'A'isha, the wife of Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him), said that whenever he had to choose between two things he adopted the easier one, provided it was nor sin, but if it was any sin he was the one wio was the farthest from it of the people; and Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) never took revenge from anyone because of his personal grievance, unless what Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, had made inviolable had been violated.

`Urwa said, "Aisha told me that Allah's Apostle used to examine the women emigrants. We have been told also that when Allah revealed the order that the Muslims should return to the pagans what they had spent on their wives who emigrated (after embracing Islam) and that the Muslims should not keep unbelieving women as their wives, `Umar divorced two of his wives, Qariba, the daughter of Abu Umayyah and the daughter of Jarwal Al-Khuza`i. Later on Mu`awiya married Qariba and Abu Jahm married the other." When the pagans refused to pay what the Muslims had spent on their wives, Allah revealed: "And if any of your wives have gone from you to the unbelievers and you have an accession (by the coming over of a woman from the other side) (then pay to those whose wives have gone) the equivalent of what they had spent (on their Mahr)." (60.11) So, Allah ordered that the Muslim whose wife has gone, should be given, as a compensation of the Mahr he had given to his wife, from the Mahr of the wives of the pagans who had emigrated deserting their husbands. We do not know any of the women emigrants who deserted Islam after embracing it. We have also been told that Abu Basir bin Asid Ath-Thaqafi came to the Prophet as a Muslim emigrant during the truce. Al-Akhnas bin Shariq wrote to the Prophet requesting him to return Abu Basir.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abu'z-Zinad heard Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab andSulayman ibn Yasar forbid a man to sell wheat for gold on delayed terms and then to buy dried dates with the gold before he had taken delivery of the gold.

on the authority of his father that he had asked `Aisha (about the Hadith of Ibn `Umar). She said, "May Allah be Merciful to Abu `Abdur-Rahman. I used to put scent on Allah's Apostle and he used to go round his wives, and in the morning he assumed the Ihram, and the fragrance of scent was still coming out from his body."

Yahya related to me that Malik heard Ibn Shihab say, "When a man gives his wife the right of choice, and she chooses him, that is not divorce."

Malik added, "That is the best of what I have heard."

Malik said that if a woman who had been given the right of choice by her husband chose herself, she was divorced trebly. If her husband said, "But I only gave her the right of choice in one," he had none of that. That was the best of what he had heard.

Malik said, "If the man gives his wife the right of choice and she says, 'I accept one', and he says, 'I did not mean that, I have given the right of choice in all three together,' then if she only accepts one, she remains with him in her marriage, and that is not separation if Allah, the Exalted wills."

Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab said: An Ansari was breathing his last. He said: I narrate to you a tradition, and I narrate it with the intention of getting a reward from Allah.

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: If any one of you performs ablution and performs it very well, and goes out for prayer, he does not take his right step but Allah records a good work (or blessing) for him, and he does not take his left step but Allah remits one sin from him. Any one of you may reside near the mosque or far from it; if he comes to the mosque and prays in congregation, he will be forgiven (by Allah).

If he comes to the mosque while the people had prayed in part, and the prayer remained in part, and he prays in congregation the part he joined, and completed the part he had missed, he will enjoy similarly (i.e. he will be forgiven). If he comes to the mosque when the people had finished prayer, he will enjoy the same.

Yahya related to me from Malik from more than one source that when Abdullah ibn Masud was in Kufa, he was asked for an opinion about marrying the mother after marrying the daughter when the marriage with the daughter had not been consummated. He permitted it. When Ibn Masud came to Madina, he asked about it and was told that it was not as he had said, and that this condition referred to foster-mothers. Ibn Masud returnedto Kufa,and he had just reached his dwelling when the man who had asked him for the opinion came to visit and he ordered him to separate from his wife.

Malik said that if a man married the mother of a woman who was his wife and he had sexual relations with the mother then his wife was haram for him, and he had to separate from both of them. They were both haram to him forever, if he had had sexual relations with the mother. If he had not had relations with the mcther, his wife was not haram for him, and he separated from the mother.

Malik explained further about the man who married a woman, and then married her mother and cohabited with her, "The mother will never be halal for him, and she is not halal for his father or his son, and any daughters of hers are not halal for him and so his wife is haram for him."

Malik said, "Fornication however, does not make any of that haram because Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, mentioned 'the mothers of your wives,' as one whom marriage made haram, and he didn't mention the making haram by fornication. Every marriage in a halal manner in which a man cohabits with his wife, is a halal marriage. This is what I have heard, and this is how things are done among us."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father from A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that al-Harith ibn Hisham asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "How does the revelation come to you?" and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Sometimes it comes to me like the ringing of a bell, and that is the hardest for me, and when it leaves me I remember what it has said. And sometimes the angel appears to me in the likeness of a man and talks to me and I remember what he says."

A'isha added, "I saw it coming down on him on an intensely cold day, and when it had left him his forehead was dripping with sweat."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Umar ibn al-Khattab and AIi ibn Abi Talib and Abu Hurayra were asked about a man who had intercourse with his wife while he was in ihram on hajj. They said, "The two of them should carry on and complete their hajj. Then they must do hajj again in another year, and sacrifice an animal."

Malik added that AIi ibn Abi Talib said, "When they then go into ihram for hajj in a future year they should keep apart until they have completed their hajj."

Malik related to me that Yahya ibn Said heard Said ibn al- Musayyab say, "When Umar ibn al-Khattab came from Mina, he made his camel kneel at al-Abtah, and then he gathered a pile of small stones and cast his cloak over them and dropped to the ground. Then he raised his hands to the sky and said, 'O Allah! I have become old and my strength has weakened. My flock is scattered. Take me to You with nothing missed out and without having neglected anything.' Then he went to Madina and addressed the people. He said, 'People! Sunan have been laid down for you. Obligations have been placed upon you. You have been left with a clear way unless you lead people astray right and left.' He struck one of his hands on the other and then said, 'Take care lest you destroy the ayat of stoning so that one will say, "We do not find two hadds in the Book of Allah." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stoned, so we have stoned. By He in Whose Hand my self is, had it not been that people would say that Umar ibn al-Khattab has added to the Book of Allah ta- ala, we would have written it, "The full-grown man and the full-grown woman, stone them absolutely." We have certainly recited that.'"

Malik said, "Yahya ibn Said said Said ibn al-Musayyab said, 'Dhu'l-Hijja had not passed before Umar was murdered, may Allah have mercy on him.' "

Yahya said that he had heard Malik say, "As for his words 'The full-grown man and the full-grown woman' he meant, 'The man and the woman who have been married, stone them absolutely.' "

Lian was mentioned in the presence of the Prophet, `Asim bin Adi said a statement about it, and when he left, a man from his tribe came to him complaining that he had seen a man with his wife. `Asim said, "I have been put to trial only because of my statement." So he took the man to the Prophet and the man told him about the incident. The man (husband) was of yellow complexion, thin, and of lank hair, while the man whom he had accused of having been with his wife, was reddish brown with fat thick legs and fat body. The Prophet said, "O Allah! Reveal the truth." Later on the lady delivered a child resembling the man whom the husband had accused of having been with her. So the Prophet made them take the oath of Lian. A man said to Ibn `Abbas in the gathering, "Was that the same lady about whom the Prophet said, "If I were to stone any lady (for committing illegal sexual intercourse) to death without witnesses, I would have stoned that lade to death?" Ibn `Abbas said, "No, that was another lady who used to behave in such a suspicious way among the Muslims that one might accuse her of committing illegal sexual intercourse."

`Uqba bin Al-Harith said that he had married the daughter of Abi Ihab bin `Aziz. Later on a woman came to him and said, "I have suckled (nursed) `Uqba and the woman whom he married (his wife) at my breast." `Uqba said to her, "Neither I knew that you have suckled (nursed) me nor did you tell me." Then he rode over to see Allah's Apostle at Medina, and asked him about it. Allah's Apostle said, "How can you keep her as a wife when it has been said (that she is your foster-sister)?" Then `Uqba divorced her, and she married another man.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Urwa ibn az-Zubayr and Said ibn al-Musayyab used to pray voluntary prayers sitting.

Ibn Shihab informed me of Lian and the tradition related to it, referring to the narration of Sahl bin Sa`d, the brother of Bani Sa`idi He said, "An Ansari man came to Allah's Apostle and said, 'O Allah's Apostle! If a man saw another man with his wife, should he kill him, or what should he do?' So Allah revealed concerning his affair what is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an about the affair of those involved in a case of Lian. The Prophet said, 'Allah has given His verdict regarding you and your wife.' So they carried out Lian in the mosque while I was present there. When they had finished, the man said, "O Allah's Apostle! If I should now keep her with me as a wife then I have told a lie about her. Then he divorced her thrice before Allah's Apostle ordered him, when they had finished the Lian process. So he divorced her in front of the Prophet ." Ibn Shihab added, "After their case, it became a tradition that a couple involved in a case of Lian should be separated by divorce. That lady was pregnant then, and later on her son was called by his mother's name. The tradition concerning their inheritance was that she would be his heir and he would inherit of her property the share Allah had prescribed for him." Ibn Shihab said that Sahl bin Sa`d As'Saidi said that the Prophet said (in the above narration), "If that lady delivers a small red child like a lizard, then the lady has spoken the truth and the man was a liar, but if she delivers a child with black eyes and huge lips, then her husband has spoken the truth." Then she delivered it in the shape one would dislike (as it proved her guilty).

That when they reached Medina after returning from Yazid bin Mu'awaiya after the martyrdom of Husain bin `Ali (may Allah bestow His Mercy upon him), Al-Miswar bin Makhrama met him and said to him, "Do you have any need you may order me to satisfy?" `Ali said, "No." Al-Miswar said, Will you give me the sword of Allah's Apostle for I am afraid that people may take it from you by force? By Allah, if you give it to me, they will never be able to take it till I die." When `Ali bin Abu Talib demanded the hand of the daughter of Abi Jahal to be his wife besides Fatima, I heard Allah's Apostle on his pulpit delivering a sermon in this connection before the people, and I had then attained my age of puberty. Allah's Apostle said, "Fatima is from me, and I am afraid she will be subjected to trials in her religion (because of jealousy)." The Prophet then mentioned one of his son-in-law who was from the tribe of 'Abu Shams, and he praised him as a good son-in-law, saying, "Whatever he said was the truth, and he promised me and fulfilled his promise. I do not make a legal thing illegal, nor do I make an illegal thing legal, but by Allah, the daughter of Allah's Apostle and the daughter of the enemy of Allah, (i.e. Abu Jahl) can never get together (as the wives of one man) (See Hadith No. 76, Vo. 5).

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Said ibn al-Musayyab used to say, "Sleep is disapproved of before isha and conversation after it."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from a man of the Ansar that his wife asked him for a divorce, and he said to her, "When you have had your period, then tell me." When she had her period, she told him. He said, "When you are purified then tell me." When she was purified, she told him and he divorced her.

Malik said, "This is the best of what I have heard about it."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Said ibn al-Musayyab had said that Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "A woman is only married with the consent of her guardian, someone of her family with sound judgement or the Sultan.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Ali ibn Abi Talib used to say that if a man said to his wife, "You are haram for me," it counted as three pronouncements of divorce.

Malik said, "That is the best of what I have heard on the subject."

Those involved in a case of Lian were mentioned before Allah's Apostle `Asim bin Adi said something about that and then left. Later on a man from his tribe came to him and told him that he had found another man with his wife. On that `Asim said, "I have not been put to task except for what I have said (about Lian)." `Asim took the man to Allah's Apostle and he told him of the state in which he found his wife. The man was pale, thin and lank-haired, while the other man whom he had found with his wife was brown, fat with thick calves and curly hair. Allah's Apostle said, "O Allah! Reveal the truth." Then the lady delivered a child resembling the man whom her husband had mentioned he had found with her. So Allah's Apostle ordered them to carry out Lien. A man from that gathering said to Ibn `Abbas, "Was she the same lady regarding whom Allah's Apostle said, 'If I were to stone to death someone without witnesses, I would have stoned this lady'?" Ibn `Abbas said, "No, that was another lady who, though being a Muslim, used to arouse suspicion because of her outright misbehavior."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Said ibn al-Musayyab that Abu Musa al-Ashari came to A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said to her, "The disagreement of the companions in a matter which I hate to bring before you has distressed me." She said, "What is that? You did not ask your mother about it, so ask me." He said, "A man penetrates his wife, but becomes listless and does not ejaculate. "She said, "When the circumcised part passes the circumcised part ghusl is obligatory." Abu Musa added, "I shall never ask anyone about this after you."