The Prophet came to me while I was ill. He performed ablution and threw the remaining water on me (or said, "Pour it on him) " When I came to my senses I said, "O Allah's Apostle! I have no son or father to be my heir, so how will be my inheritance?" Then the Verse of inheritance was revealed.

I divorced my wife. I then came to Medina to sell my land that was there so that I could buy arms and fight in battle. I met a group of the Companions of the Prophet (saws). They said: Six persons of us intended to do so (i.e. divorce their wives and purchase weapons), but the Prophet (saws) prohibited them. He said: For you in the Messenger of Allah there is an excellent model. I then came to Ibn 'Abbas and asked him about the witr observed by the Prophet (saws). He said: I point to you a person who is most familiar with the witr observed by the Messenger of Allah (saws). Go to 'Aishah. While going to her I asked Hakim b. Aflah to accompany me. He refused, but I adjured him. He, therefore, went along with me. We sought permission to enter upon 'Aishah. She said: Who is this ? He said: Hakim b. Aflah. She asked: Who is with you ? He replied: Sa'd b. Hisham. She said: Hisham son of 'Amir who was killed in the Battle of Uhud. I said: Yes. She said: What a good man 'Amir was! I said: Mother of faithful, tell me about the character of the Messenger of Allah (saws). She asked: Do you not recite the Quran ? The character of Messenger of Allah (saws) was the Qur'an. I asked: Tell me about his vigil and prayer at night. She replied: Do you not recite: "O thou folded in garments" (73:1). I said: Why not ?

When the opening of this Surah was revealed, the Companions stood praying (most of the night) until their fett swelled, and the concluding verses were not revealed for twelve months from heaven. At last the concluding verses were revealed and the prayer at night became voluntary after it was obligatory. I said: Tell me about the witr of the Prophet (saws). She replied: He used to pray eight rak'ahs, sitting only during the eighth of them. Then he would stand up and pray another rak'ahs. He would sit only after the eighth and the ninth rak'ahs. He would utter salutation only after the ninth rak'ah. He would then pray two rak'ahs sitting and that made eleven rak'ahs, O my son. But when he grew old and became fleshy he observed a witr of seven, sitting only in sixth and seventh rak'ahs, and would utter salutation only after the seventh rak'ah. He would then pray two rak'ahs sitting, and that made nine rak'ahs, O my son. The Messenger of Allah (saws) would not pray through a whole night, or recite the whole Qur'an in a night or fast a complete month except in Ramadan. When he offered prayer, he would do that regularly. When he was overtaken by sleep at night, he would pray twelve rak'ahs.

The narrator said: I came to Ibn 'Abbas and narrated all this to him. By Allah, this is really a tradition. Has I been on speaking terms with her, I would have come to her and heard it from her mouth. I said: If I knew that you were not on speaking terms with her, I would have never narrated it to you.

Yahya related to me from Malik from al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ya'qub that he heard Abu's-Sa'ib, the mawla of Hisham ibn Zuhra, say he had heard Abu Hurayra say, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Whoever prays a prayer without reciting the umm al-Qur'an in it, his prayer is aborted, it is aborted, it is aborted, incomplete.' So I said, 'Abu Hurayra, sometimes I am behind the imam.'Hepulled my forearm and said, 'Recite it to yourself, O Persian, for I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say that Allah the Blessed, the Exalted, said, "I have divided the prayer into two halves between me and my slave. One half of it is for Me and one half of it is for IVly slave, and My slave has what he asks." ' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Recite." The slave says, 'Praise be to AIIah, the Lord of theWorlds.' Allah the Blessed, the Exalted, says, 'My slave has praised Me.' The slave says, 'The Merciful, the Compassionate.' Allah says, 'My slave has spoken well of Me.' The slave says, 'Master of the Day of the Deen.' Allah says, 'My slave has glorified Me.' The slave says, 'You alone we worship and You alone we askforhelp.'Allahsays,'This ayat is between Me and My slave, and for My slave is what he asks. 'The slave says, 'Guide us in the straight Path, the Path of those whom You have blessed, not of those with whom You are angry, nor those who are in error. ' Allah says, 'These are for My slaves, and for my slave is what he asks . ' " ' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'r-Rijal, Muhammad ibn Abdar-Rahman ibn Haritha that his mother, Amra bint Abd ar-Rahman used to sell her fruit and keep some of it aside.

Malik said, "The generally agreed upon way of doing things among us is that when a man sells the fruit of his orchard, he can keep aside up to a third of the fruit, but that is not to be exceeded. There is no harm in what is less than a third."

Malik added that he thought there was no harm for a man to sell the fruit of his orchard and keep aside only the fruit of a certain palm-tree or palm-trees which he had chosen and whose number he had specified, because the owner was only keeping aside certain fruit of his own orchard and everything else he sold.

Malik related to me from Said ibn Amr Shurahbil ibn Said ibn Sad ibn Ubada from his father that his father said, ''Sad ibn Ubada went out with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in one of his raids and his mother was dying in Madina. Someone said to her, 'Leave a testament.' She said, 'In what shall I leave a testament? The property is Sad's property.' Then she died before Sad returned. When Sad ibn Ubada returned, that was mentioned to him. Sad said,

'Messenger of Allah! Will it help her if I give sadaqa for her?' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Yes' Sad said, 'Such-and-such a garden is sadaqa for her,' naming the garden."

I saw Abu Dhar Al-Ghifari wearing a cloak, and his slave, too, was wearing a cloak. We asked him about that (i.e. how both were wearing similar cloaks). He replied, "Once I abused a man and he complained of me to the Prophet . The Prophet asked me, 'Did you abuse him by slighting his mother?' He added, 'Your slaves are your brethren upon whom Allah has given you authority. So, if one has one's brethren under one's control, one should feed them with the like of what one eats and clothe them with the like of what one wears. You should not overburden them with what they cannot bear, and if you do so, help them (in their hard job).

Allah's Apostle and Ubai bin Ka`b Al-Ansari went to the garden where Ibn Saiyad used to live. When Allah's Apostle entered (the garden), he (i.e. Allah's Apostle ) started hiding himself behind the date108 palms as he wanted to hear secretly the talk of Ibn Saiyad before the latter saw him. Ibn Saiyad wrapped with a soft decorated sheet was lying on his bed murmuring. Ibn Saiyad's mother saw the Prophet hiding behind the stems of the date-palms. She addressed Ibn Saiyad saying, "O Saf, this is Muhammad." Hearing that Ibn Saiyad stopped murmuring (or got cautious), the Prophet said, "If she had left him undisturbed, he would have revealed his reality." (See Hadith No. 290, Vol 4 for details)

On the day of Mu'tah, nine swords were broken in my hand and only a Yemenite sword of mine remained in my hand.

The Prophet (saws) sacrificed two horned rams which were white with black markings and had been castrated. When he made them face the qiblah, he said: I have turned my face towards Him. Who created the heavens and the earth, following Abraham's religion, the true in faith, and I am not one of the polytheists. My prayer, and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord of the Universe, Who has no partner. That is what I was commanded to do, and I am one of the Muslims. O Allah it comes from Thee and is given to Thee from Muhammad and his people. In the name of Allah, and Allah is Most Great. He then made sacrifice.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Rabia ibn Abi Abd ar-Rahman that a man came to Qasim ibn Muhammad and said, "I did the tawaf al- ifada along with my wife, and then I went off onto a mountain path and approached my wife to make love to her, and she said, 'I have not cut my hair yet.' So I bit some of her hair off with my teeth and then had intercourse with her." Qasim laughed and said, "Tell her to cut her hair with some scissors."

Malik said, "To my liking an animal should be sacrificed in an instance such as this, because Abdullah ibn Abbas said, 'Whoever forgets any of his rites on hajj should sacrifice an animal.' "

Abu bin Zam`a and Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas carried the case of their claim of the (ownership) of the son of a slave-girl of Zam`a before the Prophet. Sa`d said, "O Allah's Apostle! My brother, before his death, told me that when I would return (to Mecca), I should search for the son of the slave-girl of Zam`a and take him into my custody as he was his son." 'Abu bin Zam`a said, 'the is my brother and the son of the slave-girl of my father, and was born or my father's bed." The Prophet noticed a resemblance between `Utba and the boy but he said, "O 'Abu bin Zam`a! You will get this boy, as the son goes to the owner of the bed. You, Sauda, screen yourself from the boy."

Sahl ibn AbuUmamah said that he and his father (AbuUmamah) visited Anas ibn Malik at Medina during the time (rule) of Umar ibn AbdulAziz when he (Anas ibn Malik) was the governor of Medina. He was praying a very short prayer as if it were the prayer of a traveller or near it.

When he gave a greeting, my father said: May Allah have mercy on you! Tell me about this prayer: Is it obligatory or supererogatory?

He said: It is obligatory; it is the prayer performed by the Messenger of Allah (saws). I did not make a mistake except in one thing that I forgot.

He said: The Messenger of Allah (saws) used to say: Do not impose austerities on yourselves so that austerities will be imposed on you, for people have imposed austerities on themselves and Allah imposed austerities on them. Their survivors are to be found in cells and monasteries. (Then he quoted:) "Monasticism, they invented it; we did not prescribe it for them."

Next day he went out in the morning and said: will you not go out for a ride, so that you may see something and take a lesson from it?

He said: Yes. Then all of them rode away and reached a land whose inhabitants had perished, passed away and died. The roofs of the town had fallen in.

He asked: Do you know this land? I said: Who acquainted me with it and its inhabitants? (Anas said:) This is the land of the people whom oppression and envy destroyed. Envy extinguishes the light of good deeds, and oppression confirms or falsifies it. The eye commits fornication, and the palm of the hand, the foot, body, tongue and private part of the body confirm it or deny it.

Sa'id said that when Abu Idris Khaulini narrated this hadith he knelt upon his knees.

The Prophet said, "Name yourselves after me (by my name), but do not call yourselves by my Kuniya, and whoever sees me in a dream, he surely sees me, for Satan cannot impersonate me (appear in my figure). And whoever intentionally ascribes something to me falsely, he will surely take his place in the (Hell) Fire.

I would offer my noon prayer with the Messenger of Allah (saws) and took a handful of gravels so that they might become cold in my hand and I placed them (before me) so that I may put my forehead on them at the time when I would prostrate. I did this due to the intensity of heat.

The Prophet said, "When Allah had finished His creation, He wrote over his Throne: 'My Mercy preceded My Anger.'

Allah's Apostle said, "When Allah created the creations, He wrote with Him on His Throne: 'My Mercy has preceded My Anger."

I used to take my Suhur meals with my family and then hurry up for presenting myself for the (Fajr) prayer with Allah's Apostle.

The Prophet said, "If I were to take a Khalil, I would have taken Abu Bakr, but he is my brother and my companion (in Islam).

I witnessed the `Id-al-Fitr prayer with Allah's Apostle , Abu Bakr, `Umar and `Uthman; and all of them offered it before delivering the sermon... and then delivered the sermon. Once the Prophet (after completing the prayer and the sermon) came down, as if I am now looking at him waving at the men with his hand to sit down, and walked through them till he, along with Bilal, reached (the rows of) the women. Then he recited: 'O Prophet! When believing women come to you to take the oath of allegiance that they will not worship anything other than Allah, will not steal, will not commit illegal sexual intercourse, will not kill their children, and will not utter slander, intentionally forging falsehood (by making illegal children belonging to their husbands)'....(60.12) Having finished, he said, 'Do you agree to that?" One lady, other than whom none replied the Prophet said, "Yes, O Allah's Apostle!" (The, sub-narrator, Al-Hasan did not know who the lady was.) Then the Prophet said to them: "Will you give alms?" Thereupon Bilal spread out his garment and the women started throwing big rings and small rings into Bilal's garment. (See Hadith No. 95 vol.2)

'Alqama went to Sham and when he entered the mosque, he said, "O Allah ! Bless me with a pious companion." So he sat with Abu Ad-Darda. Abu Ad-Darda' asked him, "Where are you from?" 'Alqama replied, "From the people of Kufa." Abu Ad-Darda said, "Isn't there amongst you the Keeper of the secret which nobody else knows i.e. Hudhaifa?" Al-qama said, "Yes." Then Abu Ad-Darda further said, "Isn't there amongst you the person whom Allah gave Refuge from Satan through the invocation of His Prophet namely `Ammar?" Alqama replied in the affirmative Abu Ad-Darda said, "Isn't there amongst you the person who carries the Siwak (or the Secret) (i.e. of the Prophet namely `Abdullah bin Massud)?" Alqama said, "Yes." Then Abu Ad-Darda asked, "How (Abdullah bin Masud) used to recite the Sura starting with: "By the night as it envelopes; By the day as it appears in brightness?" (92.1-2). Alqama said "And by male and female." Abu Ad-Darda then said, "These people (of Sham) tried hard to make me accept something other than what I had heard from the Prophet."

A man was buried along with my father and I did not like it till I took him (i.e. my father) out and buried him in a separate grave.

On the day (of the battle of) Mu'tah, nine swords were broken in my hand, and nothing was left in my hand except a Yemenite sword of mine.

Ka'b ibn Malik said to AbuLubabah; or someone else whom Allah wished; or to the Prophet (saws): To make my repentance complete I should depart from the house of my people in which I fell into sin, and that I should divest myself of all my property as sadaqah (alms). He said: A third (of your property) will be sufficient for you.

A man of the Ansar came to the Prophet (saws) and begged from him.

He (the Prophet) asked: Have you nothing in your house? He replied: Yes, a piece of cloth, a part of which we wear and a part of which we spread (on the ground), and a wooden bowl from which we drink water.

He said: Bring them to me. He then brought these articles to him and he (the Prophet) took them in his hands and asked: Who will buy these? A man said: I shall buy them for one dirham. He said twice or thrice: Who will offer more than one dirham? A man said: I shall buy them for two dirhams.

He gave these to him and took the two dirhams and, giving them to the Ansari, he said: Buy food with one of them and hand it to your family, and buy an axe and bring it to me. He then brought it to him. The Messenger of Allah (saws) fixed a handle on it with his own hands and said: Go, gather firewood and sell it, and do not let me see you for a fortnight. The man went away and gathered firewood and sold it. When he had earned ten dirhams, he came to him and bought a garment with some of them and food with the others.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) then said: This is better for you than that begging should come as a spot on your face on the Day of Judgment. Begging is right only for three people: one who is in grinding poverty, one who is seriously in debt, or one who is responsible for compensation and finds it difficult to pay.

Malik related to me from Yahya ibn Said that Abu'd-Darda wrote to Salman al-Farsi, "Come immediately to the holy land." Salman wrote back to him, "Land does not make anyone holy. Man's deeds make him holy. I have heard that you were put up as a doctor to treat and cure people. If you are innocent, then may you have delight! If you are a quack, then beware lest you kill a man and enter the Fire!" When Abu'd-Darda judged between two men, and they turned from him to go, he would look at them and say, "Come back to me, and tell me your story again. A quack! By Allah!"

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "If someone makes use of a slave, without permission of its master, in anything important to him, whose like has a fee, he is liable for what befalls the slave if anything befalls him. If the slave is safe and his master asks for his wage for what he has done, that is the master's right. This is what is done in our community."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say about a slave who is part free and part enslaved, "His property is suspended in his hand and he cannot begin anything with it. He eats from it and clothes himself in an approved fashion. If he dies, his property belongs to the one to whom he is in slavery."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "The way of doing things in our community is that a parent can take his child to account for what he spends on him from the day the child has property, cash or goods, if the parent wants that."

My bed was beside the praying place (Musalla) of the Prophet and sometimes his garment fell on me while I used to lie in my bed.

Allah's Apostle said, "When Allah completed the creation, He wrote in His Book which is with Him on His Throne, "My Mercy overpowers My Anger."