For the whole year I had the desire to ask `Umar bin Al-Khattab regarding the explanation of a Verse (in Surat Al-Tahrim) but I could not ask him because I respected him very much. When he went to perform the Hajj, I too went along with him. On our return, while we were still on the way home. `Umar went aside to answer the call of nature by the Arak trees. I waited till he finished and then I proceeded with him and asked him. "O chief of the Believers! Who were the two wives of the Prophet who aided one another against him?" He said, "They were Hafsa and `Aisha." Then I said to him, "By Allah, I wanted to ask you about this a year ago, but I could not do so owing to my respect for you." `Umar said, "Do not refrain from asking me. If you think that I have knowledge (about a certain matter), ask me; and if I know (something about it), I will tell you." Then `Umar added, "By Allah, in the Pre-lslamic Period of Ignorance we did not pay attention to women until Allah revealed regarding them what He revealed regarding them and assigned for them what He has assigned. Once while I was thinking over a certain matter, my wife said, "I recommend that you do so-and-so." I said to her, "What have you got to do with the is matter? Why do you poke your nose in a matter which I want to see fulfilled.?" She said, How strange you are, O son of Al-Khattab! You don't want to be argued with whereas your daughter, Hafsa surely, argues with Allah's Apostle so much that he remains angry for a full day!" `Umar then reported; how he at once put on his outer garment and went to Hafsa and said to her, "O my daughter! Do you argue with Allah's Apostle so that he remains angry the whole day?" H. afsa said, "By Allah, we argue with him." `Umar said, "Know that I warn you of Allah's punishment and the anger of Allah's Apostle . . . O my daughter! Don't be betrayed by the one who is proud of her beauty because of the love of Allah's Apostle for her (i.e. `Aisha)." `Umar addled, "Then I went out to Um Salama's house who was one of my relatives, and I talked to her. She said, O son of Al-Khattab! It is rather astonishing that you interfere in everything; you even want to interfere between Allah's Apostle and his wives!' By Allah, by her talk she influenced me so much that I lost some of my anger. I left her (and went home). At that time I had a friend from the Ansar who used to bring news (from the Prophet) in case of my absence, and I used ...

'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace he upon him) used to observe i'tikif in the last ten days of Ramadan till Allah called him back (to his heavenly home). Then his wives observed i'tikaf after him.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father said, "Once when I was young I said to A'isha, umm al-muminin, 'Have you seen the saying of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, "Safa and Marwa are among the waymarks of Allah, so whoever does hajj or umra to the House, there is no harm in his going between them," so it follows that there should be no harm for some one who does not go between them.'

A'isha said, 'No. If it were as you say, there would be no harm in his not going between them. This ayat was only revealed about the Ansar. They used to make pilgrimage to Manat, and Manat was an idol near Qudayd, and they used to avoid going between Safa and Marwa, and when Islam came they asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about this and Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, revealed, "Safa and Marwa are among the waymarks of Allah, so whoever does hajj or umra to the House, there is no harm in his going between them. " ' "

Aisha

said, "A woman from Bani Makhzumiya committed a theft and the people said, 'Who can intercede with the Prophet for her?' So nobody dared speak to him (i.e. the Prophet) but Usama bin Zaid spoke to him. The Prophet said, 'If a reputable man amongst the children of Bani Israel committed a theft, they used to forgive him, but if a poor man committed a theft, they would cut his hand. But I would cut even the hand of Fatima (i.e. the daughter of the Prophet) if she committed a theft."

AbdulAziz ibn Jurayj said: I asked Aisha, mother of the believers: With which (surah) the Messenger of Allah (saws) used to observe witr? (She reported same as in the Hadith of Ubayy ibn Ka'b, No. 1418)

This version adds: In the third rak'ah he would recite: "Say, He is Allah, the One" (Surah 112), and "Say, I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak" (Surah 113), and "Say, I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind" (Surah 114).

That she conceived `Abdullah bin Az-Zubair. She added, "I migrated to Medina while I was at full term of pregnancy and alighted at Quba where I gave birth to him. Then I brought him to the Prophet and put him in his lap. The Prophet asked for a date, chewed it, and put some of its juice in the child's mouth. So, the first thing that entered the child's stomach was the saliva of Allah's Apostle. Then the Prophet rubbed the child's palate with a date and invoked for Allah's Blessings on him, and he was the first child born amongst the Emigrants in the Islamic Land (i.e. Medina).

"The Messenger of Allah (saws) was of average height, neither tall nor very short, he had a good build, brown in complexion, his hair was neither curly nor straight, and when he walked he swayed slightly."

He said: There are narration on this topic from 'Aishah, Al-Bara', Abu Hurairah, Ibn 'Abbas, Abu Sa'eed, Jabir, Wa'il bin Hujr, and Umm Hani'.

[Abu 'Eisa said:] The Hadith of Anas is a Hasan Sahih Gharib Hadith from this route, as a narration of Humaid.

The Prophet used to say to the patient, "In the Name of Allah The earth of our land and the saliva of some of us cure our patient."

(the slave of Asma') During the night of Jam', Asma' got down at Al-Muzdalifa and stood up for (offering) the prayer and offered the prayer for some time and then asked, "O my son! Has the moon set?" I replied in the negative and she again prayed for another period and then asked, "Has the moon set?" I replied, "Yes." So she said that we should set out (for Mina), and we departed and went on till she threw pebbles at the Jamra (Jamrat-Al-`Aqaba) and then she returned to her dwelling place and offered the morning prayer. I asked her, "O you! I think we have come (to Mina) early in the night." She replied, "O my son! Allah's Apostle gave permission to the women to do so."

A lady along with her two daughters came to me asking (for some alms), but she found nothing with me except one date which I gave to her and she divided it between her two daughters, and did not eat anything herself, and then she got up and went away. Then the Prophet came in and I informed him about this story. He said, "Whoever is put to trial by these daughters and he treats them generously (with benevolence) then these daughters will act as a shield for him from Hell-Fire." (See Hadith No. 24, Vol. 8).

When the Prophet became ill, some of his wives talked about a church which they had seen in Ethiopia and it was called Mariya. Um Salma and Um Habiba had been to Ethiopia, and both of them narrated its (the Church's) beauty and the pictures it contained. The Prophet raised his head and said, "Those are the people who, whenever a pious man dies amongst them, make a place of worship at his grave and then they make those pictures in it. Those are the worst creatures in the Sight of Allah."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Gharib.

Allah's Apostle used to offer the `Asr prayers at a time when the sunshine was still inside my chamber and no shadow had yet appeared in it.

After offering the Sunna of the Fajr prayer, the Prophet used to talk to me, if I happen to be awake; otherwise he would lie down till the Iqama call was proclaimed (for the Fajr prayer).

Fatima the daughter of the Prophet sent someone to Abu Bakr (when he was a caliph), asking for her inheritance of what Allah's Apostle had left of the property bestowed on him by Allah from the Fai (i.e. booty gained without fighting) in Medina, and Fadak, and what remained of the Khumus of the Khaibar booty. On that, Abu Bakr said, "Allah's Apostle said, "Our property is not inherited. Whatever we leave, is Sadaqa, but the family of (the Prophet) Muhammad can eat of this property.' By Allah, I will not make any change in the state of the Sadaqa of Allah's Apostle and will leave it as it was during the lifetime of Allah's Apostle, and will dispose of it as Allah's Apostle used to do." So Abu Bakr refused to give anything of that to Fatima. So she became angry with Abu Bakr and kept away from him, and did not task to him till she died. She remained alive for six months after the death of the Prophet. When she died, her husband `Ali, buried her at night without informing Abu Bakr and he said the funeral prayer by himself. When Fatima was alive, the people used to respect `Ali much, but after her death, `Ali noticed a change in the people's attitude towards him. So `Ali sought reconciliation with Abu Bakr and gave him an oath of allegiance. `Ali had not given the oath of allegiance during those months (i.e. the period between the Prophet's death and Fatima's death). `Ali sent someone to Abu Bakr saying, "Come to us, but let nobody come with you," as he disliked that `Umar should come, `Umar said (to Abu Bakr), "No, by Allah, you shall not enter upon them alone " Abu Bakr said, "What do you think they will do to me? By Allah, I will go to them' So Abu Bakr entered upon them, and then `Ali uttered Tashah-hud and said (to Abu Bakr), "We know well your superiority and what Allah has given you, and we are not jealous of the good what Allah has bestowed upon you, but you did not consult us in the question of the rule and we thought that we have got a right in it because of our near relationship to Allah's Apostle ." Thereupon Abu Bakr's eyes flowed with tears. And when Abu Bakr spoke, he said, "By Him in Whose Hand my soul is to keep good relations with the relatives of Allah's Apostle is dearer to me than to keep good relations with my own relatives. But as for the trouble which arose between me and you about his property, I will do my best to spend it according to what is good, and will not leave any rule or regulation ...

Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba ibn Masud that one of the Ansar came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with a black slave- girl of his. He said, "Messenger of Allah, I must set a slave free who is a mumina. If you think that she is mumina, I will free her." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, questioned her, "Do you testify that there is no god but Allah?" She said, "Yes." "Do you testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah?" She said, "Yes." "Are you certain about the rising after death?" She said, "Yes." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Free her."

'A'isha reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) gave option to his wives, but it was not a divorce.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Talha ibn Abi al-Malik al- Ayli from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn as-Siddiq from A'isha that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him. Whoever vows to disobey Allah, let him not disobey Him."

Yahya said that he had heard Malik say, "The meaning of the statement of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, 'Whoever vows to disobey Allah, let him not disobey Him' is that for instance a man who vows that, if he speaks to such-and-such a person, he will walk to Syria, Egypt, or any other such things which are not considered as ibada, is not under any obligation by any of that, even if he did speak to the man or did break whatever it was he swore, because Allah does not demand obedience in such things. He should only fulfill those things in which there is obedience to Allah."

22.5 Rashness in Oaths

When the Messenger of Allah (saws) entered upon Abu Salamah, his eyes were fixedly open. So he closed them. The members of his family cried. He said: Do not pray for yourself anything but good, for the angels utter Amin to what you say. He then said: O Allah, forgive Abu Salamah, raise his rank among those who are guided, and grant him a succession in his descendants who remain. Forgive both us and him, Lord of the universe. O Allah,make his grave spacious for him, and grant him light in it.

Abu Dawud said: The eyes of the deceased should be closed after his expiry. I heard Muhammad b. al-Nu'man al-Muqri say: I heard a man who was devoted to Allah say: I closed the eyes of Ja'far al-Mu'allim when he was dying. He was a man devoted to Allah. I saw him in a dream on the night he died. He said: The biggest thing for me was closing the eyes by you before I died.

(the wife of the Prophet) Hamza bin `Amr Al-Aslami asked the Prophet, "Should I fast while traveling?" The Prophet replied, "You may fast if you wish, and you may not fast if you wish."

(On `Id) We used to forbid our virgins to go out (for `Id prayer). A lady came and stayed at the fortress of Bani Khalaf. She mentioned that her sister was married to one of the companions of Allah's Apostle who participated in twelve Ghazawats along with Allah's Apostle and her sister was with him in six of them. She said, "We used to dress the wounded and look after the patients." She (her sister) asked Allah's Apostle , "Is there any harm for a woman to stay at home if she doesn't have a veil?" He said, "She should cover herself with the veil of her companion and she should take part in the good deeds and in the religious gatherings of the believers." When Um 'Atiyya came, I asked her. "Did you hear anything about that?" Um 'Atiyya said, "Bi Abi" and she never mentioned the name of Allah's Apostle without saying "Bi Abi" (i.e. 'Let my father be sacrificed for you'). We asked her, "Have you heard Allah's Apostle saying so and so (about women)?" She replied in the affirmative and said, "Let my father be sacrificed for him. He told us that unmarried mature virgins who stay often screened or unmarried young virgins and mature girls who stay often screened should come out and take part in the good deeds and in the religious gatherings of the believers. But the menstruating women should keep away from the Musalla (praying place)." I asked her, "The menstruating women?" She replied, "Don't they present themselves at `Arafat and at such and such places?"

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Breaking a dead man's bone is like breaking it when he is alive.

We set out with Allah's Apostle in the year of his Last Hajj and we mended (the Ihram) for `Umra. Then the Prophet said, "Whoever has a Hadi with him should assume Ihram for both Hajj and `Umra, and should not finish it till he performs both of the them (Hajj and `Umra)." When we reached Mecca, I had my menses. When we had performed our Hajj, the Prophet sent me with `Abdur-Rahman to Tan`im and I performed the `Umra. The Prophet said, "This is in lieu of your missed `Umra." Those who had assumed Ihram for `Umra performed Tawaf (between Safa and Marwa) and then finished their Ihram. And then they performed another Tawaf (between Safa and Marwa) after returning from Mina. And those who had assumed lhram for Hajj and `Umra to get her ( Hajj-Qiran ) performed only one Tawaf (between Safa and Marwa).