the Prophet (saws) forbade qaza' which means that the head of a boy is shaved and a lock is left.

This version (of Hadith No 856) adds: The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: The prayer of any of you is not complete until he performs ablution perfectly, as Allah, the Exalted, has ordered you. He should wash his face and hands up to the elbows, and wipe his head and (wash) his feet up to the ankles. Then he should exalt Allah and praise Him. Then he should recite the Qur'an as much as it is convenient for him.

(Narrator then narrated the tradition like Hammad's, No. 856). He said: He then utter the takbir and prostration himself so that his face is at rest.

Hammam (sub-narrator) said: Sometimes he reported: So that his forehead is at rest on the ground, and his joints return to their places and are loosened. Then he should say the takbir and then sit right on his hips and erect his back. He described the nature of prayer in this way by offering four rak'ahs until he finished it. The prayer of any of you is not complete unless he does so.

Abu dawud said: Anyone who narrated this tradition did not mention the words “ then he uttered the takbir”, nor the words “he returned”

I saw the Messenger of Allah (saws) wiping his head once up to his nape.

Musaddad reported: He wiped his head from front to back until he moved his hands from beneath the ears.

Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad say: People thought that Ibn 'Uyainah had considered it to be munkar (rejected) and said: What is this chain: Talhah - his father - his grandfather ?

Allah's Apostle said to me, "O `Abdullah! Have I not been informed that you fast during the day and offer prayers all the night." `Abdullah replied, "Yes, O Allah's Apostle!" The Prophet said, "Don't do that; fast for few days and then give it up for few days, offer prayers and also sleep at night, as your body has a right on you, and your wife has a right on you, and your guest has a right on you. And it is sufficient for you to fast three days in a month, as the reward of a good deed is multiplied ten times, so it will be like fasting throughout the year." I insisted (on fasting) and so I was given a hard instruction. I said, "O Allah's Apostle! I have power." The Prophet said, "Fast like the fasting of the Prophet David and do not fast more than that." I said, "How was the fasting of the Prophet of Allah, David?" He said, "Half of the year," (i.e. he used to fast on every alternate day). Afterwards when `Abdullah became old, he used to say, "It would have been better for me if I had accepted the permission of the Prophet (which he gave me i.e. to fast only three days a month).

The Prophet got up amongst us and mentioned Al Ghulul, emphasized its magnitude and declared that it was a great sin saying, "Don't commit Ghulul for I should not like to see anyone amongst you on the Day of Ressurection, carrying over his neck a sheep that will be bleating, or carrying over his neck a horse that will be neighing. Such a man will be saying: 'O Allah's Apostle! Intercede with Allah for me,' and I will reply, 'I can't help you, for I have conveyed Allah's Message to you Nor should I like to see a man carrying over his neck, a camel that will be grunting. Such a man will say, 'O Allah's Apostle! Intercede with Allah for me, and I will say, 'I can't help you for I have conveyed Allah's Message to you,' or one carrying over his neck gold and silver and saying, 'O Allah's Apostle! Intercede with Allah for me,' and I will say, 'I can't help you for I have conveyed Allah's Message to you,' or one carrying clothes that will be fluttering, and the man will say, 'O Allah's Apostle! Intercede with Allah for me.' And I will say, 'I can't help you, for I have conveyed Allah's Message to you."

Hakim bin Hizam said, "I asked Allah's Apostle for something, and he gave me. I asked him again, and he gave me, and said to me. 'O Hakim! This wealth is like green sweet (i.e. fruit), and if one takes it without greed, then one is blessed in it, and if one takes it with greediness, then one is not blessed in it, and will be like the one who eats without satisfaction. And an upper (i.e. giving) hand is better than a lower (i.e. taking) hand,' I said, 'O Allah's Apostle! By Him Who has sent you with the Truth. I will not ask anyone for anything after you till I leave this world." So, when Abu Bakr during his Caliphate, called Hakim to give him (some money), Hakim refused to accept anything from him. Once `Umar called him (during his Caliphate) in order to give him something, but Hakim refused to accept it, whereupon `Umar said, "O Muslims! I give him (i.e. Hakim) his right which Allah has assigned to him) from this Fai '(booty), but he refuses to take it." So Hakim never took anything from anybody after the Prophet till he died.

It is a sign of having knowledge that, when you do not know something, you say: 'Allah knows better.' Allah said to his Prophet: 'Say: No wage do I ask of you for this (Qur'an), nor am I one of the pretenders (a person who pretends things which do not exist)' (38.86) When the Quraish troubled and stood against the Prophet he said, "O Allah! Help me against them by afflicting them with seven years of famine like the seven years of Joseph." So they were stricken with a year of famine during which they ate bones and dead animals because of too much suffering, and one of them would see something like smoke between him and the sky because of hunger. Then they said: Our Lord! Remove the torment from us, really we are believers. (44.12) And then it was said to the Prophet (by Allah), "If we remove it from them. they will revert to their ways (of heathenism)." So the Prophet invoked his Lord, who removed the punishment from them, but later they reverted (to heathenism), whereupon Allah punished them on the day of the Battle of Badr, and that is what Allah's Statement indicates: 'Then watch for the day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke plainly visible...we will indeed (then) exact retribution.' (44.10).

Nafi' reported on the authority of Ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with them) that when Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) circumambulated the House, while observing the first circumambulation, he walked swiftly in three (circuits), and walked in four circuits, and ran in the bottom of the valley as he moved between al-Safa and al-Marwa. Ibn 'Umar (Allah be pleased with them) also used to do like this.

The Prophet said, "When the people of Paradise will enter Paradise and the people of Hell will go to Hell, Allah will order those who have had faith equal to the weight of a grain of mustard seed to be taken out from Hell. So they will be taken out but (by then) they will be blackened (charred). Then they will be put in the river of Haya' (rain) or Hayat (life) (the Narrator is in doubt as to which is the right term), and they will revive like a grain that grows near the bank of a flood channel. Don't you see that it comes out yellow and twisted"

I asked `Uthman bin `Affan about a person who engaged in intercourse but did no discharge. `Uthman replied, "He should perform ablution like the one for an ordinary prayer but he must wash his penis." `Uthman added, "I heard it from Allah's Apostle." I asked `Ali Az-Zubair, Talha and Ubai bin Ka`b about it and they, too, gave the same reply. (This order was canceled later on and taking a bath became necessary for such cases).

Once Allah's Apostle prayed two rak`at (instead of four) and finished his prayer. Dhul-Yadain asked him whether the prayer had been reduced or whether he had forgotten. Allah's Apostle asked the people whether Dhul-Yadain was telling the truth. The people replied in the affirmative. Then Allah's Apostle stood up, offered the remaining two rak`at and then finished his prayer with Taslim and then said, "Allahu Akbar." He followed it with two prostrations like ordinary prostrations or a bit longer.

A man came to Ibn Mas`ud and said, "I recited the Mufassal (Suras) at night in one rak`a." Ibn Mas`ud said, "This recitation is (too quick) like the recitation of poetry. I know the identical Suras which the Prophet used to recite in pairs." Ibn Mas`ud then mentioned 20 Mufassal Suras including two Suras from the family of (i.e. those verses which begin with) Ha, Meem [??] (which the Prophet used to recite) in each rak`a.

The Prophet passed by a woman who was weeping beside a grave. He told her to fear Allah and be patient. She said to him, "Go away, for you have not been afflicted with a calamity like mine." And she did not recognize him. Then she was informed that he was the Prophet . so she went to the house of the Prophet and there she did not find any guard. Then she said to him, "I did not recognize you." He said, "Verily, the patience is at the first stroke of a calamity."

Once I gave a horse in Allah's Cause (in charity) but that person did not take care of it. I intended to buy it, as I thought he would sell it at a low price. So, I asked the Prophet (p.b.u.h) about it. He said, "Neither buy, nor take back your alms which you have given, even if the seller were willing to sell it for one Dirham, for he who takes back his alms is like the one who swallows his own vomit."

That heard Allah's Apostle saying, "We are the last but will be the foremost to enter Paradise)." The Prophet added, "He who obeys me, obeys Allah, and he who disobeys me, disobeys Allah. He who obeys the chief, obeys me, and he who disobeys the chief, disobeys me. The Imam is like a shelter for whose safety the Muslims should fight and where they should seek protection. If the Imam orders people with righteousness and rules justly, then he will be rewarded for that, and if he does the opposite, he will be responsible for that."

That the Prophet once came to her in a state of fear and said, "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah. Woe unto the Arabs from a danger that has come near. An opening has been made in the wall of Gog and Magog like this," making a circle with his thumb and index finger. Zainab bint Jahsh said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we be destroyed even though there are pious persons among us?" He said, "Yes, when the evil person will increase."

"A roasted mastigure was brought to the Prophet who stretched his hand towards it to eat it. But it was said to him, "It is a mastigure." So he withdrew his hand. Khalid asked, "Is it unlawful to eat?" the Prophet said, "No, but it is not found in the land of my people and that is why I do not like eating it." So Khalid started eating (it) while Allah's Apostle was looking at him. An-Nadr said: 'Al-Khazira' (is prepared) from bran while 'Al-Harira' is prepared from milk.

The Prophet said, "Some people will come out of the Fire through intercession looking like The Thaarir." I asked `Amr, "What is the Thaarir?" He said, Ad Dagh`Abis, and at that time he was toothless. Hammad added: I said to `Amr bin Dinar, "O Abu Muhammad! Did you hear Jabir bin `Abdullah saying, 'I heard the Prophet saying: 'Some people will come out of the Fire through intercession?" He said, "Yes. "

Allah's Apostle said, "The example of a believer is that of a fresh green plant the leaves of which move in whatever direction the wind forces them to move and when the wind becomes still, it stand straight. Such is the similitude of the believer: He is disturbed by calamities (but is like the fresh plant he regains his normal state soon). And the example of a disbeliever is that of a pine tree (which remains) hard and straight till Allah cuts it down when He will." (See Hadith No. 546 and 547, Vol. 7).