"The Prophet (saws) was asked about eating a mastigure and he said: 'I do not eat it, and I do not prohibit eating it.'"

[He said:] There are narrations on this topic from 'Umar, Abu Sa'eed, Ibn 'Abbas, Thabit bin Wadi'ah, Jabir, and 'Abdur-Rahman bin Hasanah.

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

The People of knowledge have differed over eating mastigure. Some of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet (saws) and others permitted it, while others considered it disliked. It has been related that Ibn 'Abbas said: "Mastigure was eaten on the dining spread of the Messenger of Allah (saws), and the Messenger of Allah (saws) only avoided it because it was distasteful to him."

Note: The majority of scholars interpret this to mean that these things in and of themselves do not transmit or cause harm through supernatural or hidden means but that Allah is ultimately in control and any fearful superstition around these is false.

I asked Rafi' b. Khadij about the lease of land for gold and silver (i.e. for dinars and dirhams). There is no harm in it, for the people used to let out land in the time of the Messenger of Allah (saws) for what grew by the current of water and at the banks of streamlets and at the places of cultivation. So sometimes this (portion) perished and that (portion) was saved, and sometimes this remained intact and that perished. There was no (form of) lease among the people except this. Therefore, he forbade it. But if there is something which is secure and known, then there is no harm in it. The tradition of Ibrahim is more perfect. Qutaibah said: "from Hanzalah on the authority of Rafi' ".

Abu Dawud said: A similar tradition has been transmitted by Yahya b. Sa'id from Hanzalah.

The Prophet (saws) said: How will you do when that time will come? Or he said: A time will soon come when the people are sifted and only dregs of mankind survive and their covenants and guarantees have been impaired and they have disagreed among themselves and become thus, interwining his fingers. They asked: What do you order us to do, Messenger of Allah? He replied: Accept what you approve, abandon what you disapprove, attend to your own affairs and leave alone the affairs of the generality.

Abu dawud said: A similar tradition has been transmitted by 'Abd Allah bin 'Amr from the Prophet (saws) through different chain.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) used to sit among his Companions. A stranger would come and not recognize him (the Prophet) until he asked (about him). So we asked the Messenger of Allah (saws) to make a place where he might take his seat so that when a stranger came, he might recognise him. So we built a terrace of soil on which he would take his seat, and we would sit beside him. He then mentioned something similar to this Hadith saying: A man came, and he described his appearance. He saluted from the side of the assembly, saying: Peace be upon you, Muhammad. The Prophet (saws) then responded to him.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Ibn Shihab said that he had heard Said ibn al-Musayyab, Humayd ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf, Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba ibn Masud, and Sulayman ibn Yasarall say, that they had heard Abu Hurayra say that he had heard Umar ibn al-Khattab say, "If a woman is divorced by her husband once or twice, and he leaves her until she is free to marry and she marries another husband and he dies or divorces her, and then she marries her first husband, she is with him according to what remains of her divorce."

Malik said, "That is what is done among us and there is no dispute about it."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zinad from Kharija ibn Zayd ibn Thabit that Zayd ibn Thabit did not sell fruit until the Pleiades were visible, at the end of May.

Malik said, "The way of doing things among us about selling melons, cucumbers, water- melons, and carrots is that it is halal to sell them when it is clear that they have begun to ripen. Then the buyer has what grows until the season is over. There is no specific timing laid down for that because the time is well known with people, and it may happen that the crop will be affected by blight and put a premature end to the season. If blight strikes and a third or more of the crop is damaged, an allowance for that is deducted from the price of purchase."

Malik said, "It is the generally agreed on way of doing things among us that the meat of camels, cattle, sheep and so on is not to be bartered one for one, except like for like, weight for weight, from hand to hand. There is no harm in that. If it is not weighed, then it is estimated to be like for like from hand to hand."

Malik said, "There is no harm in bartering the meat of fish for the meat of camels, cattle, and sheep and so on two or more for one, from hand to hand. If delayed terms enter the transaction however, there is no good in it."

Malik said, "I think that poultry is different from the meat of cattle and fish. I see no harm in selling some of it for something different, more of one than another, from hand to hand. None of that is to be sold on delayed terms."

Malik related to me that he had heard that Abdullah ibn Masud used to say, "If someone makes a loan, they should not stipulate better than it. Even if it is a handful of grass, it is usury."

Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things among us is that there is no harm in borrowing any animals with a set description and itemisation, and one must return the like of them. This is not done in the case of female slaves. It is feared about that that it will lead to making halal what is not halal, so it is not good. The explanation of what is disapproved of in that, is that a man borrow a slave-girl and have intercourse with her as seems proper to him. Then he returns her to her owner. That is not good and it is not halal. The people of knowledge still forbid it and do not give an indulgence to any one in it."

That he heard the Prophet delivering a sermon, and he mentioned the shecamel and the one who hamstrung it. Allah's Apostle recited:-- 'When, the most wicked man among them went forth (to hamstrung the she-camel).' (91.12.) Then he said, "A tough man whose equal was rare and who enjoyed the protection of his people, like Abi Zama went forth to (hamstrung) it." The Prophet then mentioned about the women (in his sermon). "It is not wise for anyone of you to lash his wife like a slave, for he might sleep with her the same evening." Then he advised them not to laugh when somebody breaks wind and said, "Why should anybody laugh at what he himself does?"

Allah's Apostle said, "While I was sleeping, I saw myself standing at a well over which there was a bucket. I pulled out from it as many buckets of water as Allah wished, and then Ibn Abi Quhafa (Abu Bakr) took the bucket from me and pulled out one or two full buckets, and there was weakness in his pull--may Allah forgive him. Then the bucket turned into a very large one and `Umar bin Al-Khattab took it. I have never seen any strong man among the people, drawing water with such strength as `Umar did, till the people (drank to their satisfaction and) watered their camels to their fill; whereupon the camels sat beside the water."

A bedouin came to Allah's Apostle and said, "My wife has delivered a black boy, and I suspect that he is not my child." Allah's Apostle said to him, "Have you got camels?" The bedouin said, "Yes." The Prophet said, "What color are they?" The bedouin said, "They are red." The Prophet said, "Are any of them Grey?" He said, "There are Grey ones among them." The Prophet said, "Whence do you think this color came to them?" The bedouin said, "O Allah's Apostle! It resulted from hereditary disposition." The Prophet said, "And this (i.e., your child) has inherited his color from his ancestors." The Prophet did not allow him to deny his paternity of the child.

Allah's Apostle said, "A man who never did any good deed, said that if he died, his family should burn him and throw half the ashes of his burnt body in the earth and the other half in the sea, for by Allah, if Allah should get hold of him, He would inflict such punishment on him as He would not inflict on anybody among the people. But Allah ordered the sea to collect what was in it (of his ashes) and similarly ordered the earth to collect what was in it (of his ashes). Then Allah said (to the recreated man ), 'Why did you do so?' The man replied, 'For being afraid of You, and You know it (very well).' So Allah forgave him."

Once the Prophet was preaching while a bedouin was sitting there. The Prophet said, "A man from among the people of Paradise will request Allah to allow him to cultivate the land Allah will say to him, 'Haven't you got whatever you desire?' He will reply, 'yes, but I like to cultivate the land (Allah will permit him and) he will sow the seeds, and within seconds the plants will grow and ripen and (the yield) will be harvested and piled in heaps like mountains. On that Allah will say (to him), "Take, here you are, O son of Adam, for nothing satisfies you.' "On that the bedouin said, "O Allah's Apostle! Such man must be either from Quraish or from Ansar, for they are farmers while we are not." On that Allah's Apostle smiled .

From his father, from his grandfather that he heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) delivering a Khutbah in which he said: "Whoever gives a writ of emancipation to his slave, for one hundred Uqiyyah, and he pays it to him less then ten Uqiyah." - or he said: "Ten Dirham" - "then he becomes incapable (of paying the remainder), the he remains a slave."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Gharib. And this acted upon according to most of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet (saws) and others: The Mukatab is a slave as long as something remains due from him for his Kitabah.

Al-Hajjaj bin Artat reported similarly from 'Amr bin Shu'aib.

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) delivering Khutbah during the farewell Hajj, and he was wearing a Burd which he had wrapped from under his armpit." She said: "I was look at muscle of his upper arm quivering and I heard him saying: O you people! Have Taqwa of Allah. If a mutilated Ethiopian slave is put in command over you, then listen to him and obey him, as long as he upholds the Book of Allah among you.'"

[Abu 'Eisa said:] There are narrations on this topic from Abu Hurairah and 'Irbad bin Sariyah. This Hadith is Hasan Sahih, it has been reported through other routes from Umm Husain.

The freed slave of `Umar bin 'Ubaidullah who was `Umar's clerk: `Abdullah bin Abi `Aufa wrote him (i.e. `Umar) a letter that contained the following:-- "Once Allah's Apostle (during a holy battle), waited till the sun had declined and then he got up among the people and said, "O people! Do not wish to face the enemy (in a battle) and ask Allah to save you (from calamities) but if you should face the enemy, then be patient and let it be known to you that Paradise is under the shades of swords." He then said,, "O Allah! The Revealer of the (Holy) Book, the Mover of the clouds, and Defeater of Al-Ahzab (i.e. the clans of infidels), defeat them infidels and bestow victory upon us."

Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things among us, in which there is no dispute, and which I saw the people of knowledge in our city doing, about paternal relations is that full brothers are more entitled to inherit than half-brothers by the father and half-brothers by the father are more entitled to inherit than the children of the full brothers. The sons of the full brothers are more entitled to inherit than the sons of the half-brothers by the father. The sons of the half-brothers by the father are more entitled to inherit than the sons of the sons of the full brothers. The sons of the sons of the half-brothers by the father's side are more entitled to inherit than the paternal uncle, the full brother of the father. The paternal uncle, the full brother of the father, is more entitled to inherit than the paternal uncle, the half-brotherof the father on the father's side. The paternal uncle, the half-brother of the father on the father's side is more entitled to inherit than the sons of the paternal uncle, the full brother of the father. The son of the paternal uncle on the father's side is more entitled to inherit than the paternal great uncle, the full brother of the paternal grandfather."

Malik said, "Everything about which you are questioned concerning the inheritance of the paternal relations is like this. Trace the genealogy of the deceased and whoever among the paternal relations contends for inheritance. If you find that one of them reaches the deceased by a father and none of them except him reaches him by a father, then make his inheritance to the one who reaches him by the nearest father, rather than the one who reaches him by what is above that. If you find that they all reach him by the same father who joins them, then see who is the nearest of kin. If there is only one half-brother by the father, give him the inheritance rather than more distant paternal relations. If there is a full brother and you find them equally related from a number of fathers or to one particular father so that they all reach the genealogy of the deceased and they are all half-brothers by the father or full brothers, then divide the inheritance equally among them. If the parent of one of them is an uncle (the full-brother of the father of the deceased) and whoever is with him is an uncle (the paternal half brother of the father of the deceased), the inheritance goes to the sons of the full brother of the father rather than the sons of the paternal half- brother of the father. That is because Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, said, 'Those related by blood are nearer to one another in the Book of Allah, surely Allah has knowledge of everything.' "

Malik said, "The paternal grandfather, is more entitled to inherit than sons of the full-brother, and more entitled than the uncle, the full brother of the father. The son of the father's brother is more entitled to inherit from mawali retainers (freed slaves) than the grandfathers."

Ibn Abbas explained the following Qur'anic verse: "O ye who believe! fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you" During the lifetime of the Prophet (saws), when the people offered night prayer, they were asked to abstain from food and drink and (intercourse with) women, they kept fast till the next night. A man betrayed himself and had intercourse with his wife after he had offered the night prayer, and he did not break his fast. So Allah, the Exalted, intended to make it (fasting) easy for those who survived, thus providing a concession and utility. Allah, the Glorified, said: "Allah knoweth what ye used to do secretly among yourselves." By this Allah benefited the people and provided concession and ease to them.