu Jahl. Umayya b. Khalaf, Utba b. Rabi'a, Shaiba b. Rabi'a and 'Uqba b. Abu Mu'ait I swear by God that I saw them lying slain in the battlefield of Badr. It being a hot day, their complexion had changed (showing signs of decay).

Allah's Apostle said, "There is a (compulsory) Sadaqa (charity) to be given for every joint of the human body (as a sign of gratitude to Allah) everyday the sun rises. To judge justly between two persons is regarded as Sadaqa, and to help a man concerning his riding animal by helping him to ride it or by lifting his luggage on to it, is also regarded as Sadaqa, and (saying) a good word is also Sadaqa, and every step taken on one's way to offer the compulsory prayer (in the mosque) is also Sadaqa and to remove a harmful thing from the way is also Sadaqa."

`Uthman bin `Affan and I went to the Prophet and said, "You had given Banu Al-Muttalib from the Khumus of Khaibar's booty and left us in spite of the fact that we and Banu Al-Muttalib are similarly related to you." The Prophet said, "Banu Hashim and Banu Al-Muttalib only are one and the same." So the Prophet did not give anything to Banu `Abd Shams and Banu Nawfal.

Ibn `Umar never offered the Duha prayer except on two occasions: (1) Whenever he reached Mecca; and he always used to reach Mecca in the forenoon. He would perform Tawaf round the Ka`ba and then offer two rak`at at the rear of Maqam Ibrahim. (2) Whenever he visited Quba, for he used to visit it every Saturday. When he entered the Mosque, he disliked to leave it without offering a prayer. Ibn `Umar narrated that Allah's Apostle used to visit the Mosque of Quba (sometime) walking and (sometime) riding. And he (i.e. Ibn `Umar) used to say, "I do only what my companions used to do and I don't forbid anybody to pray at any time during the day or night except that one should not intend to pray at sunrise or sunset."

Yahya related to me from Malik that al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman said, "We visited Anas ibn Malik after dhuhr and he stood up and prayed asr. When he had finished his prayer, we mentioned doing prayers early in their time, or he mentioned it, and he said that he had heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, the prayer of the hypocrites, the prayer of the hypocrites, the prayer of the hypocrites is that one of them sits until the sun becomes yellow and is between the horns of Shaytan, or on the horn of Shaytan, and then gets up and rattles off four rakas, hardly remembering Allah in them at all.' "

The sun eclipsed and the Prophet got up, being afraid that it might be the Hour (i.e. Day of Judgment). He went to the Mosque and offered the prayer with the longest Qiyam, bowing and prostration that I had ever seen him doing. Then he said, "These signs which Allah sends do not occur because of the life or death of somebody, but Allah makes His worshipers afraid by them. So when you see anything thereof, proceed to remember Allah, invoke Him and ask for His forgiveness."

Sa`d bin Mu`adh came to Mecca with the intention of performing `Umra, and stayed at the house of Umaiya bin Khalaf Abi Safwan, for Umaiya himself used to stay at Sa`d's house when he passed by Medina on his way to Sham. Umaiya said to Sa`d, "Will you wait till midday when the people are (at their homes), then you may go and perform the Tawaf round the Ka`ba?" So, while Sa`d was going around the Ka`ba, Abu Jahl came and asked, "Who is that who is performing Tawaf?" Sa`d replied, "I am Sa`d." Abu Jahl said, "Are you circumambulating the Ka`ba safely although you have given refuge to Muhammad and his companions?" Sa`d said, "Yes," and they started quarreling. Umaiya said to Sa`d, "Don't shout at Abi-l-Hakam (i.e. Abu Jahl), for he is chief of the valley (of Mecca)." Sa`d then said (to Abu Jahl). 'By Allah, if you prevent me from performing the Tawaf of the Ka`ba, I will spoil your trade with Sham." Umaiya kept on saying to Sa`d, "Don't raise your voice." and kept on taking hold of him. Sa`d became furious and said, (to Umaiya), "Be away from me, for I have heard Muhammad saying that he will kill you." Umaiiya said, "Will he kill me?" Sa`d said, "Yes,." Umaiya said, "By Allah! When Muhammad says a thing, he never tells a lie." Umaiya went to his wife and said to her, "Do you know what my brother from Yathrib (i.e. Medina) has said to me?" She said, "What has he said?" He said, "He claims that he has heard Muhammad claiming that he will kill me." She said, By Allah! Muhammad never tells a lie." So when the infidels started to proceed for Badr (Battle) and declared war (against the Muslims), his wife said to him, "Don't you remember what your brother from Yathrib told you?" Umaiya decided not to go but Abu Jahl said to him, "You are from the nobles of the valley (of Mecca), so you should accompany us for a day or two." He went with them and thus Allah got him killed.

I went to Abu Wail to ask him (about those who had rebelled against `Ali). On that Abu Wail said, "We were at Siffin (a city on the bank of the Euphrates, the place where me battle took place between `Ali and Muawiya) A man said, "Will you be on the side of those who are called to consult Allah's Book (to settle the dispute)?" `Ali said, 'Yes (I agree that we should settle the matter in the light of the Qur'an)." ' Some people objected to `Ali's agreement and wanted to fight. On that Sahl bin Hunaif said, 'Blame yourselves! I remember how, on the day of Al-Hudaibiya (i.e. the peace treaty between the Prophet and the Quraish pagans), if we had been allowed to choose fighting, we would have fought (the pagans). At that time `Umar came (to the Prophet) and said, "Aren't we on the right (path) and they (pagans) in the wrong? Won't our killed persons go to Paradise, and theirs in the Fire?" The Prophet replied, "Yes." `Umar further said, "Then why should we let our religion be degraded and return before Allah has settled the matter between us?" The Prophet said, "O the son of Al-Khattab! No doubt, I am Allah's Apostle and Allah will never neglect me." So `Umar left the place angrily and he was so impatient that he went to Abu Bakr and said, "O Abu Bakr! Aren't we on the right (path) and they (pagans) on the wrong?" Abu Bakr said, "O the son of Al-Khattab! He is Allah's Apostle, and Allah will never neglect him." Then Sura Al-Fath (The Victory) was revealed."

(the freed slave of 'Umar bin 'Ubaidullah) I was Umar's clerk. Once Abdullah bin Abi Aufa wrote a letter to 'Umar when he proceeded to Al-Haruriya. I read in it that Allah's Apostle in one of his military expeditions against the enemy, waited till the sun declined and then he got up amongst the people saying, "O people! Do not wish to meet the enemy, and ask Allah for safety, but when you face the enemy, be patient, and remember that Paradise is under the shades of swords." Then he said, "O Allah, the Revealer of the Holy Book, and the Mover of the clouds and the Defeater of the clans, defeat them, and grant us victory over them."

Yahya related to me from Malik from a reliable source from Amr ibn Shuayb from his father from his father's father that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade transactions in which nonrefundable deposits were paid.

Malik said, "That is, in our opinion, but Allah knows best, that for instance, a man buys a slave or slave-girl or rents an animal and then says to the person from whom he bought the slave or leased the animal, 'I will give you a dinar or a dirham or whatever on the condition that if I actually take the goods or ride what I have rented from you, then what I have given you already goes towards payment of the goods or hire of the animal. If I do not purchase the goods or hire the animal, then what I have given you is yours without liability on your part.' "

Malik said, "According to the way of doing things with us there is nothing wrong in bartering an arabic speaking merchant slave for abyssinian slaves or any other type that are not his equal in eloquence, trading, shrewdness, and know-how. There is nothing wrong in bartering one slave like this for two or more other slaves with a stated delay in the terms if he is clearly different. If there is no appreciable difference between the slaves, two should not be bartered for one with a stated delay in the terms even if their racial type is different."

Malik said, "There is nothing wrong in selling what has been bought in such a transaction before taking possession of all of it as long as you receive the price for it from some one other than the original owner."

Malik said, "An addition to the price must not be made for a foetus in the womb of its mother when she is sold because that is gharar (an uncertain transaction). It is not known whether the child will be male or female, good-looking or ugly, normal or handicapped, alive or dead. All these things will affect the price."

Malik said that in a transaction where a slave or slave-girl was bought for one hundred dinars with a stated credit period that if the seller regretted the sale there was nothing wrong in him asking the buyer to revoke it for ten dinars which he would pay him immediately or after a period and he would forgo his right to the hundred dinars which he was owed.

Malik said, "However, if the buyer regrets and asks the seller to revoke the sale of a slave or slave-girl in consideration of which he will pay an extra ten dinars immediately or on ...

Once I was with the Prophet in the mosque at the time of sunset. The Prophet said, "O Abu Dharr! Do you know where the sun sets?" I replied, "Allah and His Apostle know best." He said, "It goes and prostrates underneath (Allah's) Throne; and that is Allah's Statement:-- 'And the sun runs on its fixed course for a term (decreed). And that is the decree of All-Mighty, the All-Knowing....' (36.38)

Ibn `Umar said, "Allah's Apostle said, 'Do not pray at the time of sunrise and at the time of sunset.' " Ibn `Umar said, "Allah's Apostle said, 'If the edge of the sun appears (above the horizon) delay the prayer till it becomes high, and if the edge of the sun disappears, delay the prayer till it sets (disappears completely).' "

We were with Allah's Apostle when the sun eclipsed. Allah's Apostle stood up dragging his cloak till he entered the Mosque. He led us in a two-rak`at prayer till the sun (eclipse) had cleared. Then the Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "The sun and the moon do not eclipse because of someone's death. So whenever you see these eclipses pray and invoke (Allah) till the eclipse is over."

Allah's Apostle said, "When the (upper) edge of the sun appears (in the morning), don't perform a prayer till the sun appears in full, and when the lower edge of the sun sets, don't perform a prayer till it sets completely. And you should not seek to pray at sunrise or sunset for the sun rises between two sides of the head of the devil (or Satan).

The Messenger of Allah (saws) taught me and what he taught me is this: Observe the five prayers regularly. He said: I told (him): I have many works at these times; so give me a comprehensive advice which, if I follow, should be enough for me. He said: Observe the two afternoon prayers (al-asrayn). But the term al-asrayn (two afternoon prayers) was not used in our language. Hence I said: What is al-asrayn? He said: A prayer before the sunrise and a prayer before the sunset (i.e. the dawn and the afternoon prayers).

We proceeded with the Messenger of Allah (saws) on the occasion of al-Hudaybiyyah. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Who will keep watch for us? Bilal said: I (shall do). The overslept till the sun arose. The Prophet (saws) awoke and said: Do as you used to do (i.e. offer prayer as usual). Then we did accordingly. He said: Anyone who oversleeps or forgets (prayer) should do similarly.

"The sun eclipsed in the lifetime of Allah's Apostle on the day when (his son) Ibrahim died. So the people said that the sun had eclipsed because of the death of Ibrahim. Allah's Apostle said, "The sun and the moon do not eclipse because of the death or life (i.e. birth) of someone. When you see the eclipse pray and invoke Allah."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abu'z-Zubayr al-Makki said, "I saw the House deserted both after subh and asr, with no-one doing tawaf."

Malik said, "If someone does some of his circuits and then the subh or asr prayer is begun, he should pray with the imam and then complete the rest of his circuits but should not pray at all until the sun has either risen or set "

He added, "There is no harm in delaying the two rakas until after he has prayed maghrib."

Malik said, "There is no harm in someone doing a single tawaf after subh or after asr, not to do more than one group of seven circuits, and then as long as he delays the two rakas until after the sun has risen, as Umar ibn al-Khattab did, or he delays them until after the sun has set if it is after asr. Then when the sun has set he can pray them if he wants, or, if he wants, he can delay them until after he has prayed maghrib. There is no harm in that."

On the day of Al-Khandaq (the battle of trench.) `Umar bin Al-Khattab came cursing the disbelievers of Quraish after the sun had set and said, "O Allah's Apostle I could not offer the `Asr prayer till the sun had set." The Prophet said, "By Allah! I, too, have not prayed." So we turned towards Buthan, and the Prophet performed ablution and we too performed ablution and offered the `Asr prayer after the sun had set, and then he offered the Maghrib prayer.

We were traveling with Allah's Apostle and he was fasting, and when the sun set, he said to (someone), "Get down and mix Sawiq with water for us." He replied, "O Allah's Apostle! (Will you wait) till it is evening?" The Prophet again said, "Get down and mix Sawiq with water for us." He replied, "O Allah's Apostle! It is still daytime." The Prophet said again, "Get down and mix Sawiq with water for us." So, he got down and carried out that order. The Prophet then said, "When you see night falling from this side, the fasting person should break his fast," and he beckoned with his finger towards the east.

On the expedition to Tabuk if the sun had passed the meridian before the apostle of Allah (saws) moved off, he combined the noon and the afternoon prayers; but if he moved off before the sun had passed the meridian, he delayed the noon prayer till he halted for the afternoon prayer. He acted similarly for the sunset prayer; if the sun set before he moved off, he combined the sunset and the night prayers, but if he moved off before sunset, he delayed the sunset prayer till he halted for the night prayer and then combined them.

Abu Dawud said: Hisham b. 'Urwah narrated this tradition from Husain b. 'Abd Allah, from Kuraib on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas from the Prophet (saws) like the tradition narrated by Mufaddal and al-Laith.

We were in Siffin and Sahl bin Hunaif got up and said, "O people! Blame yourselves! We were with the Prophet on the day of Hudaibiya, and if we had been called to fight, we would have fought. But `Umar bin Al Khatab came and said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Aren't we in the right and our opponents in the wrongs' Allah's Apostle said, 'Yes.' `Umar said, 'Aren't our killed persons in Paradise and their's in Hell?' He said, 'Yes.' `Umar said, 'Then why should we accept hard terms in matters concerning our religion? Shall we return before Allah judges between us and them?' Allah's Apostle said, 'O Ibn Al- Khattab! I am the Apostle of Allah and Allah will never degrade me. Then `Umar went to Abu Bakr and told him the same as he had told the Prophet. On that Abu Bakr said (to `Umar). 'He is the Apostle of Allah and Allah will never degrade him.' Then Surat-al-Fath (i.e. Victory) was revealed and Allah's Apostle recited it to the end in front of `Umar. On that `Umar asked, 'O Allah's Apostle! Was it (i.e. the Hudaibiya Treaty) a victory?' Allah's Apostle said, "Yes".

`Umar bin Al-Khattab came on the day of Al-Khandaq after the sun had set and he was abusing the infidels of Quraish saying, "O Allah's Apostle! I was unable to offer the (`Asr) prayer till the sun was about to set." The Prophet said, "By Allah, I have not offered this (i.e. `Asr) prayer." So we came down along with the Prophet to Buthan where he performed ablution for the prayer and then we performed the ablution for it. Then he offered the `Asr prayer after the sun had set, and after it he offered the Maghrib prayer.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Said ibn al- Musayyab that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, travelled by night on the way back from Khaybar.Towards the end of the night he stopped for a rest and told Bilal to stay awake to keep watch for the subh prayer. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his companions slept. Bilal stayed on guard as long as was decreed for him and then he leant against his riding camel facing the direction of the dawn and sleep overcame him and neither he nor the Messenger of Allah nor any of the party woke up until the sun's rays had struck them. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was alarmed. Bilal excused himself, saying, "Messenger of Allah! The One who took your self was the One who took myself. "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered the party to move on and so they roused thei r mounts and rode on a short distance. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered Bilal to give the iqama and then led them in the subh prayer. When he had finished he said, "Anyone who forgets a prayer should pray it when he remembers. Allah theBlessed and Exalted says in His book, 'Establish the prayer to remember Me.'"

The Prophet said, "A prophet amongst the prophets carried out a holy military expedition, so he said to his followers, 'Anyone who has married a woman and wants to consummate the marriage, and has not done so yet, should not accompany me; nor should a man who has built a house but has not completed its roof; nor a man who has sheep or shecamels and is waiting for the birth of their young ones.' So, the prophet carried out the expedition and when he reached that town at the time or nearly at the time of the `Asr prayer, he said to the sun, 'O sun! You are under Allah's Order and I am under Allah's Order O Allah! Stop it (i.e. the sun) from setting.' It was stopped till Allah made him victorious. Then he collected the booty and the fire came to burn it, but it did not burn it. He said (to his men), 'Some of you have stolen something from the booty. So one man from every tribe should give me a pledge of allegiance by shaking hands with me.' (They did so and) the hand of a man got stuck over the hand of their prophet. Then that prophet said (to the man), 'The theft has been committed by your people. So all the persons of your tribe should give me the pledge of allegiance by shaking hands with me.' The hands of two or three men got stuck over the hand of their prophet and he said, "You have committed the theft.' Then they brought a head of gold like the head of a cow and put it there, and the fire came and consumed the booty. The Prophet added: Then Allah saw our weakness and disability, so he made booty legal for us."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say, "Delay the prayer when the edge of the sun appears until it is completely in view, and delay the prayer when the edge of the sun is disappearing until it has completely disappeared."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that he had heard that on the day after the day of sacrifice Umar ibn al-Khattab went out a little after the sun had risen and said the takbir, and everyone repeated it after him. Then he went out a second time the same day when the sun was well up and said the takbir, and everyone repeated it after him. Then he went out a third time after mid-day and said the takbir, and everyone repeated it after him until it resounded from group to group until it reached the House and people knew that Umar had left to throw the stones.

Malik said, "What we do here (in Madina) is to say the takbir during the days of tashriq after each prayer. The first time is when the imam and everyone with him says the takbir after the dhuhr prayer on the day of sacrifice, and the last is when the imam and everyone with him says the takbir after subh on the last of the days of tashriq, after which he stops saying the takbir."

Malik said, "The takbirs during the days of tashriq should be done by both men and women, whether they are in a group or by themselves, at Mina or elsewhere, and all of the takbirs should be done. In this everyone follows the imam of the hajj and the people at Mina, because when everyone returns (to Makka) and comes out of ihram they keep the same people as imams while out of ihram (as they did when they were in ihram). Some one who is not doing hajj does not follow them except for the takbirs during the days of tashriq."

Malik said, "The 'limited number of days' are the days of tashriq."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Habban from al Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade prayer after asr until the sun had set, and prayer after subh until the sun had risen.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi', the mawla of Abdullah ibn Umar, that Umar ibn al-Khattab wrote to his governors saying, "The most important of your affairs in my view is the prayer. Whoever protects it and observes it carefully is protecting his deen, while whoever is negligent about it will be even more negligent about other things." Then he added, "Pray dhuhr any time from when the afternoon shade is the length of your forearm until the length of your shadow matches your height. Pray asr when the sun is still pure white, so that a rider can travel two or three farsakhs before the sun sets. Pray maghrib when the sun has set. Pray isha any time from when the redness in the western sky has disappeared until a third of the night has passed - and a person who sleeps, may he have no rest, a person who sleeps, may he have no rest. And pray subh when all the stars are visible and like a haze in the sky."

The Arabs in the pre-Islamic period did not return from al-Muzdalifah till they saw sunlight at the mountain Thabir. The Prophet (saws) opposed them and returned before the sunrise.