We came upon the Messenger of Allah (saws) in a deputation of Thaqif. The signatories of the pact came to al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah as his guests. The Messenger of Allah (saws) made Banu-Malik stay in a tent of his.

Musaddad's version says: He was in the deputation of Thaqif which came to the Messenger of Allah (saws). He used to visit and have a talk with us every day after the night prayer.

The version of AbuSa'id says: He remained standing for such a long time (talking to us) that he put his weight sometimes on one leg and sometimes on the other due to his long stay. He mostly told us how his people, the Quraysh, behaved with him.

He would say: We were not equal; we were weak and degraded at Mecca (according to Musaddad's version). When we came over to Medina the fighting began between us; sometimes we overcome them and at other times they overcome us. One night he came late and did not come at the time he used to come.

We asked him: You came late tonight? He said: I could not recite the fixed part of the Qur'an that I used to recite every day. I disliked to come till I had completed it.

Aws said: I asked the companions of the Messenger of Allah (saws): How do you divide the Qur'an for daily recitation? They said: Three surahs, five surahs, eleven surahs, thirteen surahs' mufassal surahs.

Abu Dawud said: The version of Abu Sa'id is complete.

Zurarah ibn Awfa said that Aisha was asked about the midnight prayer of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

She said: He used to offer his night prayer in congregation and then return to his family (in his house) and pray four rak'ahs. Then he would go to his bed and sleep, but the water for his ablution was placed covered near his head and his tooth-stick was also kept there until Allah awakened him at night.

He then used the tooth-stick, performed ablution perfectly then came to the place of prayer and would pray eight rak'ahs, in which he would recite Surah al-Fatihah, and a surah from the Qur'an as Allah willed. He would not sit during any of them but sit after the eighth rak'ah, and would not utter the salutation, but recite (the Qur'an) during the ninth rak'ah. Then he would sit and supplicate as long as Allah willed, and beg Him and devote his attention to Him; He would utter the salutation once in such a loud voice that the inmates of the house were almost awakened by his loud salutation. He would then recite Surah al-Fatihah while sitting, bow while sitting, and then recite the Qur'an during the second rak'ah, and would bow and prostrate while sitting. He would supplicate Allah as long as He willed, then utter the salutation and turn away.

This amount of prayer of the Messenger of Allah (saws) continued till he put a weight. During that period he retrenched two rak'ahs from nine and began to pray six and seven rak'ahs standing and two rak'ahs sitting. This continued till he died.

The first lady to use a girdle was the mother of Ishmael. She used a girdle so that she might hide her tracks from Sarah. Abraham brought her and her son Ishmael while she was suckling him, to a place near the Ka`ba under a tree on the spot of Zamzam, at the highest place in the mosque. During those days there was nobody in Mecca, nor was there any water So he made them sit over there and placed near them a leather bag containing some dates, and a small water-skin containing some water, and set out homeward. Ishmael's mother followed him saying, "O Abraham! Where are you going, leaving us in this valley where there is no person whose company we may enjoy, nor is there anything (to enjoy)?" She repeated that to him many times, but he did not look back at her Then she asked him, "Has Allah ordered you to do so?" He said, "Yes." She said, "Then He will not neglect us," and returned while Abraham proceeded onwards, and on reaching the Thaniya where they could not see him, he faced the Ka`ba, and raising both hands, invoked Allah saying the following prayers: 'O our Lord! I have made some of my offspring dwell in a valley without cultivation, by Your Sacred House (Ka`ba at Mecca) in order, O our Lord, that they may offer prayer perfectly. So fill some hearts among men with love towards them, and (O Allah) provide them with fruits, so that they may give thanks.' (14.37) Ishmael's mother went on suckling Ishmael and drinking from the water (she had). When the water in the water-skin had all been used up, she became thirsty and her child also became thirsty. She started looking at him (i.e. Ishmael) tossing in agony; She left him, for she could not endure looking at him, and found that the mountain of Safa was the nearest mountain to her on that land. She stood on it and started looking at the valley keenly so that she might see somebody, but she could not see anybody. Then she descended from Safa and when she reached the valley, she tucked up her robe and ran in the valley like a person in distress and trouble, till she crossed the valley and reached the Marwa mountain where she stood and started looking, expecting to see somebody, but she could not see anybody. She repeated that (running between Safa and Marwa) seven times." The Prophet said, "This is the source of the tradition of the walking of people between them (i.e. Safa and Marwa). When she reached the Marwa (for the last time) she heard a voice and she asked herself to be quiet and listened attentively. She heard the voice again and said, 'O, (whoever you may be)! You have made me hear your voice; have you got something to help me?" And behold! She saw an angel at the place of Zamzam, digging the earth with his heel (or his wing), till water flowed from that place. She started to make something like a basin around it, using her hand in this way, and started filling her water-skin with water with her hands, and the water was flowing out after she had scooped some of it." The Prophet added, "May Allah bestow Mercy on Ishmael's mother! Had she let the Zamzam (flow without trying to control it) (or had she not scooped from that water) (to fill her water-skin), Zamzam would have been a stream flowing on the surface of the earth." The Prophet further added, "Then she drank (water) and suckled her child. The angel said to her, 'Don't be afraid of being neglected, for this is the House of Allah which will be built by this boy and his father, and Allah never neglects His people.' The House (i.e. Ka`ba) at that time was on a high place resembling a hillock, and when torrents came, they flowed to its right and left. She lived in that way till some people from the tribe of Jurhum or a family from Jurhum passed by her and her child, as they (i.e. the Jurhum people) were coming through the way of Kada'. They landed in the lower part of Mecca where they saw a bird that had the habit of flying around water and not leaving it. They said, 'This bird must be flying around water, though we know that there is no water in this valley.' They sent one or two messengers who discovered the source of water, and returned to inform them of the water. So, they all came (towards the water)." The Prophet added, "Ishmael's mother was sitting near the water. They asked her, 'Do you allow us to stay with you?" She replied, 'Yes, but you will have no right to possess the water.' They agreed to that." The Prophet further said, "Ishmael's mother was pleased with the whole situation as she used to love to enjoy the company of the people. So, they settled there, and later on they sent for their families who came and settled with them so that some families became permanent residents there. The child (i.e. Ishmael) grew up and learnt Arabic from them and (his virtues) caused them to love and admire him as he grew up, and when he reached the age of puberty they made him marry a woman from amongst them. After Ishmael's mother had died, Abraham came after Ishmael's marriage in order to see his family that he had left before, but he did not find Ishmael there. When he asked Ishmael's wife about him, she replied, 'He has gone in search of our livelihood.' Then he asked her about their way of living and their condition, and she replied, 'We are living in misery; we are living in hardship and destitution,' complaining to him. He said, 'When your husband returns, convey my salutation to him and tell him to change the threshold of the gate (of his house).' When Ishmael came, he seemed to have felt something unusual, so he asked his wife, 'Has anyone visited you?' She replied, 'Yes, an old man of so-and-so description came and asked me about you and I informed him, and he asked about our state of living, and I told him that we were living in a hardship and poverty.' On that Ishmael said, 'Did he advise you anything?' She replied, 'Yes, he told me to convey his salutation to you and to tell you to change the threshold of your gate.' Ishmael said, 'It was my father, and he has ordered me to divorce you. Go back to your family.' So, Ishmael divorced her and married another woman from amongst them (i.e. Jurhum). Then Abraham stayed away from them for a period as long as Allah wished and called on them again but did not find Ishmael. So he came to Ishmael's wife and asked her about Ishmael. She said, 'He has gone in search of our livelihood.' Abraham asked her, 'How are you getting on?' asking her about their sustenance and living. She replied, 'We are prosperous and well-off (i.e. we have everything in abundance).' Then she thanked Allah' Abraham said, 'What kind of food do you eat?' She said. 'Meat.' He said, 'What do you drink?' She said, 'Water." He said, "O Allah! Bless their meat and water." The Prophet added, "At that time they did not have grain, and if they had grain, he would have also invoked Allah to bless it." The Prophet added, "If somebody has only these two things as his sustenance, his health and disposition will be badly affected, unless he lives in Mecca." The Prophet added," Then Abraham said Ishmael's wife, "When your husband comes, give my regards to him and tell him that he should keep firm the threshold of his gate.' When Ishmael came back, he asked his wife, 'Did anyone call on you?' She replied, 'Yes, a good-looking old man came to me,' so she praised him and added. 'He asked about you, and I informed him, and he asked about our livelihood and I told him that we were in a good condition.' Ishmael asked her, 'Did he give you any piece of advice?' She said, 'Yes, he told me to give his regards to you and ordered that you should keep firm the threshold of your gate.' On that Ishmael said, 'It was my father, and you are the threshold (of the gate). He has ordered me to keep you with me.' Then Abraham stayed away from them for a period as long as Allah wished, and called on them afterwards. He saw Ishmael under a tree near Zamzam, sharpening his arrows. When he saw Abraham, he rose up to welcome him (and they greeted each other as a father does with his son or a son does with his father). Abraham said, 'O Ishmael! Allah has given me an order.' Ishmael said, 'Do what your Lord has ordered you to do.' Abraham asked, 'Will you help me?' Ishmael said, 'I will help you.' Abraham said, Allah has ordered me to build a house here,' pointing to a hillock higher than the land surrounding it." The Prophet added, "Then they raised the foundations of the House (i.e. the Ka`ba). Ishmael brought the stones and Abraham was building, and when the walls became high, Ishmael brought this stone and put it for Abraham who stood over it and carried on building, while Ishmael was handing him the stones, and both of them were saying, 'O our Lord! Accept (this service) from us, Verily, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.' The Prophet added, "Then both of them went on building and going round the Ka`ba saying: O our Lord ! Accept (this service) from us, Verily, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing." (2.127)

Yahya related to me from Malik from al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Yaqub that Abu Said, the mawla of Amir ibn Kuraz told him that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, called toUbayy ibn Kab while he was praying. When Ubayy had finished his prayer he joined the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the Messenger of Allah put his hand upon his hand, and he was intending to leave by the door of the mosque, so the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "I hope that you will not leave the mosque until you know a sura whose like Allah has notsentdown in the Tawrah nor in the Injil nor in the Qur'an." Ubayysaid, "I began to slow down my pace in the hope of that. Then I said, 'Messenger of Allah, the sura you promised me!' He said, 'What do you recite when you begin the prayer?' I recited the Fatiha (Sura 1 ) until I came to the end of it, and the Messengerof Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'It is this sura, and it is the "seven oft-repeated" and the Great Qur'an which I was given.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az- Zubayr that Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qari said that he had heard Umar ibn al-Khattab say, "I heard Hisham ibn Hakim ibn Hizam reciting Surat al-Furqan (Sura 25) differently from me, and it was the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who had recited it to me. I was about to rush up to him but I granted him a respite until he had finished his prayer. Then I grabbed him by his cloak and took him to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, 'Messenger of Allah, I heard this man reciting Surat al- Furqan differently from the way you recited it to me.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Let him go.' Then he said, 'Recite, Hisham,' and Hisham recited as I had heard him recite. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'It was sent down like that.' Then he said to me, 'Recite' and I recited the sura, and he said, 'It was sent down like that. This Qur'an was sent down in seven (different) ways, so recite from it whatever is easy for you .' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from his paternal uncle Abu Suhayl ibn Malik that his father heard Talha ibn Ubaydullah say, "Once one of the people of Najd came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He had dishevelled hair and although his voice could be heard we could not make out what he was saying until he drew nearer and then we found he was asking about Islam. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, 'There are five prayers during the day and the night.' He said, 'Do I have to do anything else besides that?' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, added, 'And fasting the month of Ramadan.' He said, 'Is there anything else I have to do?' He said, 'No, except what you do of your own accord.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, mentioned zakat. The man said, 'Is there anything else that I have to do?' He said, 'No, except what you do of your own accord.'

He continued, "The man went away saying, 'By Allah, I won't do any more than this, nor will I do any less.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'That man will be successful, if he is telling the truth.'

Malik related to me that he had heard that Abdullah ibn Masud used to relate that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "When two parties dispute about a business transaction, the seller's word is taken, or they make an agreement among themselves.

Malik spoke about someone who sold goods to a man, and said at the contracting of the sale, 'I will sell to you provided I consult so-and-so. If he is satisfied, the sale is permitted. If he dislikes it, there is no sale between us.' They made the transaction on that basis. Then the buyer regretted before the seller consulted the person.

Malik said, "That sale is binding on them according to what they described. The buyer has no right of withdrawal, and it is binding on him, if the person whom the seller stipulated to him, permits it."

Malik said, "The way of doing things among us about a man who buys goods from another and they differ about the price, and the seller says, 'I sold them to you for ten dinars,' and the buyer says, 'I bought them from you for five dinars,' is that it is said to the seller, 'If you like, give them to the buyer for what he said. If you like, swear by Allah that you only sold your goods for what you said.' If he swears it is said to the buyer, 'Either you take the goods for what the seller said, or you swear by Allah that you bought them only for what you said.' If he swears, he is free to return the goods. That is when each of them testifies against the other."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "If a man buys a garment which has a defect, a burn or something else, which the seller knows about and that is testified against him or he confirms it, and the man who has bought it causes a new tear which decreases the price of the garment, and then he learns about the original defect, he can return it to the seller and he is not liable for his tearing it.

"If a man buys a garment which has a defect of a burn or flaw, and the one who sold it to him claims that he did not know about it, and the buyer has cut the garment or dyed it, then the buyer has an option . If he wishes, he can have a reduction according to what the burn or flaw detracts from the price of the garment and he can keep the garment, or if he wishes to pay damages for what the cutting or dyeing has decreased of the price of the garment and return it, he can do so.

"If the buyer has dyed the garment with a dye which increases the value, the buyer has an option. If he wishes, he has a reduction from the price of the garment according to what the defect diminishes or if he wishes to become a partner with the one who sold the garment he does so. The price of the garment with a burn or flaw is looked at. If the price is ten dirhams, and the amount by which the dyeing increased the value is five dirhams, then they are partners in the garment, each according to his share. In this reckoning is the amount by which the dyeing increases the price of the garment."

Yahya related to me from Malik, from Abdullah ibn Dinar, that Abdullah ibn Umar used to say, "Anyone that does umra in the months of hajj, that is, in Shawwal, Dhu'l-Qada, or in Dhu'l-Hijja before the hajj, and then stays in Makka until the time for hajj, is doing tamattu if he then does hajj. He must sacrifice whatever animal it is easy for him to obtain, and if he cannot find one then he must fast three days during hajj and seven days when he returns."

Malik said, "This is only the case if he stays until the hajj and does hajj in that same year."

Malik said that if someone who was from Makka but had stopped living there and gone to live elsewhere, came back to do umra in the months of the hajj and then stayed in Makka to begin hajj there, he was doing tamattu, and had to offer up a sacrificial animal, or fast if he could not find one. He was not the same as the people of Makka.

Malik was asked whether someone who was not from Makka and entered Makka to do umra in the months of hajj with the intention of staying on to begin his hajj there was doing tamattu or not, and he said, "Yes, he is doing tamattu, and he is not the same as the people of Makka, even if he has the intention of staying there. This is because he has entered Makka, and is not one of its people, and making a sacrifice or fasting is incumbent on anyone who is not from Makka, and, although he intends to stay, he does not know what possibilities might arise later. He is not one of the people of Makka."

For the pasturing goats, he narrated the tradition similar to that transmitted by Sufyan bin Husain. This version adds “An old goat, one with defect in the eye or a male goat is not to be accepted in sadaqah(zakat) unless the collector wishes.”

Hamnah said my menstruation was great in quantity and severe. So I came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) for a decision and told him. I found him in the house of my sister, Zaynab, daughter of Jahsh.

I said: Messenger of Allah, I am a woman who menstruates in great quantity and it is severe, so what do you think about it? It has prevented me from praying and fasting.

He said: I suggest that you should use cotton, for it absorbs the blood. She replied: It is too copious for that. He said: Then take a cloth. She replied: It is too copious for that, for my blood keeps flowing. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: I shall give you two commands; whichever of them you follow, that will be sufficient for you without the other, but you know best whether you are strong enough to follow both of them.

He added: This is a stroke of the Devil, so observe your menses for six or seven days, Allah alone knows which it should be; then wash. And when you see that you are purified and quite clean, pray during twenty-three or twenty-four days and nights and fast, for that will be enough for you, and do so every month, just as women menstruate and are purified at the time of their menstruation and their purification.

But if you are strong enough to delay the noon (Zuhr) prayer and advance the afternoon ('Asr) prayer, to wash, and then combine the noon and the afternoon prayer; to delay the sunset prayer and advance the night prayer, to wash, and then combine the two prayers, do so: and to wash at dawn, do so: and fast if you are able to do so if possible.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Of the two commands this is more to my liking.¹

Abu Dawud said: 'Amr b. Thabit narrated from Ibn 'Aqil: Hamnah said: Of the two commands this is the one which is more to my liking.² In this version these words were not quoted as the statement of the Prophet (saws); it gives it as a statement of Hamnah.

Abu Dawud said: 'Amr b. Thabit was a Rafidi. This has been said by Yahya b. Ma'in.

Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad (b. Hanbal) say: I am doubtful about the tradition transmitted by Ibn 'Aqil.