I went to Ubayy b. Ka‘b and said to him, “I am confused about the divine decree, so tell me something by means of which God may remove the confusion from my mind.” He replied, “Were God to punish everyone in the heavens and the earth He would do so without being unjust to them, and were He to show mercy to them His mercy would be much better than their actions merited. Were you to spend in support of God’s cause an amount of gold equivalent to Uhud, God would not accept it from you till you believed in the divine decree and knew that what has come to you could not miss you and that what has missed you could not come to you. Were you to die believing anything else you would enter hell.” He said: I then went to ‘Abdallah b. Mas'ud and he said something to the same effect. I next went to Hudhaifa b. al-Yaman and he said something to the same effect. I next went to Zaid b. Thabit and he told me something from the Prophet to the same effect. Ahmad, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

God's Messenger used to go out on the day of sacrifice and the day of the breaking of the fast, first of all pray, and when he had prayed stand up facing the people while they were seated in their place of prayer. If he had cause to send out an expedition he mentioned it to the people, or if he required anything else he gave them commands about it, and he would say, “Give alms, give alms, give alms." Those who gave most were the women. Then he would go away. This practice went on till the time of Marwan b. al-Hakam.* I went out hand in hand with Marwan, and when we came to the place of prayer we saw that Kathir b. as Salt had built a pulpit of clay and brick. Marwan began to tug me with his hand as though he were pulling me towards the pulpit, while I was pulling him towards the prayer. When I saw what he was doing I said, “What has happened to the practice of beginning with prayer?" He replied, “No, Abu Sa'id, what you are familiar with has been abandoned." I thereupon said three times, “By no means, by Him in whose hand my soul is, you are not doing something better than what I am familiar with." Then he went away. *Ummayyad Caliph, 64-65 A.H. Muslim transmitted it.

‘‘When the time draws near* a believer’s vision can hardly be false. A believer’s vision is a forty-sixth part of prophecy, and what pertains to prophecy cannot be false." Muhammad b. Sirin said he held that visions were of three types: ideas which come from within, terrifying caused by the devil, and good news from God; so when one sees anything he dislikes he should not tell it to anyone, but should get up and pray. He said he disliked seeing a shackle on the neck in sleep, but that people were pleased by a fetter, as it is said that a fetter indicates being firmly established in the religion. (Bukhari and Muslim.) Bukhari said that Qatada, Yunus, Hushaim** and Abu Hilal transmitted it on the authority of Ibn Sirin who quoted Abu Huraira's authority. Yunus said he thought that what was said about the fetter comes from the Prophet, but Muslim said he did not know whether it was in the tradition, or whether Ibn Sirin said it. In a version there is something to the same effect, and the words “he disliked seeing a shackle on the neck ..." to the end have been inserted in the tradition. * The suggestions made are that this means when the last hour draws near, at the equinox, or when the Mahdi comes. ** Bukhari, Ta'bir, 26, has Hisham.

Aba Sa`id al-Khudri reported the Prophet as saying that God most high will call Adam and he will reply, "At Thy service and at Thy pleasure, in Whose hands is all good." God will tell him to bring out those who are to go to hell, and when he asks what this consists of, he will be told that it is nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand. Then young children will become grey-haired, pregnant women will give birth, and mankind will appear drunk although they will not be really so; but God's punishment is severe. On being asked which of them that one would be God's messenger replied, "Be of good cheer, for there is one of you to every thousand of Gog and Magog." He then said, "By Him in whose hand my soul is, I hope you may be a quarter of the inhabitants of paradise," and when they cried, "God is most great," he said, "I hope you may be a third of the inhabitants of paradise." Again, they cried, "God is most great," and he said, " I hope you may be half the inhabitants of paradise." Yet again, they cried, "God is most great," and he said, "Among mankind you are just like a black hair in the skin of a white bull, or like a white hair in the skin of a black bull." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Sa'd b. Abu Waqqas told that `Umar b. al-Khattab asked permission from God's messenger to enter when there were with him some women of Quraish who were talking volubly to him with loud voices. They got up when `Umar asked permission and hastened to veil themselves, and when `Umar entered God's messenger was laughing, so he said, "God keep you smiling, messenger of God!" The Prophet replied, "I was astonished at these women who are with me, for when they heard your voice, they hastened to veil themselves." `Umar then said, "Enemies of yourselves, do you stand in awe of me and do not stand in awe of God's messenger?" They replied, ``Yes, you are more churlish and harsher." God's messenger then said, "Never mind, son of al-Khattab; I swear by Him in whose hand my soul is that the devil has never met you walking on a mountain-road without going to another one than yours." Al-Humaidi said that after "messenger of God" al-Barqani added ``What makes you laugh[*]?" *i.e., after `Umar's remark, "God keep you smiling, messenger of God." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

If you see something from your brother, yourself or wealth which you find impressing, then invoke blessings for it, for the evil eye is indeed true. Reference: Ahmad 4/447, Ibn Majah, Malik. Al-Albani graded it authentic in Sahihul-Jami' As-Saghir 1/212. Also see Al-Arna'ut's checking of Ibn Al-Qayyim's Zadul-Ma'ad 4/170.

"We returned with the Messenger of Allah from his Hajj that he had performed, and we stopped at some point on the road. He commanded that prayer should be performed in congregation, then he took the hand of 'Ali and said: 'Am I not dearer to the believers than their own selves?' They said: 'Yes indeed.' He said: 'Am I not dearer to every believer than his own self?' They said: 'Yes indeed.' He said: 'This man is the friend of those whose master I am.' O Allah, take as friends those who take him as a friend, and take as enemies those who take him as an enemy.'"

"We performed the Maghrib (prayer) with the Messenger of Allah, then those who went back went back, and those who stayed, stayed. Then the Messenger of Allah came back in a hurry, out of breath, with his garment pulled up to his knees, and said: 'Be of good cheer, for your Lord has opened one of the gates of heaven and is boasting of you before the angels, saying: "Look at My slaves; they have fulfilled one obligatory duty and are awaiting another."

“We came back (from a campaign) with the Messenger of Allah (saw) and he said: ‘By the One in Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad, there is no person who believes then stands firm, but he will be caused to enter Paradise. I hope that they will not enter it until you and those who are righteous among your offspring will enter it and take up your dwelling places therein. And my Lord has promised me that seventy thousand of my nation will enter Paradise without being brought to account.’”

“Allah says: ‘I have prepared for My righteous slaves that which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and it has never crossed the mind of man.’”

Allāhumma innaka khalaqta nafsī wa anta tawaffāhā, laka mamātuhā wa maḥyāhā, in aḥyaytahā faḥfaẓhā, wa in amattahā faghfir lahā. Allāhumma innī as'aluka ‘l-`āfiyah. O Allah, You have created my soul and You take it back. Unto You is its death and its life. If You give it life then protect it, and if You cause it to die then forgive it. O Allah, I ask You for strength. Reference: Muslim 4/2083 and Ahmad 2/79.

"The Messenger of Allah (saw) mentioned Dajjal, one morning, as something despised but also alarming, until we thought that he was in the stand of date-palm trees. When we came to the Messenger of Allah (saw) in the evening, he saw that (fear) in us, and said: 'What is the matter with you?' We said: 'O Messenger of Allah, you mentioned Dajjal this morning, and you spoke of him as something despised but also alarming, until we thought that he was in the stand of date-palm trees.' He said: 'There are things that I fear more for you than the Dajjal. If he appears while I am among you, I will contend with him on your behalf, and if he appears when I am not among you, then each man must fend for himself, and Allah will take care of every Muslim on my behalf. He (Dajjal) will be a young man with curly hair and a protuberant eye; I liken him to 'Abdul-'Uzza bin Qatan. Whoever among you sees him, let him recite the first Verses of Surat Al-Kahf over him. He will emerge from Khallah, between Sham and Iraq, and will wreak havoc right and left. O slaves of Allah, remain steadfast.' We said: 'O Messenger of Allah, how long will he stay on earth?' He said: 'Forty days, one day like a year, one day like a month, one day like a week, and the rest of his days like your days.' We said: 'O Messenger of Allah, on that day which is like a year, will the prayers of one day suffice us?' He said: 'Make an estimate of time (and then observe prayer).' We said: 'How fast will he move through the earth?' He said: 'Like a rain cloud driving by the wind.' He said: 'He will come to some people and call them, and they will respond and believe in him. Then he will command the sky to rain and it will rain, and he will command the earth to produce vegetation and it will do so, and their flocks will come back in the evening with their humps taller, their udders fuller and their flanks fatter than they have ever been. Then he will come to some (other) people and call them, and they will reject him, so he will turn away from them and they will suffer drought and be left with nothing. Then he will pass through the wasteland and will say: "Bring forth your treasures," then go away, and its treasures will follow him like a swarm of bees. Then he will call a man brimming with youth and will strike him with a sword and cut him in two. He will put the two pieces as far apart as the distance between an archer and his target. Then he will call him and he will come with ...