Safiya got her menses on the night of Nafr (departure from Hajj), and she said, "I see that I will detain you." The Prophet said, "Aqra Halqa! Did she perform the Tawaf on the Day of Nahr (slaughtering)?" Somebody replied in the affirmative. He said, "Then depart." (Different narrators mentioned that) `Aisha said, "We set out with Allah''s Apostle (from Medina) with the intention of performing Hajj only. When we reached Mecca, he ordered us to finish the Ihram. When it was the night of Nafr (departure), Safiya bint Huyay got her menses. The Prophet said, "Halqa Aqra! I think that she will detain you," and added, "Did you perform the Tawaf (Al-Ifada) on the Day of Nahr (slaughtering)?" She replied, "Yes." He said, "Then depart." I said, "O Allah''s Apostle! I have not (done the Umra)." He replied, "Perform `Umra from Tan`im." My brother went with me and we came across the Prophet in the last part of the night. He said, "Wait at such and such a place."

Once I went to Medina where there was an outbreak of disease and the people were dying rapidly. I was sitting with `Umar and a funeral procession passed by. The people praised the deceased. `Umar said, "It has been affirmed" (Paradise). Then another funeral procession passed by. The people praised the deceased. `Umar said, "It has been affirmed." (Paradise). Then another funeral procession passed by. The people praised the deceased. `Umar said, "It has been affirmed (Paradise)." Then a third funeral procession passed by and the people talked badly of the deceased. `Umar said, "It has been affirmed (Hell)." I asked `Umar, "O chief of the believers! What has been affirmed?" He said, "I have said what the Prophet said. He said, 'Allah will admit into paradise any Muslim whose good character is attested by four persons.' We asked the Prophet, 'If there were three witnesses only?' He said, 'Even three.' We asked, 'If there were two only?' He said, 'Even two.' But we did not ask him about one witness."

We were in the company of the Prophet in a Ghazwa. A large number of emigrants joined him and among the emigrants there was a person who used to play jokes (or play with spears); so he (jokingly) stroked an Ansari man on the hip. The Ans-ari got so angry that both of them called their people. The Ansari said, "Help, O Ansar!" And the emigrant said "Help, O emigrants!" The Prophet came out and said, "What is wrong with the people (as they are calling) this call of the period of Ignorance? "Then he said, "What is the matter with them?" So he was told about the stroke of the emigrant to the Ansari. The Prophet said, "Stop this (i.e. appeal for help) for it is an evil call. "Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul (a hypocrite) said, "The emigrants have called and (gathered against us); so when we return to Medina, surely, the more honorable people will expel therefrom the meaner," Upon that `Umar said, "O Allah's Prophet! Shall we not kill this evil person (i.e. `Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul) ?" The Prophet) said, "(No), lest the people should say that Muhammad used to kill his companions."

We went out with 'Abdullãh bin 'Umar and he said, "This (Verse) was revealed before the prescription of Zakat, and when Zakãt was prescribed, Allah made it a means of purifying one's wealth."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Anas ibn Malik said, "We would pray asr and anyone who then went to Quba would arrive there while the sun was still high."

We used to pray the `Asr prayer and after that if someone happened to go to the tribe of Bani `Amr bin `Auf, he would find them still praying the `Asr (prayer).

I offered the prayer with `Ali in Basra and he made us remember the prayer which we used to pray with Allah's Apostle. `Ali said Takbir on each rising and bowing.

We performed Hajj-at-Tamattu` in the lifetime of Allah's Apostle and then the Qur'an was revealed (regarding Hajj-at-Tamattu`) and somebody said what he wished (regarding Hajj-at-Tamattu`) according his own opinion.

The Prophet led us in a two-rak`at prayer at Mina although our number was more than ever and we were in better security than ever.

We used to travel with the Prophet and neither did the fasting persons criticize those who were not fasting, nor did those who were not fasting criticize the fasting ones.

Abu Sa'id Khudri reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) was more modest than the virgin behind the curtain (or in the apartment), and when he disliked anything, we recognised that from his face.

When the Prophet ordered that the mosque be built, he said, "O Bani An-Najjar! Suggest to me a price for this garden of yours." They replied, "By Allah! We will demand its price from none but Allah."

Once Gabriel promised the Prophet (that he would visit him, but Gabriel did not come) and later on he said, "We, angels, do not enter a house which contains a picture or a dog."

While we were in an army, Allah's Apostle came to us and said, "You have been allowed to do the Mut'a (marriage), so do it."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

In another narration, Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) said: We accompanied Messenger of Allah (PBUH) in the campaign of Dhat-ur-Riqa`. We left Messenger of Allah (PBUH) to take rest under a shady tree. One of the polytheists came to him. The sword of Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was hanging on a tree. He drew it and said: "Are you afraid of me?'' Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "No". Then he said: "Who will then protect you from me?'' Messenger of Allah (PBUH) replied, "Allah".

And in a narration of Abu Bakr Al-Isma`ili, the polytheist asked: "Who will protect you from me?'' Messenger of Allah (PBUH) replied, "Allah.'' As soon as he said this, the sword fell down from his hand and Messenger of Allah (PBUH) catching the sword, asked him, "Who will protect you from me.'' He said, "Please forgive me.'' Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "On condition you testify that there is none worthy of worship but Allah and that I am His Messenger.'' He said, "No, but I promise you that I shall not fight against you, nor shall I be with those who fight with you". The Prophet (PBUH) let him go. He then went back to his companions and said: "I have come to you from one of the best of mankind".

I used to sit with Ibn 'Abbas and he made me sit on his sitting place. He requested me to stay with him in order that he might give me a share from his property. So I stayed with him for two months. Once he told (me) that when the delegation of the tribe of 'Abdul Qais came to the Prophet, the Prophet asked them, "Who are the people (i.e. you)? (Or) who are the delegate?" They replied, "We are from the tribe of Rabi'a." Then the Prophet said to them, "Welcome! O people (or O delegation of 'Abdul Qais)! Neither will you have disgrace nor will you regret." They said, "O Allah's Apostle! We cannot come to you except in the sacred month and there is the infidel tribe of Mudar intervening between you and us. So please order us to do something good (religious deeds) so that we may inform our people whom we have left behind (at home), and that we may enter Paradise (by acting on them)." Then they asked about drinks (what is legal and what is illegal). The Prophet ordered them to do four things and forbade them from four things. He ordered them to believe in Allah Alone and asked them, "Do you know what is meant by believing in Allah Alone?" They replied, "Allah and His Apostle know better." Thereupon the Prophet said, "It means:

1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is Allah's Apostle.

2. To offer prayers perfectly

3. To pay the Zakat (obligatory charity)

4. To observe fast during the month of Ramadan.

5. And to pay Al-Khumus (one fifth of the booty to be given in Allah's Cause).

Then he forbade them four things, namely, Hantam, Dubba,' Naqir Ann Muzaffat or Muqaiyar; (These were the names of pots in which Alcoholic drinks were prepared) (The Prophet mentioned the container of wine and he meant the wine itself). The Prophet further said (to them): "Memorize them (these instructions) and convey them to the people whom you have left behind."

We were in the company of the Prophet at a banquet and a cooked (mutton) forearm was set before him, and he used to like it. He ate a morsel of it and said, "I will be the chief of all the people on the Day of Resurrection. Do you know how Allah will gather all the first and the last (people) in one level place where an observer will be able to see (all) of them and they will be able to hear the announcer, and the sun will come near to them. Some People will say: Don't you see, in what condition you are and the state to which you have reached? Why don't you look for a person who can intercede for you with your Lord? Some people will say: Appeal to your father, Adam.' They will go to him and say: 'O Adam! You are the father of all mankind, and Allah created you with His Own Hands, and ordered the angels to prostrate for you, and made you live in Paradise. Will you not intercede for us with your Lord? Don't you see in what (miserable) state we are, and to what condition we have reached?' On that Adam will reply, 'My Lord is so angry as He has never been before and will never be in the future; (besides), He forbade me (to eat from) the tree, but I disobeyed (Him), (I am worried about) myself! Myself! Go to somebody else; go to Noah.' They will go to Noah and say; 'O Noah! You are the first amongst the messengers of Allah to the people of the earth, and Allah named you a thankful slave. Don't you see in what a (miserable) state we are and to what condition we have reached? Will you not intercede for us with your Lord? Noah will reply: 'Today my Lord has become so angry as he had never been before and will never be in the future Myself! Myself! Go to the Prophet (Muhammad). The people will come to me, and I will prostrate myself underneath Allah's Throne. Then I will be addressed: 'O Muhammad! Raise your head; intercede, for your intercession will be accepted, and ask (for anything). for you will be given. "

Allah's Apostle forbade `Uthman bin Maz'un to abstain from marrying (and other pleasures) and if he had allowed him, we would have gotten ourselves castrated.

The Prophet used to take care of us in preaching by selecting a suitable time, so that we might not get bored. (He abstained from pestering us with sermons and knowledge all the time).

We were with Buraida in a battle on a cloudy day and he said, "Offer the `Asr prayer early as the Prophet said, "Whoever leaves the `Asr prayer, all his (good) deeds will be annulled."

Anas used to demonstrate to us the prayer of the Prophet and while demonstrating, he used to raise his head from bowing and stand so long that we would say that he had forgotten (the prostration).

We used to pray with the Prophet in scorching heat, and if someone of us could not put his face on the earth (because of the heat) then he would spread his clothes and prostrate over them.

On the day (of the battle) of Badr when we stood in rows against (the army of) Quraish and they stood in rows against us, the Prophet said, "When they do come near you, throw arrows at them."

We set out assuming the Ihram for Hajj in the months of Hajj towards the sacred precincts of Hajj. We dismounted at Sarif and the Prophet said to his companions, "Whoever has not got the Hadi with him and likes to make it as `Umra, he should do it, but he who has got the Hadi with him should not do it." The Prophet and some of his wealthy companions had the Hadi with them, so they did not finish Ihram after performing the `Umra. The Prophet came to me while I was weeping. He asked me the reason for it. I replied, "I have heard of what you have said to your companions and I cannot do the `Umra." He asked me, "What is the matter with you?" I replied, "I am not praying." He said, "There is no harm in it as you are one of the daughters of Adam and the same is written for you as for others. So, you should perform Hajj and I hope that Allah will enable you to perform the `Umra as well." So, I carried on till we departed from Mina and halted at Al-Mahassab. The Prophet called `Abdur- Rahman and said, "Go out of the sanctuary with your sister and let her assume Ihram for `Umra, and after both of you have finished the Tawaf I will be waiting for you at this place." We came back at midnight and the Prophet asked us, "Have you finished?" I replied in the affirmative. He announced the departure and the people set out for the journey and some of them had performed the Tawaf of the Ka`ba before the morning prayer, and after that the Prophet set out for Medina.

When the delegates of the tribe of Hawazin after embracing Islam, came to Allah's Apostle, he got up. They appealed to him to return their properties and their captives. Allah's Apostle said to them, "The most beloved statement to me is the true one. So, you have the option of restoring your properties or your captives, for I have delayed distributing them." The narrator added, Allah's Apostle c had been waiting for them for more than ten days on his return from Taif. When they realized that Allah's Apostle would return to them only one of two things, they said, "We choose our captives." So, Allah's Apostle got up in the gathering of the Muslims, praised Allah as He deserved, and said, "Then after! These brethren of yours have come to you with repentance and I see it proper to return their captives to them. So, whoever amongst you likes to do that as a favor, then he can do it, and whoever of you wants to stick to his share till we pay him from the very first booty which Allah will give us then he can do so." The people replied, "We agree to give up our shares willingly as a favor for Allah's Apostle." Then Allah's Apostle said, "We don't know who amongst you has agreed and who hasn't. Go back and your chiefs may tell us your opinion." So, all of them returned and their chiefs discussed the matter with them and then they (i.e. their chiefs) came to Allah's Apostle to tell him that they (i.e. the people) had given up their shares gladly and willingly.

Abu `Abdur-Rahman who was one of the supporters of `Uthman said to Abu Talha who was one of the supporters of `Ali, "I perfectly know what encouraged your leader (i.e. `Ali) to shed blood. I heard him saying: Once the Prophet sent me and Az-Zubair saying, 'Proceed to such-and-such Ar-Roudah (place) where you will find a lady whom Hatib has given a letter. So when we arrived at Ar-Roudah, we requested the lady to hand over the letter to us. She said, 'Hatib has not given me any letter.' We said to her. 'Take out the letter or else we will strip off your clothes.' So she took it out of her braid. So the Prophet sent for Hatib, (who came) and said, 'Don't hurry in judging me, for, by Allah, I have not become a disbeliever, and my love to Islam is increasing. (The reason for writing this letter was) that there is none of your companions but has relatives in Mecca who look after their families and property, while I have nobody there, so I wanted to do them some favor (so that they might look after my family and property).' The Prophet believed him. `Umar said, 'Allow me to chop off his (i.e. Hatib's) neck as he has done hypocrisy.' The Prophet said, (to `Umar), 'Who knows, perhaps Allah has looked at the warriors of Badr and said (to them), 'Do whatever you like, for I have forgiven you.' " `Abdur-Rahman added, "So this is what encouraged him (i.e. `Ali).

`Umar used to admit me (into his house) along with the old men who had fought in the Badr battle. Some of them said (to `Umar), "Why do you allow this young man to enter with us, while we have sons of his own age? " `Umar said, "You know what person he is." One day `Umar called them and called me along with them, I had thought he called me on that day to show them something about me (i.e. my knowledge). `Umar asked them, "What do you say about (the Sura): "When comes the help of Allah and the Conquest (of Mecca) And you see mankind entering the Religion of Allah (i.e. Islam) in crowds. 'So celebrate the Praises Of your Lord and ask for His forgiveness, Truly, He is the One Who accepts repentance and forgives." (110.1-3) Some of them replied, "We are ordered to praise Allah and repent to Him if we are helped and granted victory." Some said, "We do not know." Others kept quiet. `Umar then said to me, "Do you say similarly?" I said, "No." `Umar said "What do you say then?" I said, "This Verse indicates the approaching of the death of Allah's Apostle of which Allah informed him. When comes the help of Allah and the Conquest, i.e. the Conquest of Mecca, that will be the sign of your Prophet's) approaching death, so testify the uniqueness of your Lord (i.e. Allah) and praise Him and repent to Him as He is ready to forgive." On that, `Umar said, "I do not know about it anything other than what you know."

Abu Dawud said: The version of Shu'bah has: That you give her food when you have food yourself, and that you clothe her when you clothe yourself.

Allah's Apostle was asked, "Who are the most honorable of the people?" The Prophet said, "The most honorable of them in Allah's Sight are those who keep their duty to Allah and fear Him. They said, "We do not ask you about that." He said, "Then the most honorable of the people is Joseph, Allah's prophet, the son of Allah's prophet, the son of Allah's prophet, the son of Allah's Khalil i.e. Abraham) They said, "We do not ask you about that." The Prophet said, Do you ask about (the virtues of the ancestry of the Arabs?" They said, "Yes," He said, "Those who were the best amongst you in the Prelslamic Period are the best amongst you in Islam if they comprehend (the Islamic religion).

Some pagans who committed murders in great number and committed illegal sexual intercourse excessively, came to Muhammad and said, "O Muhammad! Whatever you say and invite people to, is good: but we wish if you could inform us whether we can make an expiration for our (past evil) deeds." So the Divine Verses came: 'Those who invoke not with Allah any other god, not kill such life as Allah has forbidden except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual intercourse.' (25.68) And there was also revealed:-- 'Say: O My slaves who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah.' (39.53)

While we were waiting for `Abdullah (bin Mas`ud). Yazid bin Muawiya came. I said (to him), "Will you sit down?" He said, "No, but I will go into the house (of Ibn Mas`ud) and let your companion (Ibn Mas`ud) come out to you; and if he should not (come out), I will come out and sit (with you)." Then `Abdullah came out, holding the hand of Yazid, addressed us, saying, "I know that you are assembled here, but the reason that prevents me from coming out to you, is that Allah's Apostle used to preach to us at intervals during the days, lest we should become bored."

Yahya related to me from Malik that al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman said, "We visited Anas ibn Malik after dhuhr and he stood up and prayed asr. When he had finished his prayer, we mentioned doing prayers early in their time, or he mentioned it, and he said that he had heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, the prayer of the hypocrites, the prayer of the hypocrites, the prayer of the hypocrites is that one of them sits until the sun becomes yellow and is between the horns of Shaytan, or on the horn of Shaytan, and then gets up and rattles off four rakas, hardly remembering Allah in them at all.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that the daughter of Ubaydullah ibn Umar whose mother was the daughter of Zayd ibn al- Khattab, married the son of Abdullah ibn Umar. He died and had not yet consummated the marriage or specified her bride-price. Her mother wanted the bride-price, and Abdullah ibn Umar said, "She is not entitled to a bride-price. Had she been entitled to a bride-price, we would not have kept it and we would not do her an injustice. "The mother refused to accept that. Zayd ibn Thabit was brought to adjudicate between them and he decided that she had no bride-price, but that she did inherit.

Once a Jew said to me, "O the chief of believers! There is a verse in your Holy Book Which is read by all of you (Muslims), and had it been revealed to us, we would have taken that day (on which it was revealed as a day of celebration." 'Umar bin Al-Khattab asked, "Which is that verse?" The Jew replied, "This day I have perfected your religion For you, completed My favor upon you, And have chosen for you Islam as your religion." (5:3) 'Umar replied,"No doubt, we know when and where this verse was revealed to the Prophet. It was Friday and the Prophet was standing at 'Arafat (i.e. the Day of Hajj)"

Um 'Atiyya (an Ansari woman who gave the pledge of allegiance to the Prophet ) came to Basra to visit her son, but she could not find him. She narrated to us, "The Prophet came to us while we were giving bath to his (dead) daughter, he said: 'Wash her three times, five times or more, if you think it necessary, with water and Sidr, and last of all put camphor, and when you finish, notify me.' " Um 'Atiyya added, "After finishing, we informed him and he gave us his waist sheet and told us to shroud her in it and did not say more than that."

The Prophet said, "This night I dreamt that two men came and took me to a Holy land whence we proceeded on till we reached a river of blood, where a man was standing, and on its bank was standing another man with stones in his hands. The man in the middle of the river tried to come out, but the other threw a stone in his mouth and forced him to go back to his original place. So, whenever he tried to come out, the other man would throw a stone in his mouth and force him to go back to his former place. I asked, 'Who is this?' I was told, 'The person in the river was a Riba-eater."