The first event of Qasama in the pre-lslamic period of ignorance was practiced by us (i.e. Banu Hashim). A man from Banu Hashim was employed by a Quraishi man from another branch-family. The (Hashimi) laborer set out with the Quraishi driving his camels. There passed by him another man from Banu Hashim. The leather rope of the latter's bag had broken so he said to the laborer, "Will you help me by giving me a rope in order to tie the handle of my bag lest the camels should run away from me?" The laborer gave him a rope and the latter tied his bag with it. When the caravan halted, all the camels' legs were tied with their fetters except one camel. The employer asked the laborer, "Why, from among all the camels has this camel not been fettered?" He replied, "There is no fetter for it." The Quraishi asked, "Where is its fetter?" and hit the laborer with a stick that caused his death (later on Just before his death) a man from Yemen passed by him. The laborer asked (him), "Will you go for the pilgrimage?" He replied, "I do not think I will attend it, but perhaps I will attend it." The (Hashimi) laborer said, "Will you please convey a message for me once in your life?" The other man said, "yes." The laborer wrote: 'When you attend the pilgrimage, call the family of Quraish, and if they respond to you, call the family of Banu Hashim, and if they respond to you, ask about Abu Talib and tell him that so-and-so has killed me for a fetter." Then the laborer expired. When the employer reached (Mecca), Abu Talib visited him and asked, "What has happened to our companion?" He said, "He became ill and I looked after him nicely (but he died) and I buried him." Then Abu Talib said, "The deceased deserved this from you." After some time, the messenger whom the laborer has asked to convey the message, reached during the pilgrimage season. He called, "O the family of Quraish!" The people replied, "This is Quraish." Then he called, "O the family of Banu Hashim!" Again the people replied, "This is Banu Hashim." He asked, "Who is Abu Talib?" The people replied, "This is Abu Talib." He said, "'So-and-so has asked me to convey a message to you that so-and-so has killed him for a fetter (of a camel)." Then Abu Talib went to the (Quraishi) killer and said to him, "Choose one of three alternatives: (i) If you wish, give us one-hundred camels because you have murdered our companion, (ii) or if you wish, fifty of your men should take an oath that you have not murdered our companion, and if you do not accept this, (iii) we will kill you in Qisas." The killer went to his people and they said, "We will take an oath." Then a woman from Banu Hashim who was married to one of them (i.e.the Quraishis) and had given birth to a child from him, came to Abu Talib and said, "O Abu Talib! I wish that my son from among the fifty men, should be excused from this oath, and that he should not take the oath where the oathtaking is carried on." Abu Talib excused him. Then another man from them came (to Abu Talib) and said, "O Abu Talib! You want fifty persons to take an oath instead of giving a hundred camels, and that means each man has to give two camels (in case he does not take an oath). So there are two camels I would like you to accept from me and excuse me from taking an oath where the oaths are taken. Abu Talib accepted them from him. Then 48 men came and took the oath. Ibn `Abbas further said:) By Him in Whose Hand my life is, before the end of that year, none of those 48 persons remained alive.

When there was said about me what was said which I myself was unaware of, Allah's Apostle got up and addressed the people. He recited Tashah-hud, and after glorifying and praising Allah as He deserved, he said, "To proceed: O people Give me your opinion regarding those people who made a forged story against my wife. By Allah, I do not know anything bad about her. By Allah, they accused her of being with a man about whom I have never known anything bad, and he never entered my house unless I was present there, and whenever I went on a journey, he went with me." Sa`d bin Mu`adh got up and said, "O Allah's Apostle Allow me to chop their heads off". Then a man from the Al-Khazraj (Sa`d bin 'Ubada) to whom the mother of (the poet) Hassan bin Thabit was a relative, got up and said (to Sa`d bin Mu`adh), "You have told a lie! By Allah, if those persons were from the Aus Tribe, you would not like to chop their heads off." It was probable that some evil would take place between the Aus and the Khazraj in the mosque, and I was unaware of all that. In the evening of that day, I went out for some of my needs (i.e. to relieve myself), and Um Mistah was accompanying me. On our return, Um Mistah stumbled and said, "Let Mistah. be ruined" I said to her, "O mother Why do you abuse your Son" On that Um Mistah became silent for a while, and stumbling again, she said, "Let Mistah be ruined" I said to her, "Why do you abuse your son?" She stumbled for the third time and said, "Let Mistah be ruined" whereupon I rebuked her for that. She said, "By Allah, I do not abuse him except because of you." I asked her, "Concerning what of my affairs?" So she disclosed the whole story to me. I said, "Has this really happened?" She replied, "Yes, by Allah." I returned to my house, astonished (and distressed) that I did not know for what purpose I had gone out. Then I became sick (fever) and said to Allah's Apostle "Send me to my father's house." So he sent a slave with me, and when I entered the house, I found Um Rum-an (my mother) downstairs while (my father) Abu Bakr was reciting something upstairs. My mother asked, "What has brought you, O (my) daughter?" I informed her and mentioned to her the whole story, but she did not feel it as I did. She said, "O my daughter! Take it easy, for there is never a charming lady loved by her husband who has other wives but that they feel jealous of her and speak badly of her." But she did not feel the news as I did. I asked (her), "Does my father know about it?" She said, "yes" I asked, Does Allah's Apostle know about it too?" She said, "Yes, Allah's Apostle does too." So the tears filled my eyes and I wept. Abu Bakr, who was reading upstairs heard my voice and came down and asked my mother, "What is the matter with her? " She said, "She has heard what has been said about her (as regards the story of Al-lfk)." On that Abu- Bakr wept and said, "I beseech you by Allah, O my daughter, to go back to your home". I went back to my home and Allah's Apostle had come to my house and asked my maid-servant about me (my character). The maid-servant said, "By Allah, I do not know of any defect in her character except that she sleeps and let the sheep enter (her house) and eat her dough." On that, some of the Prophet's companions spoke harshly to her and said, "Tell the truth to Allah's Apostle." Finally they told her of the affair (of the slander). She said, "Subhan Allah! By Allah, I know nothing against her except what goldsmith knows about a piece of pure gold." Then this news reached the man who was accused, and he said, "Subhan Allah! By Allah, I have never uncovered the private parts of any woman." Later that man was martyred in Allah's Cause. Next morning my parents came to pay me a visit and they stayed with me till Allah's Apostle came to me after he had offered the `Asr prayer. He came to me while my parents were sitting around me on my right and my left. He praised and glorified Allah and said, "Now then O `Aisha! If you have committed a bad deed or you have wronged (yourself), then repent to Allah as Allah accepts the repentance from his slaves." An Al-Ansari woman had come and was sitting near the gate. I said (to the Prophet). "Isn't it improper that you speak in such a way in the presence of this lady? Allah's Apostle then gave a piece of advice and I turned to my father and requested him to answer him (on my behalf). My father said, "What should I say?" Then I turned to my mother and asked her to answer him. She said, "What should I say?" When my parents did not give a reply to the Prophet, I said, "I testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah, and that Muhammad is His Apostle!" And after praising and glorifying Allah as He deserves, I said, "Now then, by Allah, if I were to tell you that I have not done (this evil action) and Allah is a witness that I am telling the truth, that would not be of any use to me on your part because you (people) have spoken about it and your hearts have absorbed it; and if I were to tell you that I have done this sin and Allah knows that I have not done it, then you will say, 'She has confessed herself guilty." By Allah, 'I do not see a suitable example for me and you but the example of (I tried to remember Jacob's name but couldn't) Joseph's father when he said; So (for me) "Patience is most fitting against that which you assert. It is Allah (alone) whose help can be sought.' At that very hour the Divine Inspiration came to Allah's Apostle and we remained silent. Then the Inspiration was over and I noticed the signs of happiness on his face while he was removing (the sweat) from his forehead and saying, "Have the good tidings O ' "Aisha! Allah has revealed your innocence." At that time I was extremely angry. My parents said to me. "Get up and go to him." I said, "By Allah, I will not do it and will not thank him nor thank either of you, but I will thank Allah Who has revealed my innocence. You have heard this story but neither did not deny it nor change it (to defend me)," (Aisha used to say:) "But as regards Zainab bint Jahsh, (the Prophet's wife), Allah protected her because of her piety, so she did not say anything except good (about me), but her sister, Hamna, was ruined among those who were ruined. Those who used to speak evil about me were Mistah, Hassan bin Thabit, and the hypocrite, `Abdullah bin Ubai, who used to spread that news and tempt others to speak of it, and it was he and Hamna who had the greater share therein. Abu Bakr took an oath that he would never do any favor to Mistah at all. Then Allah revealed the Divine Verse: "Let not those among you who are good and wealthy (i.e. Abu Bakr) swear not to give (any sort of help) to their kinsmen, and those in need, (i.e. Mistah) ...Do you not love that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (24.22) On that, Abu Bakr said, "Yes, by Allah, O our Lord! We wish that You should forgive us." So Abu Bakr again started giving to Mistah the expenditure which he used to give him before.

AbulMalih said: Some women of Syria came to Aisha. She asked them: From whom are you? They replied: From the people of Syria. She said: Perhaps you belong to the place where women enter hot baths (for washing ). The said: Yes. She said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: If a woman puts off her clothes in a place other than her house, she tears the veil between her and Allah, the Exalted.

Abu Dawud said: This is the tradition narrated by Jarir, and it is more perfect. Jarir did not mention Abu al-Malih. He said (on the authority of 'A'ishah) that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said.

A man committed fornication with a woman. So the Messenger of Allah (saws) ordered regarding him and the prescribed punishment of flogging was inflicted on him. He was then informed that he was married. So he commanded regarding him and he was stoned to death.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been transmitted by Muhammad b. Bakr al-Barsani from Ibn Juraij as a statement of Jabir, and Abu 'Asim has transmitted it from Ibn Juraid similar to that of Ibn Wahb. He did not mention the Prophet (saws). But he said: A man committed fornication, but did not know that he was married ; so he was flogged. It was then known that he was married, so he was stoned to death.

A group of Jews came and invited the Messenger of Allah (saws) to Quff. So he visited them in their school.

They said: AbulQasim, one of our men has committed fornication with a woman; so pronounce judgment upon them. They placed a cushion for the Messenger of Allah (saws) who sat on it and said: Bring the Torah. It was then brought. He then withdrew the cushion from beneath him and placed the Torah on it saying: I believed in thee and in Him Who revealed thee.

He then said: Bring me one who is learned among you. Then a young man was brought. The transmitter then mentioned the rest of the tradition of stoning similar to the one transmitted by Malik from Nafi'(No. 4431).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar was asked about a woman whose husband died while she was pregnant, and he said, "When she gives birth, she is free to marry." A man of the Ansar who was with him told him that Umar ibn al-Khattab had said, "Had she given birth while her husband was still on his bed, unburied, she would be free to marry."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Safiyya bint Abi Ubayd from A'isha and Hafsa, the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "It is not halal for a woman in mourning for someone who has died, if she trusts in Allah and the Last Day, to abstain from adornment for more than three nights, except for a husband."

Malik related to me that he had heard that Umar ibn al-Khattab or Uthman ibn Affan gave a judgement about a slave woman who misled a man about herself and said that she was free. He married her and she bore children. It was decided that he should ransom his children with their like of slaves.

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "To ransom them with their price is more equitable in this case, Allah willing."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said and from Yazid ibn Abdullah ibn Qusayt al-Laythi that Said ibn al-Musayyab said, ''Umar ibn al-Khattab said, 'If a woman is divorced and has one or two periods and then stops menstruating, she must wait nine months. If it is clear that she is pregnant, that is that. If not, she must do an idda of three months after the nine, and then she is free to marry.' "

I went out with 'Ubaidullah bin `Adi Al-Khaiyar. When we reached Hims (i.e. a town in Syria), 'Ubaidullah bin `Adi said (to me), "Would you like to see Wahshi so that we may ask him about the killing of Hamza?" I replied, "Yes." Wahshi used to live in Hims. We enquired about him and somebody said to us, "He is that in the shade of his palace, as if he were a full water skin." So we went up to him, and when we were at a short distance from him, we greeted him and he greeted us in return. 'Ubaidullah was wearing his turban and Wahshi could not see except his eyes and feet. 'Ubaidullah said, "O Wahshi! Do you know me?" Wahshi looked at him and then said, "No, by Allah! But I know that `Adi bin Al-Khiyar married a woman called Um Qital, the daughter of Abu Al-Is, and she delivered a boy for him at Mecca, and I looked for a wet nurse for that child. (Once) I carried that child along with his mother and then I handed him over to her, and your feet resemble that child's feet." Then 'Ubaidullah uncovered his face and said (to Wahshi), "Will you tell us (the story of) the killing of Hamza?" Wahshi replied "Yes, Hamza killed Tuaima bin `Adi bin Al-Khaiyar at Badr (battle) so my master, Jubair bin Mut`im said to me, 'If you kill Hamza in revenge for my uncle, then you will be set free." When the people set out (for the battle of Uhud) in the year of 'Ainain ..'Ainain is a mountain near the mountain of Uhud, and between it and Uhud there is a valley.. I went out with the people for the battle. When the army aligned for the fight, Siba' came out and said, 'Is there any (Muslim) to accept my challenge to a duel?' Hamza bin `Abdul Muttalib came out and said, 'O Siba'. O Ibn Um Anmar, the one who circumcises other ladies! Do you challenge Allah and His Apostle?' Then Hamza attacked and killed him, causing him to be non-extant like the bygone yesterday. I hid myself under a rock, and when he (i.e. Hamza) came near me, I threw my spear at him, driving it into his umbilicus so that it came out through his buttocks, causing him to die. When all the people returned to Mecca, I too returned with them. I stayed in (Mecca) till Islam spread in it (i.e. Mecca). Then I left for Taif, and when the people (of Taif) sent their messengers to Allah's Apostle, I was told that the Prophet did not harm the messengers; So I too went out with them till I reached Allah's Apostle. When he saw me, he said, 'Are you Wahshi?' I said, 'Yes.' He said, 'Was it you who killed Hamza?' I replied, 'What happened is what you have been told of.' He said, 'Can you hide your face from me?' So I went out when Allah's Apostle died, and Musailamah Al-Kadhdhab appeared (claiming to be a prophet). I said, 'I will go out to Musailamah so that I may kill him, and make amends for killing Hamza. So I went out with the people (to fight Musailamah and his followers) and then famous events took place concerning that battle. Suddenly I saw a man (i.e. Musailamah) standing near a gap in a wall. He looked like an ash-colored camel and his hair was dishevelled. So I threw my spear at him, driving it into his chest in between his breasts till it passed out through his shoulders, and then an Ansari man attacked him and struck him on the head with a sword. `Abdullah bin `Umar said, 'A slave girl on the roof of a house said: Alas! The chief of the believers (i.e. Musailamah) has been killed by a black slave."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Said ibn al- Musayyab said, "The idda of the woman who bleeds constantly is a year."

Malik said, "What is done among us about a divorced woman whose periods stop when her husband divorces her is that she waits nine months. If she has not had a period in them, she has an idda of three months. If she has a period before the end of the three months, she accepts the period. If another nine months pass without her having a period, she does an idda of three months. If she has a second period before the end of those three months, she accepts the period. If nine months then pass without a period, she does an idda of three months. If she has a third period, the idda of the period is complete. If she does not have a period, she waits three months, and then she is free to marry. Her husband can return to her before she becomes free to marry unless he made her divorce irrevocable."

Malik said, "The sunna with us is that when a man divorces his wife and has the option to return to her, and she does part of her idda and then he returns to her and then parts from her before he has had intercourse with her, she does not add to what has passed of her idda. Her husband has wronged himself and erred if he returned to her and had no need of her."

Malik said, "What is done among us is that if a woman becomes a muslim while her husband is a kafir and then he becomes muslim, he is entitled to her as long as she is in her idda. If her idda is finished, he has no access to her. If he remarries her after the end of her idda, however, that is not counted as divorce. Islam removed her from him without divorce."

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.' "

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 citydoing, is that the child of the half-sibling by the mother, the paternal grandfather, the paternal uncle who is the maternal half- brother of the father, the maternal uncle, the great-grandmother who is the mother of the mother's father, the daughter of the full- brother, the paternal aunt, and the maternal aunt do not inherit anything by their kinship."

Malik said, "The woman who is the furthest relation of the deceased of those who were named in this book, does not inherit anything by her kinship, and women do not inherit anything apart from those that are named in the Qur'an. Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, mentioned in His Book the inheritance ofthe mother from her children, the inheritance of the daughters from their father, the inheritance of the wife from her husband, the inheritance of the full sisters, the inheritance of the half-sisters by the father and the inheritance of the half-sisters by the mother. The grandmother is made an heir by the example of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, made about her. A woman inherits from a slave she frees herself because Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, said in His Book, 'They are your brothers in the deen and your mawali.' "

They said: Bier of Abdullah ibn Umayr. So I followed it. Suddenly I saw a man, who had a thin garment on riding his small mule. He had a piece of cloth on his head to protect himself from the sun. I asked: Who is this important man? People said: This is Anas ibn Malik.

When the bier was placed, Anas stood and led the funeral prayer over him while I was just behind him, and there was no obstruction between me and him. He stood near his head, and uttered four takbirs (Allah is Most Great). He neither lengthened the prayer nor hurried it. He then went to sit down. They said: AbuHamzah, (here is the bier of) an Ansari woman. They brought her near him and there was a green cupola-shaped structure over her bier. He stood opposite her hips and led the funeral prayer over her as he had led it over the man. He then sat down.

Al-Ala' ibn Ziyad asked: AbuHamzah, did the Messenger of Allah (saws) say the funeral prayer over the dead as you have done, uttering four takbirs (Allah is Most Great) over her, and standing opposite the head of a man and the hips of a woman?

He replied: Yes. He asked: AbuHamzah, did you fight with the Messenger of Allah? He replied: Yes. I fought with him in the battle of Hunayn. The polytheists came out and invaded us so severely that we saw our horses behind our backs. Among the people (i.e. the unbelievers) there was a man who was attacking us, and striking and wounding us (with his sword). Allah then defeated them. They were then brought and began to take the oath of allegiance to him for Islam.

A man from among the companions of the Prophet (saws) said: I make a vow to myself that if Allah brings the man who was striking us (with his sword) that day, I shall behead him. The Messenger of Allah (saws) kept silent and the man was brought (as a captive).

When he saw the Messenger of Allah (saws), he said: Messenger of Allah, I have repented to Allah. The Messenger of Allah (saws) stopped (for a while) receiving his oath of allegiance, so that the other man might fulfil his vow. But the man began to wait for the order of the Messenger of Allah (saws) for his murder. He was afraid of the Messenger of Allah (saws) to kill him. When the Messenger of Allah (saws) saw that he did not do anything, he received his oath of allegiance. The man said: Messenger of Allah, what about my vow? He said: I stopped (receiving his oath of allegiance) today so that you might fulfil your vow. He said: Messenger of Allah, why did you not give any signal to me? The Prophet (saws) said: It is not worthy of a Prophet to give a signal.

AbuGhalib said: I asked (the people) about Anas standing opposite the hips of a woman. They told me that this practice was due to the fact that (in the days of the Prophet) there were no cupola-shaped structures over the biers of women. So the imam used to stand opposite the hips of a woman to hide her from the people.

Abu Dawud said: The saying of the Prophet (saws) "I have been commanded to fight against the people until they say: There is no god bu Allah" abrogated this tradition of fulfilling the vow by his remark: "I have repented".

Yahya related to me from Malik that Sumayy, the mawla of Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman, heard Abu Bakribn Abd ar-Rahman say, "A woman came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, 'I had arranged to do hajj, but I was prevented,' and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Do umra in Ramadan, for doing umra in it is like doing hajj.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Humayd at-Tawil that Anas ibn Malik said, "A virgin has seven nights, and a woman who has been previously married has three nights."

Malik affirmed, "That is what is done among us."

Malik added, "If the man has another wife, he divides his time equally between them after the wedding nights. He does not count the wedding nights against the one he has just married."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Abu Nahshal ibn al-Aswad said to al-Qasim ibn Muhammad,"I saw a slave-girl of mine uncovered in the moonlight, and so I sat on her as a man sits on a woman. She said that she was menstruating, so I stood up and have not gone near her after that. Can I give her to my son to have intercourse with?" Al-Qasim forbade that.