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."

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) used to teach us the way of doing Istikhara (Istikhara means to ask Allah to guide one to the right sort of action concerning any job or a deed), in all matters as he taught us the Suras of the Qur'an. He said, "If anyone of you thinks of doing any job he should offer a two rak`at prayer other than the compulsory ones and say (after the prayer): -- 'Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi'ilmika, Wa astaqdiruka bi-qudratika, Wa as'alaka min fadlika Al-`azlm Fa-innaka taqdiru Wala aqdiru, Wa ta'lamu Wala a'lamu, Wa anta 'allamu l-ghuyub. Allahumma, in kunta ta'lam anna hadha-lamra Khairun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa'aqibati `Amri (or 'ajili `Amri wa'ajilihi) Faqdirhu wa yas-sirhu li thumma barik li Fihi, Wa in kunta ta'lamu anna hadha-lamra shar-run li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa'aqibati `Amri (or fi'ajili `Amri wa ajilihi) Fasrifhu anni was-rifni anhu. Waqdir li al-khaira haithu kana Thumma ardini bihi.' (O Allah! I ask guidance from Your knowledge, And Power from Your Might and I ask for Your great blessings. You are capable and I am not. You know and I do not and You know the unseen. O Allah! If You know that this job is good for my religion and my subsistence and in my Hereafter--(or said: If it is better for my present and later needs)--Then You ordain it for me and make it easy for me to get, And then bless me in it, and if You know that this job is harmful to me In my religion and subsistence and in the Hereafter--(or said: If it is worse for my present and later needs)--Then keep it away from me and let me be away from it. And ordain for me whatever is good for me, And make me satisfied with it). The Prophet added that then the person should name (mention) his need.

The Prophet said, "The Prophet Abraham emigrated with Sarah and entered a village where there was a king or a tyrant. (The king) was told that Abraham had entered (the village) accompanied by a woman who was one of the most charming women. So, the king sent for Abraham and asked, 'O Abraham! Who is this lady accompanying you?' Abraham replied, 'She is my sister (i.e. in religion).' Then Abraham returned to her and said, 'Do not contradict my statement, for I have informed them that you are my sister. By Allah, there are no true believers on this land except you and 1.' Then Abraham sent her to the king. When the king got to her, she got up and performed ablution, prayed and said, 'O Allah! If I have believed in You and Your Apostle, and have saved my private parts from everybody except my husband, then please do not let this pagan overpower me.' On that the king fell in a mood of agitation and started moving his legs. Seeing the condition of the king, Sarah said, 'O Allah! If he should die, the people will say that I have killed him.' The king regained his power, and proceeded towards her but she got up again and performed ablution, prayed and said, 'O Allah! If I have believed in You and Your Apostle and have kept my private parts safe from all except my husband, then please do not let this pagan overpower me.' The king again fell in a mood of agitation and started moving his legs. On seeing that state of the king, Sarah said, 'O Allah! If he should die, the people will say that I have killed him.' The king got either two or three attacks, and after recovering from the last attack he said, 'By Allah! You have sent a satan to me. Take her to Abraham and give her Ajar.' So she came back to Abraham and said, 'Allah humiliated the pagan and gave us a slave-girl for service."

The Prophet said, "None spoke in cradle but three: (The first was) Jesus, (the second was), there a man from Bani Israel called Juraij. While he was offering his prayers, his mother came and called him. He said (to himself), 'Shall I answer her or keep on praying?" (He went on praying) and did not answer her, his mother said, "O Allah! Do not let him die till he sees the faces of prostitutes." So while he was in his hermitage, a lady came and sought to seduce him, but he refused. So she went to a shepherd and presented herself to him to commit illegal sexual intercourse with her and then later she gave birth to a child and claimed that it belonged to Juraij. The people, therefore, came to him and dismantled his hermitage and expelled him out of it and abused him. Juraij performed the ablution and offered prayer, and then came to the child and said, 'O child! Who is your father?' The child replied, 'The shepherd.' (After hearing this) the people said, 'We shall rebuild your hermitage of gold,' but he said, 'No, of nothing but mud.'(The third was the hero of the following story) A lady from Bani Israel was nursing her child at her breast when a handsome rider passed by her. She said, 'O Allah ! Make my child like him.' On that the child left her breast, and facing the rider said, 'O Allah! Do not make me like him.' The child then started to suck her breast again. (Abu Huraira further said, "As if I were now looking at the Prophet sucking his finger (in way of demonstration.") After a while the people passed by, with a lady slave and she (i.e. the child's mother) said, 'O Allah! Do not make my child like this (slave girl)!, On that the child left her breast and said, 'O Allah! Make me like her.' When she asked why, the child replied, 'The rider is one of the tyrants while this slave girl is falsely accused of theft and illegal sexual intercourse."

(the son of Muhib) An Egyptian who came and performed the Hajj to the Ka`ba saw some people sitting. He enquire, "Who are these people?" Somebody said, "They are the tribe of Quraish." He said, "Who is the old man sitting amongst them?" The people replied, "He is `Abdullah bin `Umar." He said, "O Ibn `Umar! I want to ask you about something; please tell me about it. Do you know that `Uthman fled away on the day (of the battle) of Uhud?" Ibn `Umar said, "Yes." The (Egyptian) man said, "Do you know that `Uthman was absent on the day (of the battle) of Badr and did not join it?" Ibn `Umar said, "Yes." The man said, "Do you know that he failed to attend the Ar Ridwan pledge and did not witness it (i.e. Hudaibiya pledge of allegiance)?" Ibn `Umar said, "Yes." The man said, "Allahu Akbar!" Ibn `Umar said, "Let me explain to you (all these three things). As for his flight on the day of Uhud, I testify that Allah has excused him and forgiven him; and as for his absence from the battle of Badr, it was due to the fact that the daughter of Allah's Apostle was his wife and she was sick then. Allah's Apostle said to him, "You will receive the same reward and share (of the booty) as anyone of those who participated in the battle of Badr (if you stay with her).' As for his absence from the Ar-Ridwan pledge of allegiance, had there been any person in Mecca more respectable than `Uthman (to be sent as a representative). Allah's Apostle would have sent him instead of him. No doubt, Allah's Apostle had sent him, and the incident of the Ar-Ridwan pledge of Allegiance happened after `Uthman had gone to Mecca. Allah's Apostle held out his right hand saying, 'This is `Uthman's hand.' He stroke his (other) hand with it saying, 'This (pledge of allegiance) is on the behalf of `Uthman.' Then Ibn `Umar said to the man, 'Bear (these) excuses in mind with you.'

'Uwaimir came to `Asim bin `Adi who was the chief of Bani Ajlan and said, "What do you say about a man who has found another man with his wife? Should he kill him whereupon you would kill him (i.e. the husband), or what should he do? Please ask Allah's Apostle about this matter on my behalf." `Asim then went to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! (And asked him that question) but Allah's Apostle disliked the question," When 'Uwaimir asked `Asim (about the Prophet's answer) `Asim replied that Allah's Apostle disliked such questions and considered it shameful. "Uwaimir then said, "By Allah, I will not give up asking unless I ask Allah's Apostle about it." Uwaimir came (to the Prophet ) and said, "O Allah's Apostle! A man has found another man with his wife! Should he kill him whereupon you would kill him (the husband, in Qisas) or what should he do?" Allah's Apostle said, "Allah has revealed regarding you and your wife's case in the Qur'an "So Allah's Apostle ordered them to perform the measures of Mula'ana according to what Allah had mentioned in His Book. So 'Uwaimir did Mula'ana with her and said, "O Allah's Apostle! If I kept her I would oppress her." So 'Uwaimir divorced her and so divorce became a tradition after them for those who happened to be involved in a case of Mula'ana. Allah's Apostle then said, "Look! If she (Uwaimir's wife) delivers a black child with deep black large eyes, big hips and fat legs, then I will be of the opinion that 'Uwaimir has spoken the truth; but if she delivers a red child looking like a Wahra then we will consider that 'Uwaimir has told a lie against her." Later on she delivered a child carrying the qualities which Allah's Apostle had mentioned as a proof for 'Uwaimir's claim; therefore the child was ascribed to its mother henceforth.

There is none born but is created to his true nature (Islam). It is his parents who make him a Jew or a Christian or a Magian quite as beasts produce their young with their limbs perfect. Do you see anything deficient in them? Then he quoted the Qur'an., The nature made by Allah in which He has created men there is no altering of Allah's creation; that is the right religion" (ar-Rum:30)

I left for Mecca for Hajj-at-Tamattu` assuming Ihram for `Umra. I reached Mecca three days before the day of Tarwiya (8th Dhul-Hijja). Some people of Mecca said to me, "Your Hajj will be like the Hajj performed by the people of Mecca (i.e. you will lose the superiority of assuming Ihram from the Miqat). So I went to `Ata' asking him his view about it. He said, "Jabir bin `Abdullah narrated to me, 'I performed Hajj with Allah's Apostle on the day when he drove camels with him. The people had assumed Ihram for Hajj-al-Ifrad. The Prophet ordered them to finish their Ihram after Tawaf round the Ka`ba, and between Safa and Marwa and to cut short their hair and then to stay there (in Mecca) as non-Muhrims till the day of Tarwiya (i.e. 8th of Dhul-Hijja) when they would assume Ihram for Hajj and they were ordered to make the Ihram with which they had come as for `Umra only. They asked, 'How can we make it `Umra (Tamattu`) as we have intended to perform Hajj?' The Prophet said, 'Do what I have ordered you. Had I not brought the Hadi with me, I would have done the same, but I cannot finish my Ihram till the Hadi reaches its destination (i.e. is slaughtered).' So, they did (what he ordered them to do)."

On the day of Badr, the Prophet ordered that the corpses of twenty four leaders of Quraish should be thrown into one of the dirty dry wells of Badr. (It was a habit of the Prophet that whenever he conquered some people, he used to stay at the battle-field for three nights. So, on the third day of the battle of Badr, he ordered that his she-camel be saddled, then he set out, and his companions followed him saying among themselves." "Definitely he (i.e. the Prophet) is proceeding for some great purpose." When he halted at the edge of the well, he addressed the corpses of the Quraish infidels by their names and their fathers' names, "O so-and-so, son of so-and-so and O so-and-so, son of so-andso! Would it have pleased you if you had obeyed Allah and His Apostle? We have found true what our Lord promised us. Have you too found true what your Lord promised you? "`Umar said, "O Allah's Apostle! You are speaking to bodies that have no souls!" Allah's Apostle said, "By Him in Whose Hand Muhammad's soul is, you do not hear, what I say better than they do." (Qatada said, "Allah brought them to life (again) to let them hear him, to reprimand them and slight them and take revenge over them and caused them to feel remorseful and regretful.")

(one of them said more than his friend): The Prophet set out in the company of more than onethousand of his companions in the year of Al-Hudaibiya, and when he reached Dhul-Hulaifa, he garlanded his Hadi (i.e. sacrificing animal), assumed the state of Ihram for `Umra from that place and sent a spy of his from Khuzaa'ah (tribe). The Prophet proceeded on till he reached (a village called) Ghadir-al-Ashtat. There his spy came and said, "The Quraish (infidels) have collected a great number of people against you, and they have collected against you the Ethiopians, and they will fight with you, and will stop you from entering the Ka`ba and prevent you." The Prophet said, "O people! Give me your opinion. Do you recommend that I should destroy the families and offspring of those who want to stop us from the Ka`ba? If they should come to us (for peace) then Allah will destroy a spy from the pagans, or otherwise we will leave them in a miserable state." On that Abu Bakr said, "O Allah Apostle! You have come with the intention of visiting this House (i.e. Ka`ba) and you do not want to kill or fight anybody. So proceed to it, and whoever should stop us from it, we will fight him." On that the Prophet said, "Proceed on, in the Name of Allah !"

During one of his Ghazawat, the Prophet encountered the pagans, and the two armies fought, and then each of them returned to their army camps. Amongst the (army of the) Muslims there was a man who would follow every pagan separated from the army and strike him with his sword. It was said, "O Allah's Apostle! None has fought so satisfactorily as so-and-so (namely, that brave Muslim). "The Prophet said, "He is from the dwellers of the Hell-Fire." The people said, "Who amongst us will be of the dwellers of Paradise if this (man) is from the dwellers of the Hell-Fire?" Then a man from amongst the people said, "I will follow him and accompany him in his fast and slow movements." The (brave) man got wounded, and wanting to die at once, he put the handle of his sword on the ground and its tip in between his breasts, and then threw himself over it, committing suicide. Then the man (who had watched the deceased) returned to the Prophet and said, "I testify that you are Apostle of Allah." The Prophet said, "What is this?" The man told him the whole story. The Prophet said, "A man may do what may seem to the people as the deeds of the dwellers of Paradise, but he is of the dwellers of the Hell-Fire and a man may do what may seem to the people as the deeds of the dwellers of the Hell-Fire, but he is from the dwellers of Paradise."

We were sitting with Ibn Masud when Khabbab came and said, "O Abu `Abdur-Rahman! Can these young fellows recite Qur'an as you do?" Ibn Mas`ud said, "If you wish I can order one of them to recite (Qur'an) for you ." Khabbab replied, "Yes. "Ibn Mas`ud said, "Recite, O 'Alqama!" On that, Zaid bin Hudair, the brother of Ziyad bin Hudair said, (to Ibn Mas`ud), "Why have you ordered 'Alqama to recite though he does not recite better than we?" Ibn Mas`ud said, "If you like, I would tell you what the Prophet said about your nation and his (i.e. 'Alqama's) nation." So I recited fifty Verses from Sura-Maryam. `Abdullah (bin Mas`ud) said to Khabbab, "What do you think (about 'Alqama's recitation)?" Khabbab said, "He has recited well." `Abdullah said, "Whatever I recite, 'Alqama recites." Then `Abdullah turned towards Khabbab and saw that he was wearing a gold ring, whereupon he said, "Hasn't the time for its throwing away come yet?" Khabbab said, "You will not see me wearing it after today," and he throw it away.

A man who wants to perform the Hajj (from Mecca) can perform the Tawaf around the Ka`ba as long as he is not in the state of Ihram till he assumes the Ihram for Hajj. Then, if he rides and proceeds to `Arafat, he should take a Hadi (i.e. animal for sacrifice), either a camel or a cow or a sheep, whatever he can afford; but if he cannot afford it, he should fast for three days during the Hajj before the day of `Arafat, but if the third day of his fasting happens to be the day of `Arafat (i.e. 9th of Dhul-Hijja) then it is no sin for him (to fast on it). Then he should proceed to `Arafat and stay there from the time of the `Asr prayer till darkness falls. Then the pilgrims should proceed from `Arafat, and when they have departed from it, they reach Jam' (i.e. Al-Muzdalifa) where they ask Allah to help them to be righteous and dutiful to Him, and there they remember Allah greatly or say Takbir (i.e. Allah is Greater) and Tahlil (i.e. None has the right to be worshipped but Allah) repeatedly before dawn breaks. Then, after offering the morning (Fajr) prayer you should pass on (to Mina) for the people used to do so and Allah said:-- "Then depart from the place whence all the people depart. And ask for Allah's Forgiveness. Truly! Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (2.199) Then you should go on doing so till you throw pebbles over the Jamra.

The Jews brought to the Prophet a man and a woman from among them who had committed illegal sexual intercourse. The Prophet said to them, "How do you usually punish the one amongst you who has committed illegal sexual intercourse?" They replied, "We blacken their faces with coal and beat them," He said, "Don't you find the order of Ar-Rajm (i.e. stoning to death) in the Torah?" They replied, "We do not find anything in it." `Abdullah bin Salam (after hearing this conversation) said to them. "You have told a lie! Bring here the Torah and recite it if you are truthful." (So the Jews brought the Torah). And the religious teacher who was teaching it to them, put his hand over the Verse of Ar- Rajm and started reading what was written above and below the place hidden with his hand, but he did not read the Verse of Ar-Rajm. `Abdullah bin Salam removed his (i.e. the teacher's) hand from the Verse of Ar-Rajm and said, "What is this?" So when the Jews saw that Verse, they said, "This is the Verse of Ar-Rajm." So the Prophet ordered the two adulterers to be stoned to death, and they were stoned to death near the place where biers used to be placed near the Mosque. I saw her companion (i.e. the adulterer) bowing over her so as to protect her from the stones.

Allah sent (the Prophet) Muhammad and said:-- 'Say, No wage do I ask of you for this (Qur'an) nor am I one of the pretenders (i.e. a person who pretends things which do not exist). (38.68) When Allah's Apostle saw Quraish standing against him, he said, "O Allah! Help me against them by afflicting them with seven years of famine similar to the seven years (of famine) of Joseph. So they were afflicted with a year of drought that destroyed everything, and they ate bones and hides. (One of them said), "And they ate hides and dead animals, and (it seemed to them that) something like smoke was coming out of the earth. So Abu Sufyan came to the Prophet and said, "O Muhammad! Your people are on the verge of destruction! Please invoke Allah to relieve them." So the Prophet invoked Allah for them (and the famine disappeared). He said to them. "You will revert (to heathenism) after that." `Abdullah then recited: 'Then watch you for the Day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke plainly visible.......but truly you will revert (to disbelief).' He added, "Will the punishment be removed from them in the Hereafter? The smoke and the grasp and the Al-Lizam have all passed." One of the sub-narrater said, "The splitting of the moon." And another said, "The defeat of the Romans (has passed).

While I was with Aisha, the mother of the Believers, a person from Iraq came and asked, "What type of shroud is the best?" `Aisha said, "May Allah be merciful to you! What does it matter?" He said, "O mother of the Believers! Show me (the copy of) your Qur'an," She said, "Why?" He said, "In order to compile and arrange the Qur'an according to it, for people recite it with its Suras not in proper order." `Aisha said, "What does it matter which part of it you read first? (Be informed) that the first thing that was revealed thereof was a Sura from Al-Mufassal, and in it was mentioned Paradise and the Fire. When the people embraced Islam, the Verses regarding legal and illegal things were revealed. If the first thing to be revealed was: 'Do not drink alcoholic drinks.' people would have said, 'We will never leave alcoholic drinks,' and if there had been revealed, 'Do not commit illegal sexual intercourse, 'they would have said, 'We will never give up illegal sexual intercourse.' While I was a young girl of playing age, the following Verse was revealed in Mecca to Muhammad: 'Nay! But the Hour is their appointed time (for their full recompense), and the Hour will be more grievous and more bitter.' (54.46) Sura Al-Baqara (The Cow) and Surat An-Nisa (The Women) were revealed while I was with him." Then `Aisha took out the copy of the Qur'an for the man and dictated to him the Verses of the Suras (in their proper order) .

I was with the Prophet (on a journey) between Mecca and Medina, and all of them, (i.e. the Prophet and his companions) were in the state of Ihram, while I was not in that state. I was riding my horse and I used to be fond of ascending mountains. So while I was doing so I noticed that the people were looking at something. I went to see what it was, and behold it was an onager. I asked my companions, "What is that?" They said, "We do not know." I said, "It is an onager.' They said, "It is what you have seen." I had left my whip, so I said to them, "Hand to me my whip." They said, "We will not help you in that (in hunting the onager)." I got down, took my whip and chased the animal (on my horse) and did not stop till I killed it. I went to them and said, "Come on, carry it!" But they said, "We will not even touch it." At last I alone carried it and brought it to them. Some of them ate of it and some refused to eat of it. I said (to them), "I will ask the Prophet about it (on your behalf)." When I met the Prophet, I told him the whole story. He said to me, "Has anything of it been left with you?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Eat, for it is a meal Allah has offered to you."