The Prophet said (to `Abdullah), "Fast three days a month." `Abdullah said, (to the Prophet) "I am able to fast more than that." They kept on arguing on this matter till the Prophet said, "Fast on alternate days, and recite the whole Qur'an once a month." `Abdullah said, "I can recite more (in a month)," and the argument went on till the Prophet said, "Recite the Qur'an once each three days." (i.e. you must not recite the whole Qur'an in less than three days).

That when the people mentioned before Ibn `Abbas that the Dajjal would have the word Kafir, (i.e. unbeliever) or the letters Kafir (the root of the Arabic verb 'disbelieve') written on his forehead, I heard Ibn `Abbas saying, "I did not hear this, but the Prophet said, 'If you want to see Abraham, then look at your companion (i.e. the Prophet) but Moses was a curly-haired, brown man (who used to ride) a red camel, the reins of which was made of fires of date-palms. As if I were now looking down a valley."

The Jews said to `Umar, "You (i.e. Muslims) recite a Verse, and had it been revealed to us, we would have taken the day of its revelation as a day of celebration." `Umar said, "I know very well when and where it was revealed, and where Allah's Apostle was when it was revealed. (It was revealed on) the day of `Arafat (Hajj Day), and by Allah, I was at `Arafat" Sufyan, a sub-narrator said: I am in doubt whether the Verse:-- "This day I have perfected your religion for you." was revealed on a Friday or not.

We were with Ibn `Abbas and the people mentioned Ad-Dajjal. Someone said, "The word 'Kafir' (unbeliever) is written in between his (Ad-Dajjal's) eyes." Ibn `Abbas said, "I have not heard the Prophet saying this, but he said, 'As regards Abraham, he looks like your companion (i.e. the Prophet, Muhammad), and as regards Moses, he is a brown curly haired man riding a camel and reigned with a strong jute rope, as if I am now looking at him getting down in the valley and saying, "Labbaik".'"

I heard Ka`b bin Malik narrating (when he did not join the battle of Tabuk): Allah's Apostle forbade all the Muslims to speak to us. I would come to Allah's Apostle and greet him, and I would wonder whether the Prophet did move his lips to return to my greetings or not till fifty nights passed away. The Prophet then announced (to the people) Allah's forgiveness for us (acceptance of our repentance) at the time when he had offered the Fajr (morning) prayer.

Marwan bin Al-Hakam and Al-Miswar bin Makhrama told him that when the Muslims were permitted to set free the captives of Hawazin, Allah's Apostle said, "I do not know who amongst you has agreed (to it) and who has not. Go back so that your 'Urafa' may submit your decision to us." So the people returned and their 'Urafa' talked to them and then came back to Allah's Apostle and told him that the people had given their consent happily and permitted (their captives to be freed).

Who was Ka`b's guide from among his sons when Ka`b became blind: I heard Ka`b bin Malik saying, "When some people remained behind and did not join Allah's Apostle in the battle of Tabuk.." and then he described the whole narration and said, "Allah's Apostle forbade the Muslims to speak to us, and so we (I and my companions) stayed fifty nights in that state, and then Allah's Apostle announced Allah's acceptance of our repentance."

I sat with Shaiba in this Mosque (Al-Masjid-Al-Haram), and he said, "`Umar once sat beside me here as you are now sitting, and said, 'I feel like distributing all the gold and silver that are in it (i.e., the Ka`ba) among the Muslims'. I said, 'You cannot do that.' `Umar said, 'Why?' I said, 'Your two (previous) companions (the Prophet and Abu Bakr) did not do it. `Umar said, 'They are the two persons whom one must follow.'" (See Hadith No. 664, Vol. 2)

Whenever Allah's Apostle intended to carry out a Ghazwa, he would use an equivocation to conceal his real destination till it was the Ghazwa of Tabuk which Allah's Apostle carried out in very hot weather. As he was going to face a very long journey through a wasteland and was to meet and attack a large number of enemies. So, he made the situation clear to the Muslims so that they might prepare themselves accordingly and get ready to conquer their enemy. The Prophet informed them of the destination he was heading for.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) would not say funeral prayer over a person who died while the debt was due from him. A dead Muslim was brought to him and he asked: Is there any debt due from him? They (the people) said: Yes, two dirhams. He said: Pray yourselves over your companion.

Then AbuQatadah al-Ansari said: I shall pay them, Messenger of Allah. The Messenger of Allah (saws) then prayed over him.

When Allah granted conquests to the Messenger of Allah (saws), he said: I am nearer to every believer than himself, so if anyone (dies and) leaves a debt, I shall be responsible for paying it; and if anyone leaves property, it goes to his heirs.

The Prophet (saws) said: A believer who recites the Qur'an is like a citron whose fragrance is sweet and whose taste is sweet, a believer who does not recite the Qur'an is like a date which has no fragrance but has sweet taste, a profligate who recites the Qur'an is like basil whose fragrance is sweet but whose taste is bitter, and the profligate who does not recite the Qur'an is like the colocynth which has a bitter taste and has not fragrance. A good companion is like a man who has musk; if nothing of it goes to you, its fragrance will (certainly) go to you; and a bad companion is like a man who has bellows; if its (black) root does not go to you, its smoke will (certainly) go to you.

The Prophet (saws) said: Glorifying Allah involves showing honour to a grey-haired Muslim and to one who can expound the Qur'an, but not to one who acts extravagantly regarding it, or turns away from it, and showing honour to a just ruler.

I asked or someone asked the Prophet (saws) about perpetual fasting. He replied: You have a duty to your family. Fast during Ramadan and the following month, and every Wednesday and Thursday. You will then have observed a perpetual fast.

I came to the Prophet (saws), and took the oath of allegiance to him. He said: If anyone reaches a water which has not been approached before by any Muslim, it belongs to him. The people, therefore, went out running and marking (on the land).

The Prophet (saws) said: Let him who hears of the Dajjal (Antichrist) go far from him for I swear by Allah that a man will come to him thinking he is a believer and follow him because of confused ideas roused in him by him.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Ibn Shihab said that he had heard Said ibn al-Musayyab, Humayd ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf, Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba ibn Masud, and Sulayman ibn Yasarall say, that they had heard Abu Hurayra say that he had heard Umar ibn al-Khattab say, "If a woman is divorced by her husband once or twice, and he leaves her until she is free to marry and she marries another husband and he dies or divorces her, and then she marries her first husband, she is with him according to what remains of her divorce."

Malik said, "That is what is done among us and there is no dispute about it."

The Prophet (saws) said: The Friday prayer in congregation is a necessary duty for every Muslim, with four exceptions; a slave, a woman, a boy, and a sick person.

Abu Dawud said: Tariq b. Shihab had seen the Prophet (saws) but not heard anything from him.

The Prophet (saws) said: The witr is a duty for every Muslim so if anyone wishes to observe it with five rak'ahs, he may do so; if anyone wishes to observe it with three, he may do so, and if anyone wishes to observe it with one, he may do so.

`Umar set out along with the Prophet (p.b.u.h) with a group of people to Ibn Saiyad till they saw him playing with the boys near the hillocks of Bani Mughala. Ibn Saiyad at that time was nearing his puberty and did not notice (us) until the Prophet stroked him with his hand and said to him, "Do you testify that I am Allah's Apostle?" Ibn Saiyad looked at him and said, "I testify that you are the Messenger of illiterates." Then Ibn Saiyad asked the Prophet (p.b.u.h), "Do you testify that I am Allah's Apostle?" The Prophet (p.b.u.h) refuted it and said, "I believe in Allah and His Apostles." Then he said (to Ibn Saiyad), "What do you think?" Ibn Saiyad answered, "True people and liars visit me." The Prophet said, "You have been confused as to this matter." Then the Prophet said to him, "I have kept something (in my mind) for you, (can you tell me that?)" Ibn Saiyad said, "It is Al-Dukh (the smoke)." (2) The Prophet said, "Let you be in ignominy. You cannot cross your limits." On that `Umar, said, "O Allah's Apostle! Allow me to chop his head off." The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "If he is he (i.e. Dajjal), then you cannot overpower him, and if he is not, then there is no use of murdering him." (Ibn `Umar added): Later on Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) once again went along with Ubai bin Ka`b to the date-palm trees (garden) where Ibn Saiyad was staying. The Prophet (p.b.u.h) wanted to hear something from Ibn Saiyad before Ibn Saiyad could see him, and the Prophet (p.b.u.h) saw him lying covered with a sheet and from where his murmurs were heard. Ibn Saiyad's mother saw Allah's Apostle while he was hiding himself behind the trunks of the date-palm trees. She addressed Ibn Saiyad, "O Saf ! (and this was the name of Ibn Saiyad) Here is Muhammad." And with that Ibn Saiyad got up. The Prophet said, "Had this woman left him (Had she not disturbed him), then Ibn Saiyad would have revealed the reality of his case.

When the Prophet intended to perform `Umra in the month of Dhul-Qada, the people of Mecca did not let him enter Mecca till he settled the matter with them by promising to stay in it for three days only. When the document of treaty was written, the following was mentioned: 'These are the terms on which Muhammad, Allah's Apostle agreed (to make peace).' They said, "We will not agree to this, for if we believed that you are Allah's Apostle we would not prevent you, but you are Muhammad bin `Abdullah." The Prophet said, "I am Allah's Apostle and also Muhammad bin `Abdullah." Then he said to `Ali, "Rub off (the words) 'Allah's Apostle' ", but `Ali said, "No, by Allah, I will never rub off your name." So, Allah's Apostle took the document and wrote, 'This is what Muhammad bin `Abdullah has agreed upon: No arms will be brought into Mecca except in their cases, and nobody from the people of Mecca will be allowed to go with him (i.e. the Prophet ) even if he wished to follow him and he (the Prophet ) will not prevent any of his companions from staying in Mecca if the latter wants to stay.' When the Prophet entered Mecca and the time limit passed, the Meccans went to `Ali and said, "Tell your Friend (i.e. the Prophet ) to go out, as the period (agreed to) has passed." So, the Prophet went out of Mecca. The daughter of Hamza ran after them (i.e. the Prophet and his companions), calling, "O Uncle! O Uncle!" `Ali received her and led her by the hand and said to Fatima, "Take your uncle's daughter." Zaid and Ja`far quarreled about her. `Ali said, "I have more right to her as she is my uncle's daughter." Ja`far said, "She is my uncle's daughter, and her aunt is my wife." Zaid said, "She is my brother's daughter." The Prophet judged that she should be given to her aunt, and said that the aunt was like the mother. He then said to 'All, "You are from me and I am from you", and said to Ja`far, "You resemble me both in character and appearance", and said to Zaid, "You are our brother (in faith) and our freed slave."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) gave licence to the Mothers of the believers (i.e. the wives of the Prophet) to hang down their lower garment a span. Then they asked him to increase it, and he increased one span for them. They would send (the garment) to us and we would measure it one forearm's length for them.

On his father's authority said that his grandfather reported the Prophet (saws) said: A believer will not be killed for an infidel. If anyone kills a man deliberately, he is to be handed over to the relatives of the one who has been killed. If they wish, they may kill, but if they wish, they may accept blood-wit

The verse "If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell to abide therein for ever" was revealed six months after the verse "And those who invoke not with Allah any other god, nor slay such life as Allah has made sacred, except for just cause in Surat al-Furqan.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) liked to begin with the right side as far as possible in all conditions: in his purification, and combing. The narrator Muslim added: "in using tooth-stick," and he did not mention "in all his conditions".

Abu Dawud said: Shu'bah transmitted it from Mu'adh, but did not mention "his tooth-stick."

Talhah ibn al-Bara' fell ill and the Prophet (saws) came to pay him a sick-visit. He said: I think Talhah has died; so tell me (about his death), and make haste, for it is not advisable that the corpse of a Muslim should remain withheld among his family.

The Prophet (saws) said: There is nothing heavier than good character put in the scale of a believer on the Day of Resurrection.

Abu al-Walid said: I heard 'Ata al-Kaikharani say: Abu Dawud said: His name is 'Ata b. Ya'qub. He is the maternal uncle of Ibrahim b. Nafi'. He is called Kaikharani or Kukharani.

I swore allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (saws) promising to hear and obey, and behave sincerely towards every Muslim. AbuZur'ah said: Whenever he sold and bought anything, he would say: What we took from you is dearer to us than what we gave you. So choose (as you like).

When the Prophet (saws) saw a cloud formation in the sky, he would stop what he was doing, even if he were in prayer, and then would say: "O Allah! I seek refuge in You from its evil. "If it rained, he would say: "O Allah! send a beneficial downpour."