The Prophet never took his meals at a dining table, nor in small plates, and he never ate thin wellbaked bread. (The sub-narrator asked Qatada, "Over what did they use to take their meals?" Qatada said, "On leather dining sheets."

Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Said ibn al-Musayyab that Abu Hurayra said, "Had I seen a gazelle at Madina, I would have left it to graze and would not have frightened it. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'What is between the two tracts of black stones is a Haram.' "

The Prophet's companions did not take as a starting date for the Muslim calendar, the day, the Prophet had been sent as an Apostle or the day of his death, but the day of his arrival at Medina.

Malik related to me from Yahya ibn Said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked about a milk camel about to be milked, "Who milks this camel?" A man stood up. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "What is your name?" The man said, "Murra (bitterness)." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, "Sit down." Then he said, "Who milks this one?" A man stood up and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "What is your name?" He said, "Harb (war)." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Sit down." Then he said, "Who milks this camel?" A man stood up, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, "What is your name?" The man said, ''Yaish (he lives)." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, "Milk!"

Yahya related to me from Malik that Humayd ibn Qays and Thawr ibn Zayd adDili both informed him that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, (and one of them gave more detail than the other),saw a man standing in the sun. The Messenger asked, "What's wrong with him?" The people said, "He has vowed not to speak or to seek shade from the sun or to sit and to fast." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Go and tell him to speak, seek shade, and sit, but let him complete his fast."

Malik said, "I have not heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered the man in question to do any kaffara. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, only ordered him to complete that in which there was obedience to Allah and to abandon that in which there was disobedience to Allah."

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, "The angels ask for blessings on each one of you as long as he is in the place where he has prayed and has not discharged anything. They say, 'Allah, forgive him. Allah have mercy on him.' "

Anas bin Malik said to a woman of his family, "Do you know such-and-such a woman?" She replied, "Yes." He said, "The Prophet passed by her while she was weeping over a grave, and he said to her, 'Be afraid of Allah and be patient.' The woman said (to the Prophet). 'Go away from me, for you do not know my calamity.'" Anas added, "The Prophet left her and proceeded. A man passed by her and asked her, 'What has Allah's Apostle said to you?' She replied, 'I did not recognize him.' The man said, 'He was Allah's Apostle."' Anas added, "So that woman came to the gate of the Prophet and she did not find a gate-keeper there, and she said, 'O Allah's Apostle! By Allah. I did not recognize you!' The Prophet said, 'No doubt, patience is at the first stroke of a calamity.'"

Ibn `Abbas said, "O Muslims? How do you ask the people of the Scriptures, though your Book (i.e. the Qur'an) which was revealed to His Prophet is the most recent information from Allah and you recite it, the Book that has not been distorted? Allah has revealed to you that the people of the scriptures have changed with their own hands what was revealed to them and they have said (as regards their changed Scriptures): This is from Allah, in order to get some worldly benefit thereby." Ibn `Abbas added: "Isn't the knowledge revealed to you sufficient to prevent you from asking them? By Allah I have never seen any one of them asking (Muslims) about what has been revealed to you."

The Prophet (saws) said: Let the Abyssinians alone as long as they let you alone, and let the Turks alone as long as they leave you alone.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar said, "When a man gives a woman command over herself, then the result is as she decides unless he denies it and says that he only meant to give her one divorce and he swears to it - then he has access to her while she is in her idda."

A man came to the Prophet and said, "I had sexual intercourse with my wife on Ramadan (while fasting)." The Prophet asked him, "Can you afford to manumit a slave?" He replied in the negative. The Prophet asked him, "Can you fast for two successive months?" He replied in the negative. He asked him, "Can you afford to feed sixty poor persons?" He replied in the negative. (Abu Huraira added): Then a basket full of dates was brought to the Prophet and he said (to that man), "Feed (poor people) with this by way of atonement." He said, "(Should I feed it) to poorer people than we? There is no poorer house than ours between its (Medina's) mountains." The Prophet said, "Then feed your family with it."

I stuffed for the Prophet a pillow decorated with pictures (of animals) which looked like a Namruqa (i.e. a small cushion). He came and stood between the two doors and his face began to change. I said, "O Allah's Apostle! What did we do wrong?" He said, "What is this pillow?" I said, "I have prepared this pillow for you, so that you may recline on it." He said, "Don't you know that angels do not enter a house wherein there are pictures; and whoever makes a picture will be punished on the Day of Resurrection and will be asked to give life to (what he has created)?"

One day while the Prophet was sitting in the company of some people, (The angel) Gabriel came and asked, "What is faith?" Allah's Apostle replied, 'Faith is to believe in Allah, His angels, (the) meeting with Him, His Apostles, and to believe in Resurrection." Then he further asked, "What is Islam?" Allah's Apostle replied, "To worship Allah Alone and none else, to offer prayers perfectly to pay the compulsory charity (Zakat) and to observe fasts during the month of Ramadan." Then he further asked, "What is Ihsan (perfection)?" Allah's Apostle replied, "To worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you must consider that He is looking at you." Then he further asked, "When will the Hour be established?" Allah's Apostle replied, "The answerer has no better knowledge than the questioner. But I will inform you about its portents.

1. When a slave (lady) gives birth to her master.

2. When the shepherds of black camels start boasting and competing with others in the construction of higher buildings. And the Hour is one of five things which nobody knows except Allah.

The Prophet then recited: "Verily, with Allah (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour--." (31. 34) Then that man (Gabriel) left and the Prophet asked his companions to call him back, but they could not see him. Then the Prophet said, "That was Gabriel who came to teach the people their religion." Abu 'Abdullah said: He (the Prophet) considered all that as a part of faith.

Allah's Apostle sat on the pulpit and said, "Allah has given one of His Slaves the choice of receiving the splendor and luxury of the worldly life whatever he likes or to accept the good (of the Hereafter) which is with Allah. So he has chosen that good which is with Allah." On that Abu Bakr wept and said, "Our fathers and mothers be sacrificed for you." We became astonished at this. The people said, "Look at this old man! Allah's Apostle talks about a Slave of Allah to whom He has given the option to choose either the splendor of this worldly life or the good which is with Him, while he says. 'our fathers and mothers be sacrifice(i for you." But it was Allah's Apostle who had been given option, and Abu Bakr knew it better than we. Allah's Apostle added, "No doubt, I am indebted to Abu Bakr more than to anybody else regarding both his companionship and his wealth. And if I had to take a Khalil from my followers, I would certainly have taken Abu Bakr, but the fraternity of Islam is. sufficient. Let no door (i.e. Khoukha) of the Mosque remain open, except the door of Abu Bakr."

The Prophet said, "Leave me as I leave you, for the people who were before you were ruined because of their questions and their differences over their prophets. So, if I forbid you to do something, then keep away from it. And if I order you to do something, then do of it as much as you can."

I heard Um Ad-Darda' saying, "Abu Ad-Darda' entered the house in an angry mood. I said to him. 'What makes you angry?' He replied, 'By Allah! I do not find the followers of Muhammad doing those good things (which they used to do before) except the offering of congregational prayer." (This happened in the last days of Abu Ad-Darda' during the rule of `Uthman) .

Abu Musa said, "I came to the Prophet along with two men (from the tribe) of Ash`ariyin, one on my right and the other on my left, while Allah's Apostle was brushing his teeth (with a Siwak), and both men asked him for some employment. The Prophet said, 'O Abu Musa (O `Abdullah bin Qais!).' I said, 'By Him Who sent you with the Truth, these two men did not tell me what was in their hearts and I did not feel (realize) that they were seeking employment.' As if I were looking now at his Siwak being drawn to a corner under his lips, and he said, 'We never (or, we do not) appoint for our affairs anyone who seeks to be employed. But O Abu Musa! (or `Abdullah bin Qais!) Go to Yemen.'" The Prophet then sent Mu`adh bin Jabal after him and when Mu`adh reached him, he spread out a cushion for him and requested him to get down (and sit on the cushion). Behold: There was a fettered man beside Abu Muisa. Mu`adh asked, "Who is this (man)?" Abu Muisa said, "He was a Jew and became a Muslim and then reverted back to Judaism." Then Abu Muisa requested Mu`adh to sit down but Mu`adh said, "I will not sit down till he has been killed. This is the judgment of Allah and His Apostle (for such cases) and repeated it thrice. Then Abu Musa ordered that the man be killed, and he was killed. Abu Musa added, "Then we discussed the night prayers and one of us said, 'I pray and sleep, and I hope that Allah will reward me for my sleep as well as for my prayers.'"

Hind bint `Utba said, "O Allah's Apostle! Abu Sufyan is a miser and he does not give me what is sufficient for me and my children. Can I take of his property without his knowledge?" The Prophet said, "Take what is sufficient for you and your children, and the amount should be just and reasonable.

"When the prayers were first enjoined they were of two rak`at each. Later the prayer in a journey was kept as it was but the prayers for non-travelers were completed." Az-Zuhri said, "I asked `Urwa what made Aisha pray the full prayers (in journey)." He replied, "She did the same as `Uthman did."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar said, "Whoever swears by Allah and then says, 'Allah willing' and then does not do what he has sworn to, has not broken his oath."

Malik said, "The best I have heard on this reservation is that it belongs to the statement made if the speaker does not break the normal flow of speech before he is silent. If he is silent and breaks the flow of speech, he has no exception."

Yahya said, "Malik said that a man who said that he had disbelieved or associated something with Allah and then he broke his oath, had no kaffara, and he was not a disbeliever or one who associated something with Allah unless his heart concealed something of either of those. He should ask forgiveness of Allah and not return to it - for what he did was evil."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said, "I vowed to walk, but I was struck by a pain in the kidney, so I rode until I came to Makka. I questioned Ata ibn Abi Rabah and others, and they said, 'You must sacrifice an animal.' When I came to Madina I questioned the ulama there, and they ordered me to walk again from the place from which I was unable to go on. So I walked."

Yahya said that he had heard Malik say, "What is done among us regarding someone who makes a vow to walk to the House of Allah, and then cannot do it and so rides, is that he must return and walk from the place from which he was unable to go on. If he cannot walk, he should walk what he can and then ride, and he must sacrifice a camel, a cow, or a sheep if that is all that he can find."

Malik, when asked about a man who said to another, "I will carry you to the House of Allah", answered, "If he intended to carry him on his shoulder, by that he meant hardship and exhaustion to himself, and he does not have to do that. Let him walk by foot and make sacrifice. If he did not intend anything, let him do hajj and ride, and take the man on hajj with him. That is because he said, 'I will carry you to the house of Allah.' If the man refuses to do hajj with him, then there is nothing against him, and what is demanded of him is cancelled."

Yahya said that Malik was asked whether it was enough for a man who had made a vow that he would walk to the House of Allah a certain (large) number of times, or who had forbidden himself from talking to his father and brother, if he did not fulfil a certain vow, and he had taken upon himself, by the oath, something which he was incapable of fulfilling in his lifetime, even though he were to try every year, to fulfil only one or a (smaller) number of vows by Allah? Malik said, "The only satisfaction for that that I know is fulfilling what he has obliged himself to do. Let him walk for as long as he is able and draw near Allah the Exalted by what he can of good."

Malik related to me that he had heard that Marwan ibn al-Hakam gave a decision about a slave who was injured that the person who injured him had to pay what he had diminished of the value of the slave.

Malik said, "What is done in our community is that for the head wound of a slave that bares the bone, there is a twentieth of his price. The head wound which splinters the bone is three twentieths of his price. Both the wound to the brain and the belly wound are a third of his price. Besides these four, any other types of injury that decrease the price of the slave are considered after the slave is better and well, and one sees what the value of the slave is after his injury and what his value whole was before he had the injury. Then the one who injured him pays the difference between the two values."

The Prophet (saws) said: Do not say: "What Allah wills and so and so wills," but say: "What Allah wills and afterwards so and so wills.

Allah's Apostle said, "If I had formerly known what I came to know recently, I would not have driven the Hadi with me and would have finished the state of Ihram along with the people when they finished it."