Allah's Apostle sent me along with AzZubair and Al-Miqdad and said, "Proceed till you reach a place called Raudat-Khakh where there is a lady travelling in a howda on a camel. She has a letter. Take the letter from her." So we set out, and our horses ran at full pace till we reached Raudat Khakh, and behold, we saw the lady and said (to her), "Take out the letter!" She said, "I have no letter with me." We said, "Either you take out the letter or we will strip you of your clothes." So she took the letter out of her hair braid. We brought the letter to the Prophet and behold, it was addressed by Hatib bin Abi Balta'a to some pagans at Mecca, informing them of some of the affairs of the Prophet. The Prophet said, "What is this, O Hatib?" Hatib replied, "Do not be hasty with me, O Allah's Apostle! I am an Ansari man and do not belong to them (Quraish infidels) while the emigrants who were with you had their relatives who used to protect their families and properties at Mecca. So, to compensate for not having blood relation with them.' I intended to do them some favor so that they might protect my relatives (at Mecca), and I did not do this out of disbelief or an inclination to desert my religion." The Prophet then said (to his companions), "He (Hatib) has told you the truth." `Umar said, "O Allah's Apostle! Allow me to chop his head off?" The Apostle said, "He is one of those who witnessed (fought in) the Battle of Badr, and what do you know, perhaps Allah looked upon the people of Badr (Badr warriors) and said, 'Do what you want as I have forgiven you.' " (`Amr, a sub-narrator, said,: This Verse was revealed about him (Hatib): 'O you who believe! Take not My enemies and your enemies as friends or protectors.' (60.1) Narrated `Ali: Sufyan was asked whether (the Verse): 'Take not My enemies and your enemies...' was revealed in connection with Hatib. Sufyan replied, "This occurs only in the narration of the people. I memorized the Hadith from `Amr, not overlooking even a single letter thereof, and I do not know of anybody who remembered it by heart other than myself."

Zainab said: I visited Umm Habibah when her father AbuSufyan, died. She asked for some yellow perfume containing saffron (khaluq) or something else. Then she applied it to a girl and touched her cheeks.

She said: I have no need of perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to observe mourning for one who has died, more than three nights, except for four months and ten days in the case of a husband.

Zaynab said: I also visited Zaynab, daughter of Jahsh, when her brother died. She asked for some perfume and used it upon herself.

She then said: I have no need of perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say when he was on the pulpit: It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to observe mourning for one who has died, more than three nights, except for four months and ten days in the case of a husband.

Zaynab said: I heard my mother, Umm Salamah, say: A woman came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) and said: Messenger of Allah, the husband of my daughter has died, and she is suffering from sore eyes; may we put antimony in her eyes?

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: No. He said this twice or thrice. Each time he said: No. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: The waiting period is now four months and ten days. In pre-Islamic days one of you used to throw away a piece of dung at the end of a year.

Humayd said: I asked Zaynab: What do you mean by throwing away a piece of dung at the end of a year.

Zaynab replied: When the husband of a woman died, she entered a small cell and put on shabby clothes, not touching perfume or any other thing until a year passed. Then an animal such as donkey or sheep or bird was provided for her. She rubbed herself with it. The animal with which she rubbed herself rarely survived. She then came out and was given a piece of dung which she threw away. She then used perfume or something else which she desired.

Abu Dawud said: The Arabic word "hafsh" means a small cell.

I said: Messenger of Allah, to make my repentance complete I should divest myself of my property as sadaqah (alms) for Allah and His Apostle. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Retain some of your property, for that will be better for you. So he said: I shall retain the portion I have at Khaybar.

The Prophet (saws) had himself cupped three times in the veins at the sides of the neck and on the shoulder. Ma'mar said: I got myself cupped, and I lost my memory so much so that I was instructed Surat al-Fatihah by others in my prayer. He had himself cupped at the top of his head.

The Prophet (saws) said: Gabriel came and taking me by the hand showed the gate of Paradise by which my people will enter. AbuBakr then said: Messenger of Allah! I wish I had been with you so that I might have looked at it. The Messenger of Allah (saws) then said: You, AbuBakr, will be the first of my people to enter Paradise.

I came to the Prophet (saws). The people began to praise me and make a mention of me. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: I know you, that is, he knew him. I said: My father and mother be sacrificed for you! you were my partner and how good a partner ; you neither disputed nor quarrelled.

that his father said; "When Allah's Apostle mentioned what he mentioned about (the hanging of) the Izar (waist sheet), Abu Bakr said, "O Allah's Apostle! My Izar slackens on one side (without my intention)." The Prophet said, "You are not among those (who, out of pride) drag their Izars behind them."

Yahya related from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Salim ibn Abdullah said, "I saw my father Abdullah ibn Umar, do ghusl and then do wudu. I said to him, 'Father, isn't ghusl enough for you?' He said, 'Of course, but sometimes I touch my penis, so I do wudu.' "

Jabir b. Abdullah reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying. My example and your example is that of a person who lit the fire and insects and moths began to fall in it and he would be making efforts to take them out, and I am going to hold you back from fire, but you are slipping from my hand.

My father was martyred on the day (of the Ghazwa) of Uhud and left six daughters and some debts to be paid. When the time of plucking the date-fruits came, I went to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! you know that my father was martyred on Uhud's day and owed much debt, and I wish that the creditors would see you." The Prophet said, "Go and collect the various kinds of dates and place them separately in heaps"' I did accordingly and called him. On seeing him, the creditors started claiming their rights pressingly at that time. When the Prophet saw how they behaved, he went round the biggest heap for three times and sat over it and said, "Call your companions (i.e. the creditors)." Then he kept on measuring and giving them, till Allah cleared all my father's debts. By Allah, it would have pleased me that Allah would clear the debts of my father even though I had not taken a single date to my sisters. But by Allah, all the heaps were complete, (as they were) and I looked at the heap where Allah's Apostle was sitting and noticed as if not a single date had been taken thereof.

Abu Dawud said: Salih b. Kaisan, Ibn Juraij, and Shu'aib b. Abi Hamzah -- all of them narrated on the authority of al-Zuhru in a similar way.

Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Marwazi said: The correct chain of this tradition is: 'Ali b. al-Mubarak, from Yahya b. Abi Kathir, from Muhammad b. al-Zubair, from his father, on the authority of 'Imran b. Husain from the Prophet (saws)

Abu Dawud said: By this he (al-Marwazi) means that the narrator Sulaiman b. Arqam had some misunderstanding about this tradition. Al-Zuhri narrated it from him and then transmitted it (omitting his name) from Abu Salamah on the authority of 'Aishah.

Abu Dawud said: Baqiyyah has transmitted it from al-Auza'i from Yahya, from Muhammad b. al-Zubair with a similar chain of Ibn al-Mubarak.

When the verse: "O ye who believe! eat not up your property among yourselves in vanities, but let there be amongst you traffic and trade by mutual good will" was revealed, a man thought it a sin to eat in the house of another man after the revelation of this verse.

Then this (injunction) was revealed by the verse in Surat an-Nur: "No blame on you whether you eat in company or separately."

When a rich man (after revelation) invited a man from his people to eat food in his house, he would say: I consider it a sin to eat from it, and he said: a poor man is more entitled to it than I. The Arabic word tajannah means sin or fault. It was then declared lawful to eat something on which the name of Allah was mentioned, and it was made lawful to eat the flesh of an animal slaughtered by the people of the Book.

The Prophet (saws) said: No (Muslim) man will desert a man who is a Muslim in a place where his respect may be violated and his honour aspersed without Allah deserting him in a place here he wishes his help; and no (Muslim) man who will help a Muslim in a place where his honour may be aspersed and his respect violated without Allah helping him in a place where he wishes his help.

Yahya said: 'Ubaid Allah b. 'Abd Allah b. 'Umar and 'Uqbah b. Shaddad transmitted it to me.

Abu Dawud said: This yahya b. Sulaim is the son of Zaid, the freed slave of the Prophet (saws), and Isma'il b. Bashir is the freed slave of Banu Maghalah. Sometimes the name of 'Utbah b. Shaddad is mentioned instead of 'Uqbah.

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."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Umar ibn al- Khattab told people to kill snakes in the Haram.

Malik said, about the "wild dogs" which people were told to kill in the Haram, that any animals that wounded, attacked, or terrorised men, such as lions, leopards, Iynxes and wolves, were counted as"wild dogs." However, someone who was in ihram should not kill beasts of prey that did not attack (people), such as hyenas, foxes, cats and anything else like them, and if he did then he had to pay a forfeit for it. Similarly, someone in ihram should not kill any predatory birds except the kinds that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, specified, namely crows and kites. If someone in ihram killed any other kind of bird he had to pay a forfeit for it.

Yahya related to me from Malik that the best of what he had heard about horses, mules, and donkeys was that they were not eaten because Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted,said, "And horses, and mules and asses, for you to ride, and as an adornment. " (Sura 16 ayat 8) . He said, may He be Blessed and Exalted, "In cattle, some of them you ride, and some of them you eat." (Sura 6 ayat 79). He said, the Blessed, the Exalted, "Mention Allah's name over what He has provided you of cattle, and eat of them and feed the beggar (al-qani) and the suppliant (al-mutarr). (Sura 22 ayat 34).

Malik said "Allah mentioned horses, mules, and donkeys for riding and adornment, and He mentioned cattle for riding and eating."

Malik said, "Al-qani also means the poor."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir from Jabir ibn Abdullah that a Bedouin took an oath of allegiance in Islam with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. A fever befell the Bedouin at Madina. He came to the Messenger of Allah, and said, "Messenger of Allah, release me from my pledge." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, refused. Then he came to him again and said, "Release me from my pledge." The Messenger of Allah may Allah bless him and grant him peace, refused. Then he came again and said, "Release me from my pledge." He refused. Then he came again and said, "Release me from my pledge." He refused. The Bedouin left and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Madina is like the blacksmith's furnace. It removes the impurities and purifies the good."

Allah's Apostle said, "Allah said, 'I will declare war against him who shows hostility to a pious worshipper of Mine. And the most beloved things with which My slave comes nearer to Me, is what I have enjoined upon him; and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (praying or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) till I love him, so I become his sense of hearing with which he hears, and his sense of sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he grips, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks Me, I will give him, and if he asks My protection (Refuge), I will protect him; (i.e. give him My Refuge) and I do not hesitate to do anything as I hesitate to take the soul of the believer, for he hates death, and I hate to disappoint him."

The Prophet said, "The people were displayed in front of me and I saw one prophet passing by with a large group of his followers, and another prophet passing by with only a small group of people, and another prophet passing by with only ten (persons), and another prophet passing by with only five (persons), and another prophet passed by alone. And then I looked and saw a large multitude of people, so I asked Gabriel, "Are these people my followers?' He said, 'No, but look towards the horizon.' I looked and saw a very large multitude of people. Gabriel said. 'Those are your followers, and those are seventy thousand (persons) in front of them who will neither have any reckoning of their accounts nor will receive any punishment.' I asked, 'Why?' He said, 'For they used not to treat themselves with branding (cauterization) nor with Ruqya (get oneself treated by the recitation of some Verses of the Qur'an) and not to see evil omen in things, and they used to put their trust (only) in their Lord." On hearing that, 'Ukasha bin Mihsan got up and said (to the Prophet), "Invoke Allah to make me one of them." The Prophet said, "O Allah, make him one of them." Then another man got up and said (to the Prophet), "Invoke Allah to make me one of them." The Prophet said, 'Ukasha has preceded you."

A man came to the Prophet (saws) and said: Messenger of Allah, I have property and children, and my father finishes my property. He replied; You and your property belong to your father; your children come from the pleasantest of what you earn; so enjoy from the earning of your children.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that a man questioned al-Qasim ibn Muhammad saying, "My imagination works in the prayer, and it happens to me a lot." Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad said, "Go on with your prayer, for it will not go away from you until you go away saying, 'I have not completed my prayer.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that a man asked Said ibn al-Musayyab, "I pray in my house, and then I come to the mosque and find the imam praying. Should I pray with him?" Said said, "Yes," and the man said, "Which of them is my prayer?" Said said, "Are you the one to decide that? That is up to Allah."

By Allah, we did not know whether we should take off the clothes of the Messenger of Allah (saws) as we took off the clothes of our dead, or wash him while his clothes were on him. When they (the people) differed among themselves, Allah cast slumber over them until every one of them had put his chin on his chest.

Then a speaker spoke from a side of the house, and they did not know who he was: Wash the Prophet (saws) while his clothes are on him. So they stood round the Prophet (saws) and washed him while he had his shirt on him. They poured water on his shirt, and rubbed him with his shirt and not with their hands. Aisha used to say: If I had known beforehand about my affair what I found out later, none would have washed him except his wives.

On the day of the conquest of Mecca, Abdullah ibn Sa'd ibn AbuSarh hid himself with Uthman ibn Affan.

He brought him and made him stand before the Prophet (saws), and said: Accept the allegiance of Abdullah, Messenger of Allah! He raised his head and looked at him three times, refusing him each time, but accepted his allegiance after the third time.

Then turning to his companions, he said: Was not there a wise man among you who would stand up to him when he saw that I had withheld my hand from accepting his allegiance, and kill him?

They said: We did not know what you had in your heart, Messenger of Allah! Why did you not give us a signal with your eye?

He said: It is not advisable for a Prophet to play deceptive tricks with the eyes.

Allah, the brother of Abu Al-Qu'ais asked my permission to enter after the verses of Al-Hijab (veiling the ladies) was revealed, and I said, "By Allah, I will not admit him unless I take permission of Allah's Apostle for it was not the brother of Al-Qu'ais who had suckled me, but it was the wife of Al-Qu'ais, who had suckled me." Then Allah's Apostle entered upon me, and I said, "O Allah's Apostle! The man has not nursed me but his wife has nursed me." He said, "Admit him because he is your uncle (not from blood relation, but because you have been nursed by his wife), Taribat Yaminuki." `Urwa said, "Because of this reason, ' Aisha used to say: Foster suckling relations render all those things (marriages etc.) illegal which are illegal because of the corresponding blood relations." (See Hadith No. 36, Vol. 7)

Whenever the Prophet offered the night (Tahajjud) prayer, he used to say, "O Allah! All the Praises are for You; You are the Light of the Heavens and the Earth. And all the Praises are for You; You are the Keeper of the Heavens and the Earth. All the Praises are for You; You are the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth and whatever is therein. You are the Truth, and Your Promise is the Truth, and Your Speech is the Truth, and meeting You is the Truth, and Paradise is the Truth and Hell (Fire) is the Truth and all the prophets are the Truth and the Hour is the Truth. O Allah! I surrender to You, and believe in You, and depend upon You, and repent to You, and in Your cause I fight and with Your orders I rule. So please forgive my past and future sins and those sins which I did in secret or in public. It is You Whom I worship, None has the right to be worshipped except You ." (See Hadith No. 329,Vol. 8)

'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said,

"I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'In my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'What an excellent Bid'a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night. (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night."

That he fought in a Ghazwa towards Najd along with Allah's Apostle and when Allah's Apostle returned, he too, returned along with him. The time of the afternoon nap overtook them when they were in a valley full of thorny trees. Allah's Apostle dismounted and the people dispersed amongst the thorny trees, seeking the shade of the trees. Allah's Apostle took shelter under a Samura tree and hung his sword on it. We slept for a while when Allah's Apostle suddenly called us, and we went to him, to find a bedouin sitting with him. Allah's Apostle said, "This (bedouin) took my sword out of its sheath while I was asleep. When I woke up, the naked sword was in his hand and he said to me, 'Who can save you from me?, I replied, 'Allah.' Now here he is sitting." Allah's Apostle did not punish him (for that).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Salih ibn Kaysan from Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba ibn Masud that Zayd ibn Khalid al- Juhani said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took the subh prayer with us at Hudaybiyya after it had rained in the night. When he had finished he went up to the people and said, 'Do you know what your Lord has said?' They said, 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said, 'Some of my slaves have begun the morning believing in Me, and others have begun it rejecting Me. As for those who say, 'We were rained on by the overflowing favour of Allah and His mercy,' they believe in Me and reject the stars. But as for those who say, 'We were rained on by such and such a star, they reject Me and believe in the stars.' "